I am going to assume that you are not planning on getting on a flight anytime soon.  Yet, there is still much we can learn from our past flying experiences.

Think back to the boarding announcements on any flight that you have taken. The flight attendant delivers the welcoming address with his or her personal style, however, the information remains consistent.

The flight attendant explains “in the event of a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from above.” The flight attendant then continues to instruct you to put your oxygen mask on before helping others.

The reasoning for this is, if you fail to help yourself first, you won’t have the physical capability of helping anyone else.

In stressful times, such as what we are currently going through, self-care often becomes the first thing to be neglected. With so many more important things to worry about, why would we be concerned with exercising, meditating, journaling, etc.?

However, these are the times when self-care is essential.

Research shows that as stress increases, our ability to make good decisions decreases. High levels of stress reduce the functioning of a portion of our brain called our pre-frontal cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for analytic thinking, decision making, impulse control, and the ability to focus. In other words, this part of our brain allows us to make healthy choices!

As a result, stress increases our tendencies to engage in unhealthy behaviors that include poor eating habits and less daily movement. To make things worse, these behaviors are easier to engage in now that we are stuck at home!

So, what do you do to take care of yourself? Do you like to exercise? Take long walks? Meditate? Journal?

Personally, I meditate using my calm app for 10 minutes every morning before journaling, performing my preventive physical therapy exercises, and workout. This helps buffer the stressors of the outside world, and enables me to be present for my family, friends, and patients.

While meditation is something that can be done easily from a variety of places, attempting to regularly exercise is a bit more challenging.

The gym is closed and good luck ordering home fitness equipment during these times!

That leaves us figuring out how to exercise in our own homes, with minimal space and equipment. Our exercise options are limited causing workouts to be unproductive and possibly resulting in injuries by performing the same movements over and over again.

This does not mean that you are out of luck. You can maintain, and even improve your level of fitness during these uncertain times. All of this can be done while preventing injury and we would love to show you how!

We are considered essential medical providers and believe that maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle is essential for you. Therefore, we are still open and in addition to our thorough and consistent disinfecting procedures, we are currently only seeing one patient at a time in the clinic. That means you don’t have to worry about interacting with anyone besides your therapist!

Do you prefer to stay at home? No problem! Virtual sessions are available!

Finally, if you have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, please let us know so that we can find the best option for you during these challenging times.

These difficult times may have you feeling scared, stressed, and anxious. Now is the time to increase your self-care routine. Just remember, if you don’t put your mask on first, you are of no help to anyone else!

Research indicates that reduced daily movement can increase the risk of lower back pain.

Our spines are designed for movement, and the structures in our lower back—especially our discs—require regular movement to receive optimal nutrition and blood flow. When we are sedentary, these essential processes are hindered, raising the risk of lower back pain, particularly if you’ve experienced it before.

If you’ve noticed you’re less active than usual or have a history of lower back pain, the exercises below can make a significant difference!

These exercises aim to get your back moving and engage the spine’s stabilizing mechanisms.

Begin by doing these exercises twice a day, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions! Videos are provided for guidance!

– Spinal Segmentation: 3 spinal waves in each direction

– 90/90 Hip Lift: 3 sets of 5 breathing cycles (inhale through the nose, exhale fully, then hold for 5 seconds)

– All Fours Bear Position: 3 sets of 3-5 breathing cycles (inhale through the nose, exhale fully, then hold for 5 seconds)

P.S. Want to make the most of your time at home by addressing an old injury or improving your movement skills? You know where to find us!

Curious about what a virtual physical therapy session entails? Check out the link below!

As physical therapists, we often view the imaging results of of our patients.

Many times, these images (X-Rays or MRIs) cause people to feel as if they are broken and need fixing.

Maybe you have had an X-Ray or MRI that made you feel that surgery is inevitable, or that your pain is something that you will always have to deal with. Perhaps you are thinking that you are no longer capable of performing the sport you love, or exercising at a high level.

X-Rays are used to gain information about bones and general information about joints. For example, the X-Ray of someone with lower back pain will give us information about how much space this person has between each vertebra, and if they have any fractures in their lower back. However, this will not provide information regarding the state of soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments), or much information about intervertebral discs.

An MRI, will give us much more detailed information. This image provides more specific information about the state of intervertebral discs, or damage to soft tissues.   Despite, all of this great and detailed information, many times it is not useful.

Research shows that many of us have meniscal tears in our knees, labral tears in our shoulders, and damage to the discs in our lower backs, without any idea that these issues are even there!

In other cases, people have X-Rays or MRIs for a painful area of the body, and nothing significant is found!

In fact, research shows that 90% of lower back pain is non-specific. This means that according to images, we have no idea what causes 90% of lower back pain!   The moral of the story is that findings on images are not always correlated with the pain or the limitations that you may be experiencing.

So, does the image even matter? In these cases, the answer is….not really.

This is not to say that images are useless. X-rays and MRIs are extremely useful when the findings coincide with the symptoms you are experiencing. The images and your symptoms should fit together and contribute to tell the same story.

If you have had an X-Ray or MRI, take that with a grain of salt and understand that it is just one piece of the puzzle. A decision to have surgery, or another invasive procedure should not be made solely on the findings of an image.

Even if an image shows a large amount of damage, it is still possible to feel great and remain active by addressing what caused the damage to build up in the first place! As physical therapists, and strength and conditioning professionals, this is of greatest concern to us.

Damage does not accumulate in a tissue without a reason for doing so, and it is our job to figure out this out! If you have an X-Ray or MRI that is of concern to you, it may be most useful to figure out why these findings have occurred, and learn what you can do to address it!

This will help you get out of pain and back to performing the activities you enjoy, despite what your X-Ray or MRI says!