Did you know that certain conditions and injuries are best treated while you are in the water?

These conditions include:

After an initial evaluation, a licensed physical therapist may design an individualized comprehensive treatment plan for you that may include aquatic therapy. By conducting your care in water that is maintained at therapeutic temperatures, you will have greater control over your movement with less pain as your body is partially supported by the buoyancy of water.

This particular type of therapy is used to treat a variety of medical conditions and diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, strokes, Parkinson’s disease, obesity and muscular dystrophy. The use of water allows you to function at levels that are not possible outside of this environment, which affords positive physical gains. The ultimate goal of aquatic therapy is to progress you to a more functional, land-based program.

An aquatic therapy plan of care can help a patient achieve:

Less pain with normal, everyday activity

Improved endurance throughout the day

Greater ability to perform the activities that matter most to you

Improved balance and coordination

If you have been affected by these chronic debilitating conditions, please see a specialist at the PRI clinic. This multi-disciplinary team is specifically trained to properly introduce your body to aquatic therapy, which will allow your body to achieve a remarkable improvement in your lifestyle. To book a consultation, please call or follow these links.

Tel:      (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com

We look forward to helping you out!

Last month we touched on the idea that to successfully self-manage chronic pain, you have to manage your stress.

Let’s look at the second reasons why this is true.

Stress management and chronic pain management

We saw last month, how overcoming stressors related to pain makes life easier and better, even though you continue to have chronic pain. We also saw how overcoming stressors can lead to better coping, which, in turn, makes chronic pain more tolerable. Doing so, however, is important for another reason: managing stress well also reduces pain itself.

We all know that stress makes chronic pain worse¹. No matter what the original cause of your pain, stress exacerbates the pain. You have probably noticed this fact.

Whether it’s from depression, insomnia, relationship or financial problems, stress affects us by its effect on the nervous system. Stress makes us tense and nervous – literally. Our muscles becomes tight, particularly in certain areas of the body – the low back, mid and upper back, shoulders, neck, head, forehead, and jaw are the most common areas (we also feel it in our gut, by the way, with upset stomachs, reflux, diarrhea, among other things). Over time, the chronically tense muscles can ache and spasm. In other words, the persistent stress that results from chronic pain can cause chronic muscle tension, which, is painful.

Chronic pain causes more pain! It does so through the stress that it causes, which subsequently activates the nervous system and the persistently stressed nervous system leads to chronic muscle tension, which becomes painful in and of itself.

When understanding the role of stress from this perspective, most every chronic pain patient readily understands it because they live it. They see how stress affects their pain levels from their own experience.

Stress and its effect on the nervous system can exacerbate pain through more direct routes too. It’s not just the effect that stress has on muscle tension. It’s harder to see from your own personal experience, however, and so you’ll have to rely on a more textbook-like explanation. Stress, particularly the persistent stress of problems that occur as a result of chronic pain, causes changes to the nervous system itself. These changes occur in the spinal cord and brain and they result in changes in how sensory information is processed. An example of sensory information is pain signals that travel from nerves in the body, through the spinal cord, and up to the brain; the brain subsequently processes this information and the experience of pain results. As a result of persistent stress to this system, the brain comes to process such information with greater and greater sensitivity and as a result less and less stimuli (i.e., sensory information) is required to experience pain

It’s generally accepted that by overcoming the persistently stressful problems that occur as a result of living with chronic pain – such as insomnia, depression, anxiety, you can make some headway in reversing these changes. You might not be able to change them entirely, but enough to reduce the pain itself. Indeed, most providers would concur that to adequately manage chronic pain these kinds of stressors must be addressed.

Concluding remarks

In all, good stress management is essential when it comes to successfully self-managing chronic pain. There is only so much that can be done to reduce pain when you have chronic pain. The most effective therapies we have for chronic pain are at best only mildly or modestly helpful at reducing pain. There is, however, no end to how well you can get at managing the stressors that result from chronic pain. It’s possible to overcome depression or anxiety or insomnia or relationship problems or any other stressor, even if you continue to have chronic pain. Now, these problems are not easily overcome. They take work and motivation and perseverance. Nonetheless, it is possible. By doing so, you get better. Pain becomes more tolerable too. In fact, by reducing the amount of stress in your life, you also reduce pain itself.

It’s for all these reasons that your healthcare providers keep wanting to focus on the stress in your life, in addition to the chronic pain in your life.

For more info on how to take control of your health, and tackle chronic pain in a smart way, please reach out to:

Phone: (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com

The term rounded shoulders is used to describe a resting shoulder position that has moved forward from the body’s ideal alignment. Rounded shoulders, sometimes known as “mom posture,” are part of overall bad posture, and they can get worse if left untreated.

There are a few simple exercises that can help keep the shoulders in their correct position and relieve the stress caused by slumping.

Posture is an example of how a person’s habits can affect their physical body. Conditions such as text neck and rounded shoulders are some of the most common ways poor posture begins.

Any activity that causes the body to look down and forward for long periods of time can contribute to slumped shoulders.

These positions disrupt how the muscles in the neck, back, and shoulders normally function. It is these muscles that control the way the body maintains its posture throughout the day.

Daily tasks that may contribute to rounded shoulders include:

using a smartphone or tablet

using a computer or laptop

sitting for long periods

driving a vehicle

bending over repeatedly

carrying heavy objects all day

The risks of rounded shoulders include the negative impact they can have on health and appearance. By inadvertently training the body to be hunched forward over time, the muscles interpret this slumped position as the body’s natural state. This can be very harmful for the body if left untreated.

Increased stress on the shoulder joints can cause pain around the neck and upper back.

It is best to correct rounded shoulders by adjusting the posture as soon as possible.

Diagnosis

Chiropractors and physical therapists may lead a person through a few tests to see if they have rounded shoulders.

The doctor may first look at the person’s resting position while they are standing. A person with slumped shoulders may seem to slouch, even when asked to stand up straight. Their hands are also likely to face behind them, with the thumbs pointed at each other.

A correct standing posture will see the hands facing towards the body with the thumbs facing ahead. This is a simple test, but it will give doctors a good indication of a person’s everyday posture.

Doctors may use a variety of other tests to help them diagnose rounded shoulders and poor posture, in order to recommend the best treatments.

It is always advisable to work directly with a knowledgeable practitioner to treat rounded shoulders.

Stretches and Exercises for Round Shoulders

Handclasp

The handclasp stretch is simple and can be done every day. Standing up straight with the hands by their sides, a person reaches their hands behind them to clasp them together.

Gently, they then pull the shoulders back, while taking care not to allow the neck to push forward.

The shoulders should be pulled back until the chest opens and a deep stretch is felt. The position should be held for 30 seconds.

Door chest stretches

Just as the shoulders were stretched, the chest needs to be stretched to keep a person’s posture strong. One simple way to do this involves the use of a doorframe.

Standing straight in front of a doorframe, a person should place one hand on either side of the frame, just above head height.

Moving one foot forward and gently lunging past the frame will stretch the chest and shoulders. Hold this position for 30 seconds.

Shoulder blade squeeze

This basic exercise reminds the body what good posture feels like, and helps build strength throughout the day.

Sitting up tall, a person should move both shoulder blades together, as if trying to hold a tennis ball between them. As they flex, the shoulders should move down and away from the ears.

This position should be held for 10 seconds, and repeated 10 times.

The T stretch

The T stretch is best done in the morning, just after waking, or in the night, just before sleeping.

The person lies flat on their back with their feet flat on the floor. Their knees will be bent and facing up.

The arms should be extended out to the sides of the body, palms facing up. When done correctly, there will be a slight stretch in the back and shoulders.

This position can be held for up to 10 minutes each day for the best results.

Wall stretch

The wall stretch is one of the most important exercises for rounded shoulders.

A person begins by standing with their tailbone, lower back, upper back, and head against a wall. The feet are positioned slightly away from the wall. The arms are pressed flat against the wall, keeping the elbows at a 90 degree angle.

This position is held for 30 seconds to a minute to provide a gentle stretch and workout for the shoulders and upper back.

us at:

Tel:      (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com

Hemophilia is a congenital genetic disorder. Hemophilia patients lack certain proteins in plasma which are responsible for blood clotting. Hemophilia type A or deficiency of coagulating factor 8 is the most common type of hemophilia and among every 10,000, one newborn is affected. Severity of this disease depends on the level of clotting factor 8. If the amount of clotting factor 8 is between 5-40% of normal level, the person is affected with mild hemophilia and spontaneous hemorrhage rarely is seen in this group. In the moderate type, the amount of factor 8 is less than 5% and in severe type, this number reaches to less that 1% of normal level. One of the side effects of Hemophilia is muscle weakness.

Muscle weakness occurs because of the repetitious bleeding within the joints. Hemophilia patients who are affected with hemarthrosis will lose their muscles strength and their range of motion through time and this leads to inability to do the patient’s daily function. Swelling and joints pain leads to restriction of the joints movement. After this inactivity, the patient uses less the joints and muscles which are around the painful joint. However, the pain itself also helps the development of this inactivity. Thus, after a while, the person will be affected with muscle atrophy and his muscle strength and joints’ range of motion will decrease. When we compare a hemophilia patient with a healthy inactive person, the difference in the amount of muscle strength is obvious. Compared to sedentary healthy people, hemophilia patients’ muscle strength, especially in the lower limbs, is reduced.

One study, done by Dr. Kargarfard et al evaluated the effect of a period of aquatic exercise therapy on muscle strength and joints range of motion in hemophilia patients.

Aquatic exercise therapy which was performed on hemophilia patients caused significant improvements in the muscles’ power and the joints’ range of motion. Because the muscles weakness and poor range of motion was are among the main problem of hemophilia patients, it is recommended that these patients do the exercise therapy in the water along with the other treatments procedures to improve their joints condition, strength and range of motion.

Similarly, Aquatherapy can help with other conditions that induce muscle weakness, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, muscular dystrophies, hypotonia, a lack of muscle tone that’s usually present at birth, myasthenia gravis.

If you have been affected by chronic debilitating condition that causes muscle weakness, please see an aquatic therapy specialist at the PRI clinic. This multi-disciplinary team is specifically trained to properly introduce your body to aquatic therapy, which will allow your body to achieve a remarkable improvement in your lifestyle. To book a consultation, please call or follow these links.

Tel:      (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com

We look forward to helping you out!