Tag Archives: Back Pain

Back Pain, Hip Pain

What are Symptoms, Causes and Treatment available to treat Hip Bursitis?

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Side view woman having a backache while working from home Free Photo

Hip Trochanteric Bursitis is one of the most common reasons for hip pain. This condition affects both the active and inactive individuals but the condition is more common among middle-aged women or females.

What do we mean by Hip Trochanteric Bursitis?

Hip Trochanteric Bursitis occurs when the bursa that covers the bony point of hip bone (greater trochanter) becomes irritated or inflamed. This is the most commonly inflamed bursa of the hip joint.

What are the causes of Hip Trochanteric Bursitis?

Hip Trochanteric Bursitis occurs due to the combination several factors including:

  • Repetitive stress-injuries resulting from running, bicycling or standing for long hours.

  • Hip injury

  • Spine diseases like; scoliosis or arthritis of the lumbar spine

  • Inequality in leg-length

  • Rheumatoid Arthritis

  • Previous hip surgery or prosthetic implants in the hip

  • Deficiency of Calcium

  • Bone spurs or development of calcium deposits within the tendons

  • Hip muscle tightness or weakness

  • Abnormal hip or knee structure

  • Poor hip or knee mechanics

What are potential symptoms of Hip Trochanteric Bursitis?

The patients suffering from Hip Trochanteric Bursitis may experiences one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Pain and swelling at the affected side of the hip

  • Tenderness on the outside of hip

  • Pain while lying on the affected side

  • Sharp Pain in the hip that changes into a dull ache and travels down the side of leg

  • Pain & stiffness while sitting or walking for prolonged periods

  • Pain while climbing stairs or sitting with legs crossed

How can Physical Therapy help to treat Hip Trochanteric Bursitis?

Physical Therapists typically suggest or prescribe the combination of stretching and strengthening activities to treat the condition and as well to eliminate the pain. Following treatments or strategies may be adopted by your physical therapist to achieve the specific goal:

  • Ice therapy may be used to reduce the inflammation of bursa

  • Electrotherapy or deep-tissue massage techniques may be used to reduce pain & irritation.

  • Range of motion exercises are prescribed to restore normal mobility to the back, hip and knee

  • In order to decrease muscular tension, stretching techniques may be applied to the lower body.

  • Hand-on treatments may be used to move your muscles and joints in order to improve their strength & motion

  • Strengthening exercises may be applied to eliminate excessive strain at the trochanter.

  • Your Physical therapist may develop a safe and customized progressive resistance program to strengthen your lower extremity

  • Functional training may be provided to help you to safely transit back to your normal or routine activities

  • Patient education will be provided in order to eliminate the risk of re-injury. You will be educated about safer & controlled body movements

Contact Alliance Physical Therapy for the state-of-art and efficient treatment of any of your musculoskeletal problems or diseases. Our professional and diligent Physical Therapists use patient-proven methods and top-notch techniques to treat your problems and help you to get back to your work as early as possible.

Auto Injury Rehabilitation, Back Pain, Hip Pain, Knee Pain, Neck Pain, Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy Clinic, physical therapy treatment, virginia physical therapy

5 REASONS TO CHOOSE PHYSICAL THERAPY AFTER SURGERY

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After surgery, rehabilitation speeds the healing process, and it helps you learn the best way to care for yourself and return to daily activities.

Some of the patients are quite hesitant and might delay the Physical Therapy. Delay can be a challenge for patient and a big problem later down the line. Loss of Strength, muscle stiffness, Regaining proper movements of surgical part are the complications must face by patient after the delay after surgery, A physical Therapist helps to improve health with quality of care, in order to the things they want to do again. By choosing Physical Therapy at right time you can avoid surgery. In the Physical Therapy variety of techniques used to attempt for the injured part or surgical part. Before you go to the surgery must get PT visit first, after surgery you will have get to the Rehab area, why not to try it first. Physical therapist believes in the statement- any discomfort on the body can be cure and should be treated. No matter what king of surgery you are undertaking but the physical therapy after surgery will help you to know the best way to care for yourself and restart your daily routine. Following are the Reasons:-

1. Boost up Mobility, Strength and Balance-May be an image of one or more people

Loss of Mobility can have a devastating effect on your quality of life. Surgery can restrict your range of motion. Physical Therapy helps to improve mobility through movement, strength techniques; they help to improve muscle tone. Depending upon the severity of surgery, PTs would improve your balance. Physical Therapy is a vital part of healing for any type of surgery. Without ability to move freely and without pain a person may experience depression, weight gain and other health consequences. Even people lose the self- confidence. The goal of physical therapist is to get back to independent life and confidence. Ultimately Physical therapist will do whatever is necessary for your health. Physical Therapy can provide a safe and gradual plan to get you confidently back on your feet. And if the surgery took place in the arm, wrist, or hand, therapists can help you sharpen your fine motor skills again.

2. Reduce Pain & Swelling-

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Physical Therapy never hurt, that’s why it is best choice when you have long term pain after surgery. Physical therapists are experts not only in treating pain, but also a source. Swelling after surgery is another basic step of healing. Electric nerve stimulation is short term relieve given through skin helps to improve strength and relieves muscles spasms. Heat Therapy is given for pain and inflammation and increase range of motion. Ice packs are recommended for 3-4 times a day and for swelling your physical therapist may provide massages and rehabilitation can help to decrease swelling and restrict the surgical pain from becoming chronic.

3. Reduce Scare Tissue Formation

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After surgery scar formation is a natural occurrence as scars helps to strength the tissues. Your immune system respond against the injury and scars arise over your skin due to collection of new cells that cover the site of injury. Some scars can be large and painful or tender. Excess scar of tissue can reduce function and movement for months after procedure. Many massage techniques, Pressure therapy, and Ultrasound therapy to reduce the thickness of scar, simply bending and extending the joints close to scar will also reduce tissue formation. By treating your pain with, you can reduce your dependency on taking medications for stiffness and pain of tough scar tissue.

4. Reduce development of Secondary Issues: 

Loss of Mobility can have a devastating effect on your quality of life. Surgery can restrict your range of motion. Physical Therapy helps to improve mobility through movement, strength techniques; they help to improve muscle tone. Depending upon the severity of surgery, PTs would improve your balance. Physical Therapy is a vital part of healing for any type of surgery. Without ability to move freely and without pain a person may experience depression, weight gain and other health consequences. Even people lose the self- confidence. The goal of physical therapist is to get back to independent life and confidence. Ultimately Physical therapist will do whatever is necessary for your health. Physical Therapy can provide a safe and gradual plan to get you confidently back on your feet. And if the surgery took place in the arm, wrist, or hand, therapists can help you sharpen your fine motor skills again.

5. Improves Flexibility-

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A fractured bone or rehabilitation after surgery requires weeks o rest were the muscles are not used at all. To prevent from injury increasing your flexibility is crucial step. Loss of flexibility leads to weekend muscles that easily become stiff, that effect jumping, running, walking bending and stretching movements. Restoring normal range of motion after surgery stretching techniques helps to maintain flexibility by reducing resistance in muscle tissue. Contracting and stretching of muscle by planned exercise during rehabilitation improve performance and enable to do everyday activity. Such training allows you to easier and deeper movements by increasing flexibility that must provide wide range of physical benefits.

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Auto Injury Rehabilitation, Back Pain, Certified Hand Therapist, Foot Pain, Hand Therapy, Hip Pain, Knee Pain, Neck Pain, Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy after Car Accident Whiplash, Physical Therapy Clinic, physical therapy treatment, virginia physical therapy

Physical Therapy after Car Accident Whiplash

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6 million auto accidents occur in the United States every single year, an astounding 11 accidents every single minute! And what’s more, close to half of them are rear end collision’s…meaning more often than not its a total surprise. And what word do we hear the most when people complain of pain…well, you guessed it WHIPLASH! What the neck is whiplash you say…well in short when your car gets hit from behind the natural reaction for your body is to do just that, REACT! And one of the most common reaction causes your neck to jerk and extend in a range of motion uncommon to your body…and the pain that’s associated with this is not fun. What’s worse a majority of folks will describe the pain as intensifying and feeling worse the next morning and day. Now you might ask your self the question “self, I can get over a little whiplash”; which actually isn’t entirely incorrect. The human body is an amazing organism that sure does an incredible job at self healing…but the REAL question is how long will it take my body to heal. Often times depending on the severity of the whiplash and collision it could take upwards of 6 weeks or more before youre your real self. Six weeks before you can sleep comfortably at night, six weeks of maybe having the dreaded “stiff neck”, six weeks of having to worry about when you’re going to get back to being pain free! NOT FUN.

Here are a few of the early symptoms our patients have reported to us:

  • PAIN and Stiffness in the head, neck, and shoulders
  • Loss of range of motion in the neck
  • Chronic migraines or headaches
  • Tingling and numbness in the upper extremities
  • Dizziness and Fatigue

At this point you’re probably wondering… is there any good news here?! Rest assured there is…and its simply starting your Physical Therapy treatment ASAP! We have therapists that are experts in auto accident injuries and can help assess the severity of your injury and get you going in a simple rehab program geared towards your treatment goals. The faster you get on top of aching and stiff muscles, the faster your body and life can get back to normal. But its one thing to just say treatment is important, its another thing to tell you why…

1) Patients often don’t realize just how bad their car accident-related injuries are until after they’ve returned to their normal daily activities. Pain, stiffness, reduced range of motion, and chronic headaches or migraines are just a few of the common injuries our patents will report; so we’re talking about stuff that can turn long term if we’re not careful. Specifically, a combination of therapeutic exercise and manual massage and mobilization techniques are what’s key in improving your flexibility and strength while your body is in the healing phase. In this fast paced world that we live in today, I’m pretty sure laying in bed for a few days in recovery is not an ideal choice for you or anyone else for that matter. So don’t hesitate, take the first step and get into treatment so you can be the real you sooner rather than later!

2) Looking at the prism of healing and recovery through the lens of someone just beginning to recover from an auto accident is truly quite interesting…in that there may not be a vision at all. It makes sense, your’e so engulfed in the present pain and discomfort at hand WHO has the room to worry about the future outlook?!. Well, I can tell you this much…coming from a clinician’s view (my own) it is really telling to note the difference between patients who start treatment right away after a collision and those that delay and start treatment when they may have moved into the chronic phase. And speaking to this chronic phase…that is not where you want to be!. I often times like to compare the human body to that of the vehicle you drive on a daily basis; in that its use on a daily basis requires a level attention and care. A care and attention that if left to neglect can turn a basic oil change that’s several months overdue due to trickle down dysfunction in your cars working engine. An engine that will start to become suspect because of a lack of timely care. Your body isn’t all that different in that a cervical and thoracic strain/sprain which has gone from being acute to chronic due to lack of attention and treatment can oftentimes lead to long-term cervial spine disfunction, postural abnormalities, nerve and orthopedic shoulder impingement, chronic migraines, and more….chronic migraines being one you surely want to have no part of! Just like any broken record you know what I’m going to say…GET INTO TREATMENT! So that you aren’t the one experiencing long term damage from a split second glitch on the road.

3) SURGERY…when you see this word like most people you automatically cringe and think of the worst imaginable situation (probably a scene from a scary movie or a terrorizing account you read on the web or saw on the news). And don’t get me wrong, surgery is not something to get excited about, but if you are reading this article and are in the process of having surgery or have had surgery to address an auto accident injury hope is not all lost! PT is most assuredly a tool that will undoubtedly brighten your future outlook. Along with overall wear and tear that your body endures along with your chronic pain, the goal of surgery is to in theory address your disfunction and bring you to your normal state of function and living pain free or close to that. In reality, in order for this theory to take shape different things must go your way…some you can control and some you can’t. Unfortunately you’re probably not going to be able to control your surgeons hand’s and upper extremities during surgery, or the amount of blood flow traveling to recovering muscles and tendons right after surgery. But what you can control is the start of physical therapy and the effort you put forth towards recovery, which from the perspective of the PT treatment room, is truly an amazing feat to witness. Physical Therapy will help to strengthen vulnerable muscles, tendons, and ligaments, which indirectly work to protect various structures down your functional movement chain.

4) And now comes the time when I need to share this small secret I’ve witness throughout my years treating patients…ready for this nugget? MOVEMENT IS GOOD FOR YOUR BODY!.

Ok, maybe that’s not a huge surprise that’s going to be life changing for you but its true; from both a biological and chemical standpoint, as well as from a mental vantage point as well. Part of many doctor’s orders immediately after an accident is rest…which isn’t entirely a bad thing. It’s just that being bed ridden for a majority of the day early on can open the door for other points of dysfunction like de-conditioning and overall muscular fatigue and stiffness. So Yes! General movement is a good thing. Internally speaking, movement pumps oxygenated blood and other nutrients to the injury site, which in turn helps the body heal from the inside out. Hey and when you move and are incorporated into a therapeutic exercise program that our skilled therapists work tirelessly at developing, you get these interesting chemicals called Endorphins that get released from your brain and into your nervous system. Without getting too technical here, endorphins basically are hormones that directly attach to pain reducing sensors in our nervous system that emit signals changing our perception of pain. So YES exercise helps to decrease our sensation of pain and discomfort! But that’s just half the battle here, as the mental aspect of movement and recovery are just as paramount. Movement in a physical therapy program along with at home treatment and movement progression enables our therapists to help mentally switch your brain from focusing on the pain at hand to the solution at hand. Having a set schedule that you abide by also puts you in a new mode of focus that begins with getting basic movement in therapy to ultimately getting to exercise and movement outside of the clinic with hobbies in sports, activities, and your leisurely activities.

So what’s my advice to you if you’ve read this far?? Take the first step and START YOUR TREATMENT TODAY!! Only then will you be able to see what I’ve been able to share with you here and what other’s have already been able to take advantage of here at ALLIANCE PHYSICAL THERAPY. Contact any one of our 16 locations between northern VA, Washington DC, and Richmond and our scheduling experts will get you in the best spot for you to start your journey. Or, visit the “Request an Appt” tab on the website and we’ll have the same experts reach out to you through the website, email, or Facebook. TAKE THE FIRST STEP!

Contact Alliance Physical Therapy for the expert diagnosis and state of art treatment of your pain and injuries. Our diligent team of physical therapists use patient-proven techniques and state-of-art technologies to make you as healthy and fit as before.

About the author:

Samson Belai

*Samson Belai is a clinician treating at the various Alliance Physical Therapy offices in the N.Virginia region and has spent various coursework and field work in orthopedic and post auto-accident treatment rehab. Licensed since 2010, Samson has been involved in the progress and road to recovery of hundreds of patients in the busy metropolitan and northern Virginia region.

Back Pain, Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy Clinic

How to Avoid Back Pain during Gardening Season?

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Back Pain Physical Therapy

Back Pain Physical Therapy

Warming up of weather and occasional glimpses of yellow orb in the sky excites most of us to get out in our gardens and make preparations for the spring time. Gardening is an excellent and vigorous outdoor and therapeutic activity but it also sends many of us to the doctors and physical therapists. Back Pain is the most common symptom among the people with gardening habits.

Gardening can be compared to athletic activities which involve lot of twisting, lifting and bending. So before getting your hands into plants warm-up properly, follow these easy quick tips and get ready for the day in dirt:

  • Warm up with light movements and go for a brisk walk to increase your flexibility.
  • Do not bend repeatedly. Try to do your work by kneeling or sitting.
  • Lift the gardening tools and equipments carefully. Instead of putting pressure on your back and hips, let your arms, leg and thighs carry the load by bending properly at your knees.
  • Make use of long-handled tools for proper grip and to eliminate back strain.
  • Practice proper and good body mechanics i.e. do not work in the similar position or posture for long time.
  • Keep your back in the proper alignment to reduce unnecessary strain.
  • Use stools and upside down buckets to sit comfortably and use pad to kneel to avoid knee pain.
  • Take frequent breaks, Stand up and walk around in-between the gardening activities.
  • Never bend and twist your back at the same time.
  • Stand up like you are getting out of the chair, i.e. keeping your back straight.
  • If you feel pain in certain area, apply ice or cold pack to the affected area and do not resume the activity till the pain subsides.
  • Concentrate on your legs and core while lifting heavy bags of soil, digging with a shovel and carrying water hoses.
  • To lift heavy items like; dirt bags, garden tools or planting material, use garden cart or wheel barrel
  • Use joint friendly tools so that you can stand straighter and can easily grip the handles as well

Contact Alliance Physical Therapy for the expert diagnosis and state of art treatment of your pain and injuries. Our diligent team of physical therapists use patient-proven techniques and state-of-art technologies to make you as healthy and fit as before.