I constantly hear people talking about how their bodies are “out of alignment” or how their joints need to be “re-aligned” by their physical therapist, chiropractor or health care provider. Upon hearing this, I cannot help but wonder what the person’s image is of their own skeleton.

The human body is not that fragile. In fact, it is an amazing and incredibly resilient thing. Our bodies consist of several interdependent systems that are constantly adapting to the world around us, as well as our own internal environment to best help us thrive and survive.

Our joints do not simply fall out of alignment as may happen with your car. Our joints are meant to move and change positions. If they were constantly in line, then it would be impossible to move anywhere.

Joints can begin to orient in specific directions causing them to be limited in their ability to move elsewhere. They can also predominantly move through part of their overall available range of motion rather than through their full range of motion. This occurs as the body adapts to the demands (or lack thereof) placed on it or as a protective response. As this occurs it can feel as if the body is out of alignment or needs to be “re-aligned.”

The solution to this issue is to figure out why this is occurring in the first place so that it can be addressed accordingly. This way you feel better and get moving! For more great information like this, check out our additional blogs at www.cohenhp.com.

When people learn that I help injured athletes get back in the game and work in the performance therapy realm they often ask, “What is the best type of exercise?” I typically answer this question with another question. “What do you like to do?”

This is not to be annoying or avoid answering the question initially asked. It is to gain essential information so that I can provide the best answer.

The most important factor in someone’s exercise routine is consistency. It is easy to be motivated for a week or two with a new activity or workout routine. However, can you maintain the same level of motivation with that activity for 1 month, 6 months, or even a year? This is most often determined by whether the person enjoys the exercise they are doing.

I could suggest weight training due to its countless health benefits, but if this person hates the gym environment she/he is unlikely to give it a shot or remain consistent. On the other hand, if this person is open to all settings then I am likely to suggest working with a qualified trainer or strength and conditioning coach. The greatest type of exercise can only be great if you are able to remain consistent.

Therefore, don’t feel guilty if you don’t enjoy a particular type of exercise. Try out new things to find which exercise or combination of activities you enjoy most because the important thing is to remain consistent and keep moving!

For more information regarding different types of exercise or to gain help in feeling your best so that you can perform at your best, please contact Dr. Zachary Cohen below.

Zacharyc@cohenhealth.com
(240) 686-5609

Do you feel like you have been in pain far too long? Are you tired of being restricted from performing the activities that you love to do? Do you wonder if there is more that you can be doing to get back to where you want to be?

Many times, the answer to the final question is yes. Returning to the activities that you love and eliminating pain is never a simple answer.

As human beings, we often seek one specific answer to explain why we are injured. However, many things influence our recovery from injury and can accelerate our return from injury. A lack of sleep can significantly impact your recovery and in my experience as a sports physical therapist, is often something that needs to be addressed during the rehab process.

Are you sleeping enough?

According to research we should strive for a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night, however, it is unrealistic to think that we will be perfect immediately. Try simply getting into bed 15 minutes earlier for 1 week, then another 15 minutes earlier the following week, and so on until you reach 7 hours per night.

Are you in bed for plenty of time however still wake up feeling tired?

You likely are not experiencing the high quality of sleep that you are capable of having. Try implementing just 5 minutes of transition time between your daily activities and bed time. Put your phone away, step away from the TV and simply decompress from the stress of the day. Stepping away from the blue light of technology further helps with sleep quality by increasing the sleep hormone melatonin. Try limiting the amount of time in front of screens for the final hour before bed time whenever possible.

The body recovers from injury and repairs itself when we are sleeping. It will be much more successful in doing so as we pay more attention to the length of time we are sleeping and the quality of sleep that we are getting. Try implementing one of the simple strategies described above to accelerate your recovery, allowing you to get out of pain and back to doing the activities that you love even faster.

Most people understand that exercise is a healthy activity to consistently engage in. Incorporating intense exercise days into your routine adds even more benefit as long as proper recovery is facilitated between these workouts. For this reason, there should be variety between bouts of intense and moderate/light exercise.

However, in many situations this is not enough to facilitate optimal recovery between strenuous workouts. There are signs that this may be occurring. You may feel more tired, worn down or less motivated to exercise. Perhaps your muscle soreness may be lasting longer than usual or your performance in the gym is regressing. These are just a few signs that your recovery could use some improvement.

You can start by incorporating a “de-load” period of just a few days or a week. During this time period, you will only perform light workouts that emphasize proper movement with minimal loads on the body. This is extremely beneficial after 3-4 weeks of continuous intense exercise.

Next, it is important to determine if your recovery is being limited from factors outside of the gym. The body processes stress cumulatively. Physical stress, emotional stress, stress from work, etc. All of these stressors accumulate in the body. The more these stressors accumulate, the more focus needs to be placed on recovery.

The body will not recovery as quickly from an intense workout when there is also a great deal of stress at work or at home. During these times, it is best to incorporate an extra recovery day into training, decrease training intensity or incorporate other recovery strategies.

Implement a relaxing walk outdoors into your workday if increased stress can be attributed to work. Learn to meditate for 5-10 minutes a day or simply ensure that you are getting to bed earlier.

Analyzing your workouts as well as the stressors in your life can help you decide if you need to incorporate strategies to help you recover better. This will ultimately improve your performance in the gym and your overall health.

As the summer begins so does the incidence of plantar fascia pain in addition to many sports injuries. Warmer weather often encourages people to begin running outside or increase their running volume. This is a great thing as spending more time outside, away from desks, computers and smart phones is extremely beneficial (see previous blog posts for more info on this!). However, the body is often ill-prepared for running when first jumping back into things.

Running is a repetitive movement involving continuous impact on the ground beneath the body. This repetition will also result in several repetitions of any movement compensation that may be present. As these repetitions accumulate so does the stress associated with them and suddenly pain can occur.

This does not mean that running is a bad activity. It simply may expose something that was already there.

The foot is an area that often to compensates for things that may or may not be occurring elsewhere in the body. Many people pronate or flatten the arches of their feet to better shock absorb or advance the body forward. However, this is usually a compensation that is occurring in place of an area that may not being doing its job optimally. For example, the body will compensate at the foot when it is not able to move properly at the pelvis and hips during the running cycle.

Other people may have high arches which creates a very rigid foot and displaces the mass of the body onto the outside of the foot. This results in poor shock absorption when the foot contacts the ground and decreased control from the moment the foot hits the ground. A high arch is often created when the body is unstable in the lower back, pelvis, hips or knees. The foot creates a larger arch and becomes excessively stable to compensate for a lack of stability somewhere else.

Many people’s first solution when dealing with plantarfascia pain is to roll the bottom of their foot on a tennis ball as a self-massage technique. This can be helpful however will only provide temporary symptom relief as it is not solving the root cause of the issue.

The best way to deal with plantarfascia pain is to discover the root causes of the issue and address it accordingly. Our body is a system that works together and we must treat it as such in order to get out of pain and back to running or whatever it is that we love to do.