Bouncing Back After Baby

Getting back into pre-pregnancy shape after baby. It’s something we all dread, since we know it’s not as easy as it looks. We all see celebrities weeks after giving birth with washboard abs, and sit there in envy. However, losing the weight that rapidly just isn’t realistic for most of us and the lifestyle we live.

Feeling like you gained a lot of baby weight? Relax, it’s normal! Most women gain between 15 and 40 pounds during pregnancy. According to leading doctors, post pregnancy the average new mom should aim for losing 1-2 pounds per week.

Have a hard time getting exercise in because you’re so busy with your baby? Try combining the best of both worlds- going on long walks while pushing the stroller, or even a mom-baby yoga class. These are good ways to get exercise, and even make new friends!

So what’s the easiest way to shake off the baby weight? The key factor is everything in moderation. Make sure you keep a balanced diet. This means eating healthy but not starving yourself. One should be eating between 1800-2000 calories a day while breastfeeding. One of the best and quickest ways to lose weight is to breastfeed, which burns an average of 500 calories per day, as well as to regularly exercise. If you keep a healthy nutritious diet and exercise regularly and rest a lot your body should bounce back in no time!

Alzheimers Awareness and PT

November is Alzheimer’s disease awareness month, and for those of you who don’t know, it is a condition which affects 5% of Americans age 65 and older and is the fifth leading cause of death among senior citizens. This disease is the most common form of dementia, damaging brain cells and affecting how we speak, think, and interact with the world around us over time.
Your risk of being diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease increases as you age, and having a relative with the disease can further increase your risk.

How Can a Physical Therapist Help?

Research shows that physical activity can improve memory. Regular exercise may delay the onset of dementia as well as delay the decline in ability to perform daily activities for people living with Alzheimer’s disease.

As trained experts, physical therapists can design individualized exercise programs for people living with Alzheimer’s disease. In the early and middle stages, physical therapists focus on keeping people mobile and able to continue their roles in their homes and communities. During the later stages, physical therapists assist patients in performing their daily activities as long as they can, reducing the burden placed on family members and caregivers of the person diagnosed. Physical therapists can also instruct caregivers on how to manage the needs of a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease.

People living with Alzheimer’s disease often develop other conditions linked to aging – like arthritis or broken bones. Physical therapists are trained to treat these conditions, and take into account the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on other health conditions and on their patient’s ability to understand and follow through with important instructions.
The therapist may use various training methods to simplify instructions, and use unique Alzheimer’s specific approaches, including:

Visual, verbal, and tactile cueing – The physical therapist provides cues such as pointing to objects or gesturing signaling the patient to perform different tasks. For example, lifting up both arms can signal to a patient to stand up.

Mirroring – This technique involves the physical therapist serving as a “mirror,” standing in front of the person to show them how to move.

Task breakdown – Physical therapists give step-by-step instructions to their patients by breaking down a task into short, simple pieces, to be completed separately to maximize safety.

Hand over hand facilitation – The physical therapist guides the body part of the patient through the motions of completing a task, showing them how to do the activity through guided example.

Physical therapists are trained medical personnel who through their care, can help improve quality of life and possibly delay the need for institutionalization of their clients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Healing Frozen Shoulder with Physical Therapy

The Cause

From scar tissue, there is a stiffening of the shoulder and as a result there is painful movement and a loss of motion. It is debatable on what exactly causes frozen shoulder. Some believe that it is caused by the body launching an attack against its own substances and tissues; this is called an autoimmune reaction. Others believe frozen shoulder is caused from the lining of the joint becoming inflamed.

Physical Therapy

A thorough evaluation will be performed by your physical therapist. To rule out other diagnoses, an extensive health history evaluation will be conducted. A “capsular pattern” which is a specific pattern in your decreased range of motion is common with frozen shoulder and this is what your therapist will look for. Diabetes, thyroid disorder and autoimmune disorders are all associated with frozen shoulder; these are factors that your therapist will take into consideration in order to determine a proper diagnosis.

So you can live your life the way you used to prior to your injury, your physical therapist’s overall goal is to restore your movement.

Physical therapy for each stage of frozen shoulder:

Stages 1 and 2

In order to help reduce the pain your physical therapist will help you maintain as much range of motion as possible. To increase your range of motion your therapist may use a combination of stretching and manual therapy techniques to help relax the muscles prior to other forms of treatment. Heat and ice treatments may be included.

Stage 3

Your therapist will start to use more aggressive stretching and manual therapy techniques, the focus of treatment will be on the return of motion. In addition, you may begin exercises that help strengthen the affected area.

Stage 4

In the final stage you will return to normal, everyday pain-free activities. The primary focus will be the return of “normal” shoulder body mechanics. With a variety of manual therapy techniques, your therapist will continue to use stretching and strength training.

Why Using A Fitness Tracker is Best

Everyone is always concerned with their well-being, whether its trying to lose those extra few pounds, to watching what they eat, going to the gym, and overall just trying to live a healthier lifestyle. Well, there is a fairly new and knowledgeable way to enhance your ability to do so: the fitness tracker. The fitness tracker is now an in trend, wrist-worn band that tracks metrics such as distance that is walked or run, calorie consumption, your heartbeat and quality of sleep. What could be better? Its an all in one product that gives you the utmost insight to your body.

Once you get the readings on how your body works, you can use the information to help us live healthier and improve in the areas that are needed. The first step in doing so, is establishing a baseline. Which is going about your daily activites like you normally do. Once that is established it will help provide you with the best ways to incorporate healthier alternatives into your day. For instance, going on a walk after a meal, or going to sleep an hour earlier. Counting how many steps you do daily, and making the goal for the day higher or lower.

This is definitely one of the best motivating products to promote health. You tracker even gives you feedback on your activity, and on certain trackers it even lets you set goals. If a goal is too low, the tracker may set it higher, and if the goal is too high, the tracker will set it lower, it order for it to be more achievable. This product gives you long term results and makes you motivated than any other product to achieve it.

Its time to finally achieve the healthier and happier lifestyle you have always wanted, in the most simplest way. Time to get started, go purchase your fitness tracker now, you won’t regret it !

Did you know that you do not need a referrals for physical therapy? For more information call The Physical Therapy Alliance (516) 568-4444 with locations in Massapequa, Valley Stream, Wantagh and Lindenhurst.