Aerobic exercises Archives - Washington Physical Therapy

Are Headaches Causing You Frequent Pain? Find Relief with Physical Therapy

Did You Know Physical Therapy Could Help With Headache Relief?

The term "sick headache" might have been coined to describe exactly how you feel today -- and every day. A one-off headache encounter can be distressing enough, but frequent or constant headache pain can completely disable you.

Many of these headaches have underlying musculoskeletal or biochemical causes - which means that they can be corrected through the right forms of treatment. In many cases, physical therapy turns out to be just what the doctor ordered for chronic headaches and Washington Physical Therapy and Rehab can help solve your pains.

Are you experiencing these symptoms?

Stress-related headaches can vary widely in severity, although they're rarely as debilitating as migraines.

They tend to a generalized ache over a broad region of the head, as opposed to attacking a specific area such as the eye (a trademark of another type of headache called a cluster headache).

The tension that brings them on may stem from emotional stress (if that emotional stress creates chronic neck tightness), but it may also be caused by:

Weak neck muscles that become fatigued easily
"Text neck," a strain disorder that occurs if you're always drooping your head forward to look at your smartphone
Repetitive motion or overuse from work or sports activities
Secondary pain problems such as arthritis in the cervical spine

Stress-related headaches that bother you for more than 15 days out of the month for 3 months or more are considered a chronic pain condition.

Physical therapy and headache relief

Our physical therapist can help you get to the bottom of your headache problem.

If your headache is cervinogenic in nature, we may need to work on your neck. For instance:

Our physical therapist can help you identify other migraine triggers and suggest strategies for avoiding them in your everyday life.
If your migraines are the result of a recent concussion, a carefully-administered course of physical therapy can actually help you recuperate from that concussion more quickly.
Corrective exercises and postural/ergonomic changes can help you steer clear of "text neck" and other occupational headache triggers.
Laser therapy and massage therapy can both relax tight neck tissues and speed recovery to injured muscles.
Chiropractic adjustment can correct skeletal misalignment issues that place your neck muscles under unnatural strain. These adjustments can also help to reduce cluster headache attacks.
Exercises that strengthen and loosen your neck muscles can help to ease the stresses that set off your headaches.

What’s causing my persistent headaches?

What is a headache, beyond the simple definition of a pain in the head? There are actually several categories of headaches, each with its own distinct causes and symptoms.

For most sufferers, chronic headaches mean tension headaches. A tension headache can be triggered or aggravated by emotional tension, but the actual mechanism involves physical tension in the muscles of the neck.

Tight or strained neck muscles can go into spasm. When spasms overtake certain tiny muscles near the base of the skull, the resulting tugging action irritates a membrane called the dura mater. The dura mater then responds by flooding your head with a vaguely pounding or aching sensation.

Weak or underdeveloped neck muscles may be naturally vulnerable to tightness and spasms. Accident injuries (including whiplash) can push the skull off-center in relation to the neck, subjecting the neck muscles to abnormal stresses. (A headache that specifically involves the upper cervical spine is termed a cervinogenic headache.)

Even routine postural problems can cause neck strain and tension headaches. For instance, if you stare down at your smartphone for hours each day, you can develop a painful problem known as "text neck" which also promotes headaches.

Other kinds of headaches, while less common, can prove even more debilitating. Cluster headaches are a prime example. These intense headaches strike one side of your face in clusters of attacks. These headaches have been associated with cervical spinal abnormalities.

Migraines are even more notorious for causing nausea, light/sound sensitivity, faintness and vision problems on top of brutal headaches. Migraines sometimes occur as a complication of concussions; they are also triggered by exposure to specific stimuli such as lights, sounds, or foods.

Schedule a consultation with a physical therapist today

You're not doomed to go through life plagued by frequent headaches. If you're ready to free yourself from this burden, give physical therapy a try.

Contact our physical therapist today to learn more about our headache treatment options!

So You Have Back Pain – Chances Are, It Could Be From a Herniated Disc

Did You Know Your Back Pain Could Be Stemming From a Herniated Disc?

How do you know whether you have a herniated disc or it’s just good old back pain? One telltale sign can be where the pain is located.

Strange neck pains, back pains, or extremity symptoms can indicate a variety of potential problems - including one or more herniated discs.

How can you tell for sure whether you have this specific problem? If you do have a herniated disc, what can you do about it?

With a herniated disc, the pain is typically located in the lumbar spine. That’s the lower part of your backbone. The pain may radiate from the back to the thighs, buttocks, or calves.

A herniated disc can cause pain whether you're resting or active. Even a cough or sneeze can cause pain as it puts pressure on pinched nerves.

The benefits of physical therapy for herniated discs

A physical therapist will have you engage in specific exercises to ease the pain and strengthen the muscles associated with a herniated disc. Physical therapy programs also include ultrasound therapy, deep tissue massage, ice and heat treatment, stretching exercises, electrical muscle stimulation and aerobic exercises.

Deep tissue massage uses pressure to relieve spasms and muscle tension due to a herniated disc. Heat therapy helps increase nutrients and oxygen to the affected area for healing. Cold therapy helps reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

Active treatments like exercise for a herniated disc focus on core stability, flexibility and muscle strengthening. Keep in mind that core muscles help support the spine. Learning proper stretching and flexibility techniques will help your body move easier. Muscle strengthening creates a solid support system for the spine and helps relieve pain.

A physical therapist will also teach your self-care principles and home exercises. This way, you can prevent further injury and enjoy the long-term effects of physical therapy. With physical therapy, you’re an active participant in your recovery.

“Herniated discs can be very painful injuries that impact your day-to-day life. The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to get surgery to repair your herniated disc. In fact, studies have shown that 90% of patients were able to recover by pursuing non-surgical courses of treatment like physical therapy.” That percentage is a testament to how effective physical therapy is in the treatment of a herniated disc.

How do I know if I have a herniated disc?

A good way to determine if you have a herniated disc is to visit your physician. Likely, your doctor will do a physical exam and may even take an x-ray.

While an x-ray won’t show a herniated disc, it can help rule other causes of your pain like a fracture. If your doctor recommends having an MRI, this test can show detailed 3-D images of the spinal cord and pinpoint if there is a herniated disc. It also shows which nerves are affected.

The purpose of spinal discs is to act as a shock absorber when you engage in daily activities, like walking, sitting, lifting and running. Each disc has a soft inner ring and a tough outer ring. When the outer ring is injured, the inner ring may protrude out and cause pain.

Common causes of a herniated disc include weak muscles, age, being overweight or leading a sedentary lifestyle. And if you turn suddenly, you can also incur a herniated disc.

What can I expect from treatments?

Herniated discs can be successfully treated with physical therapy. At your initial appointment, one of our physical therapists will perform diagnostic tests to determine the root of your pain and verify that your pain is indeed being caused by a herniated disc.

Once the cause of your pain is clear, an individualized treatment plan will be created for you, based on your specific needs.

This typically includes a series of stretches and exercises aimed at relieving your pain, improving your function, and promoting the natural healing process of your body. Additional treatments may be added as your physical therapist deems fit. These include:

Manual therapy
Ice and heat therapies
Traction
Class IV laser therapy
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
Education on posture and lifting mechanics

Your physical therapist will also advise you on any lifestyle changes that may be recommended in order to prevent herniated discs from developing again in the future.

Physical therapy is one of the safest, quickest, and most effective ways to treat herniated discs. It is a holistic and non-invasive approach that, in many cases, has been able to eliminate the need for harmful drugs or surgical intervention.

Learn how to get started

If you are suffering from a lower back pain and you think it may be due to a herniated disc, contact Washington Physical Therapy and Rehabilitations today.

We’ll help discover the origin of your pain and treat you accordingly. Schedule a consultation to get started and begin your journey toward living your highest quality of life, free of lower back pain!

Sources:

https://www.physicaltherapyfirst.com/2018/07/30/herniated-disc-exercises/

The Drug-Free Path to Pain Relief: Physical Therapy

Pain is a serious problem in today’s world. An estimated 1 out of every 5 Americans suffers from some degree of chronic pain, and 8 percent of those sufferers find the pain so intense that they can’t pursue their normal activities. It’s little wonder, then, that painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs have grown into such a mammoth industry. Unfortunately, these drugs offer their own share of troubles, from addiction to dangerous effects on internal organs. Many people are now seeking effective pain relief that doesn’t come from a pill bottle. If you’re one of those people, you need to know about the amazing pain-busting potential of physical therapy.

The Problem With Painkillers

A variety of over-the-counter and prescription medications promise to ease pain and inflammation temporarily. Steroids do this by suppressing the immune system for people suffering from painful auto-immune disorders (such as rheumatoid arthritis). That same immune-suppressing power, however, also makes the body more vulnerable to infection. Long-term steroid use has also been associated with cataracts, glaucoma, hypertension, water retention, acne, high blood sugar and osteoporosis. NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) block the production of inflammatory chemicals in the body. These drugs aren’t necessarily safe, either. NSAIDs can cause stomach bleeding and kidney damage in some individuals. They have also been associated with elevated heart attack and stroke risks.

Perhaps the most ominous danger comes from opioid drugs. Opioids can deaden more than just pain. These powerful drugs caused over 70,000 fatal overdoses in 2017 alone. Some of these deaths may have been related to recreational drug use, but over 60 percent of the deceased were chronic pain sufferers.

Physical Therapy for All-Natural Pain Management

Physical therapy offers numerous advantages as a safe, effective, all-natural pain management tool. A physical therapist takes each individual’s symptoms (and those symptoms’ underlying causes) into account when devising a physical therapy plan for pain management. Your plan might include modalities such as:

Aerobic exercises to get the blood flowing and encourage joint lubrication
Resistance training exercises to strengthen muscles, making physical actions less of a strain
Cold laser therapy and/or massage therapy to boost circulation, relax tissues and reduce inflammation
Electrical nerve stimulation to interrupt pain signals
Chiropractic adjustment to help joints move more freely and correct painful musculoskeletal imbalances
A soothing combination of heat therapy and cryotherapy

Physical therapy appears to have one more major contribution to make toward freeing pain sufferers from their symptoms. Some physical therapists have adopted “brain-rewiring” techniques such as graded motor imagery to help patients develop a new perception of their pain — one that allows them to master and minimize their responses to it. This form of physical therapy seeks to give individuals more control over their pain so that they can tolerate more exercise, which then reduces the pain even more.

Physical therapy can do more than just help you feel better. By providing you with non-pharmaceutical pain control measures, this form of care can help you steer clear of the side effects of prescription and non-prescription drugs. Better yet, you’re going beyond the temporary numbing of your symptoms by actually treating the underlying causes of those symptoms. Why settle for the illusion of relief when you can have the real thing — and improve your health and functionality in the process?

Looking for Answers to Your Pain? Talk to Our Physical Therapist

Our physical therapist will be happy to create a pain management program just for you. Request an appointment with Washington Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation today!

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Find Help for Your Arthritis Pains Today

Do you feel like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, barely able to move thanks to stiff, painful joints? Does arthritis pain prevent you from going about your daily activities and living the life you want to live? Believe it or not, those painful joints may bother you less once you start using them more. Physical therapy can provide a number of benefits, from wider range of motion to greater joint strength and stability — without the risks and side effects of anti-inflammatory medications. Our physical therapist will be happy to help you conquer your arthritis pain, so contact Washington Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in Kirkland, WA today!

What Is Arthritis?

Arthritis can prove as confusing as it is painful, partly because there are so many possible causes of joint pain and inflammation — over 100 of them, according to the CDC. Conditions ranging from uric acid accumulation to bacterial infection can inflame and damage the body’s various joints. The usual symptoms include swollen, stiff joints that cause pain either constantly or with joint motion.

Causes and Symptoms of Arthritis

The two chief types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis typically occurs as the end result of many years of ordinary joint usage, although it can also develop more quickly in association with an injury or extreme joint wear. The cartilage that normally permits smooth, friction-free motion within the joint grows thin and breaks up, while at the same time, the joint may start producing less and less of its own natural lubricant fluid. Rheumatoid arthritis tends to occur in periodic flare-ups instead of causing constant pain and deterioration. In this form of arthritis, an immune system reaction attacks the joint components as if they were foreign invaders.

The classic symptoms of arthritis vary according to what type of arthritis you have. Both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis can cause joint pain, swelling, redness and deformation. But rheumatoid arthritis may be accompanied by additional symptoms such as fever, weight loss, weakness and fatigue. It also tends to come and go in acute episodes, while osteoarthritis is more of a constant, progressively worsening presence in your life.

How Physical Therapy Helps Arthritis Pain

If you’re struggling to use your hands, turn your head, or walk even short distances without pain, you might be understandably hesitant to use those arthritis-ridden joints at all. But the truth is that regularly flexing your joints and exercising your body can help you feel and move better. Research indicates that exercise can reduce the pain experienced by arthritis suffers. Based on your particular condition and type of arthritis, our physical therapist may recommend the following kinds of physical therapy exercises:

Flexibility exercises – These exercises are designed to help you increase your pain-free range of motion. They can be as simple as arm raises or shoulder rolls.
Strength-building exercises – Gentle, careful weight training, as prescribed by our physical therapist, can lend extra stability to your joints, helping your muscles and connective tissues assume more of the joints’ burden.
Aerobic exercises – Aerobic exercises boost your circulation. This increase in circulation supports joint tissue health while helping inflammatory substances and excess fluids to exit the joints.

If your weight-bearing joints make walking too painful to contemplate, our physical therapist may prescribe water walking instead. Standing in a water-filled pool reduces the amount of weight your joints must support, allowing you to exercise more easily and comfortably.

Looking for a powerful, drug-free way to ease your arthritis pain? Contact Washington Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in Kirkland, WA to schedule an appointment!

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