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Body Smart Yoga May - Sponsored by Cresswell Physical Therapy
1st Tuesday of the month: Your neck, your life and Yoga
2nd Tuesday of the month: Your back, your life and Yoga
3rd Tuesday of the month: Your arms, your life and Yoga
4th Tuesday of the month: Your legs, your life and Yoga
Join physical therapists, Suzanne Cresswell and Gina Hall on Tuesdays at 5:15 p.m.
Develop a compassionate understanding of the language of May 2013 Newsletter
What is Frozen Shoulder?
April 2013 Newsletter
Your Muscles - Young & Old There are 430 muscles in your body. About 75 pairs of muscles provide the majority of body movement and posture. These muscles perform important functions in the body such as maintaining upright posture, moving body parts and absorbing shock. It is important to keep these muscles healthy and active to promote healthy tissues and limit injury. Muscle performance can be measured by looking at strength, endurance and power. Muscular strengthis defined as the amount of tension a muscle can generate. To increase strength, the resistance must be gradually increased during the muscle contraction, such as increasing the weight from 5lbs to 7lbs when doing bicep curls. Strengthening of a muscle occurs when the muscle is forced to work at a higher level than it is accustomed to. With a consistent strength training program, your muscles will become accustom to working at high loads and therefore will be able to “lift” more weight with less effort. Muscular enduranceexercise is defined as light resistance for many repetitions, usually no fewer than 20 repetitions per set. This will encourage the body to work aerobically, a more cardio based activity. However, too much endurance training may increase the risk of overuse injuries. You may want to combine your endurance training with strength training and significant rest periods. Muscle poweris the product of strength and speed together. This is better known as plyometric training. Plyometric training is important specifically to athletes to mimic the movement patterns of a particular sport such as tennis. The goal of plyometrics is to decrease the amount of time required to perform an activity. With age, there is a reduction in the ability to produce and sustain muscular power. This age-related phenomenon can results in a 20-25% loss of skeletal mass. These losses of musculature strength and muscle mass can have important health consequences such as an increase risk of falls, fractures and decreased mineral density. Research has found these weaknesses may be completely reversed in some people with an increase in resistance training. At Cresswell Physical Therapy, located inside Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness Center, we are experienced in assessing and treating muscular issues. Contact Cresswell Physical Therapy and we can assist you with injury prevention or any issues you may currently regarding your back pain. Call for an appointment at 244-7686. March 2013 Newsletter Disc Problems: What Does it Mean?
There are many misconceptions regarding back pain and disc issues. Your doctor may have said that you or someone you know has a bulging disc. You may have been told you have a herniated disc but you are no longer experiencing back pain. It is also possible that you can experience severe pain but have a very small disc issue. What does that really mean and how does it affect your activity? The answer is: it depends on where the disc problem is and to what extent the disc is damaged. An intervertebral disc is a cushion type of structures which sits between each of your boney vertebras. The role of the disc is to cushion and respond to stresses from spinal movement. As we age our discs become stiffer, less malleable and less able to recover from injury/stress. Inside each disc is a jelly-like substance which is held together by a fibrous outer shell. As we age or injure ourselves this jelly substance becomes dried out and does not cushion as well. The jelly substance can also “leak” from the fibrous outer shell creating a “herniated” or “slipped” disc. A herniation or slipped disc can occur when this jelly fluid leaks into the fibrous section of the disc (but not escape it) creating a herniation. It can stretch out the fibrous barrier while still being contained in the disc, creating an extruded disc. It can completely escape the disc and become free fragments creating a sequestered disc. These different disc issues can cause everything from slight discomfort to debilitating pain depending on the severity of the herniation, location and multiple levels involved. Approximately 20-30% of people without any history of back pain may have abnormal findings on an MRI or x-ray. Even though these people have a “disc issue” they are able to control the movement of the disc and support it with the surrounding structures such as muscles, ligaments and good posture. Research states that 90-95% of all people with back pain will respond well to conservative treatment such as physical therapy, therapeutic exercise and postural re-education. Cresswell Physical Therapy, located inside Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness Center, provides a detailed and individualized back wellness program to individuals suffering from back discomfort. Contact Cresswell Physical Therapy and we can assist you with injury prevention or any issues you may currently regarding your back pain. Call for an appointment at 244-7686. Sun Oaks – February 2013 Newsletter Back Pain and Sports Therapy The best treatment for back pain caused by sports related injury is prevention. Prevention is easier than you think. Usually good technique for any sport will minimize your potential for injury or back pain. Talk to your trainer, coach, or instructor if what you are doing feels awkward. If your tennis game, cycling routine, or lap swimming feels “off,” you would benefit from slowing down, getting good advice, and ensuring your movement pattern feels smooth and symmetrical. Any feelings of awkwardness are usually an early warning sign that something you are doing is placing an asymmetric load on your joints and muscle tissues. The awkward asymmetry will cause muscles to overwork. In tennis, your back may be hurting due to an inconsistent ball toss on serving. Back pain during swimming can sometimes relate to diminished shoulder mobility and the accentuated need to arch through the spine in order to achieve the front crawl motion. Cycling with the petals malaligned can cause back pain from excessive hip flexion. Talk to your coach about preventing injury through relieving any awkward component of your sport. Physical therapy can teach you back strengthening exercises that will keep your muscles nimble, strong, and agile to coordinate actions for all your sports. Strong back muscles, together with a strong “core” are almost a full guarantee that back pain can be prevented. Core strength will improve your performance in the pool, on the tennis court, cycling, or in the gym. Contact us at Cresswell Physical Therapy and we can assist back injury prevention in order to ensure your ongoing and long-term enjoyment of sports and exercise. Most medical insurance is accepted. Call for an appointment at 244-7686. January 2013 PERSPECTIVES ON MIDDLE OF THE YEAR FOR YOUR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT Middle school is a transitional time from all perspectives. The teachers require students to demonstrate organization and independence, such as using assignment books, tracking personal grades, and being socially responsible. Typically, the first 9 weeks of instructional time is spent largely by teachers saying things like, “Don’t forget to check your assignment book” and “What do you mean you don’t have it?” Middle school is also the time when students dress awkwardly and drop a lot of things. Locker combinations and 4-minute class changes are a huge challenge in the beginning of the school year. Students also are extremely sensitive to peer pressure and are in the midst of an age-appropriate identity crisis. They are forgetful, physically awkward, and overly impulsive. Say the phrase “lack of self-control” and many folks automatically think middle school! Although most middle school students attain the skills needed to carry out the student role with minimal support, sometimes there is a greater need for support in carrying out these middle school occupations due to difficulties in impulse control, sensory modulation, or cognitive or motor skill challenges. At Cresswell Physical Therapy, our pediatric program focuses on the development of self-regulation strategies to help children learn to identify monitor, maintain, and change their level of alertness so that this level is appropriate to a situation or task. In the school setting the level of alertness can be called readiness. When students are able to change their level of readiness for the task at hand, they are adapting and learning. Self-regulating the sensory system is an excellent strategy for managing responses in the learning environment. A similar approach is utilized in sport psychology to maintain competitive alertness. Whether your child needs focus at school or on the playing field, contact Cresswell Physical Therapy for strategies on focused learning. We can assist you with medical insurance coverage. Call us at 244-7686 for an appointment at our Sun Oaks based facility or at our office at 2449 Court Street in Redding. December is the time of year that friends and family gather and share in celebrations. Each of us becomes challenged to time-manage the increase in social activities together with the structure and routine of our personal wellness program. A personal wellness program may seem to imply exercise, but it may also be comprised of personal wellness in terms of correct sleep duration, proper diet, or periods of calm solitude. "Tuning out" to some music while walking on the treadmill or diverting the usual mental gymnastics of a workday by playing a game of racquetball are both excellent techniques to maintain personal wellness. Please keep these good habits in your life during December. Draw up a December schedule and "calendar" your personal wellness time. Perhaps a walk over the Sundial Bridge, Sun Oaks gym time, or finish reading your book, would all count as scheduled personal wellness. Balance is the key to health. This is a very good time of year to exercise. Muscles and joints need movement. Movement enhances brain function. Mind and body health is a gift to give yourself this December. If pain or weakness keeps you from enjoyment, try physical therapy. Call us for an appointment. We are located in Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness Center as well as downtown Redding. Call 244-7686.
SUN OAKS NOVEMBER 2012 NEWSLETTER
No one needs to tell you the benefits of working out. We work out for strengthening, cardiovascular fitness, endurance and an overall feeling of well-being. We all try to “make it to the gym” several times per week with busy schedules and busy lives. Whether you get to the gym daily or only once in a while it will still have a significantly positive impact on your health and sense of well-being. October 2012 - NEWSLETTER
THE THERAPY OF TENNIS No one needs to tell you the benefits of tennis for stress management and cardiovascular gains. These are major reasons why tennis should stay as a top priority in your life. Whether or not you can finally beat your tennis partner that you have played against for months, is completely irrelevant to the fact you must stay on the court for your mental and physical well being. Too often players will become discouraged and disenchanted with themselves as their game does not seem to progress. They push themselves too hard during the Tuesday night league match following their Tuesday afternoon at work with a variety of stressors, not to mention the morning schedule at work compounded by ill coworkers. They push themselves to chase unreachable balls without taking into account the reduction in their general energy level. The consequence; time off the court recuperating from a torn heel cord or an injured elbow or sprained ankle. Some players never return. Don't be that guy! Warm up. Stay fit between tennis games. Recognize when your energy is low and bring your game in line with your stamina. Play smart, not hard. If you are recuperating from an injury, tennis can become a therapeutic medium to gain joint and muscle function.
• Consider short court tennis for recuperating foot and ankle injuries. 20-30 minutes up to 3 times per week.
For more ideas on tennis as therapy, contact Cresswell Physical Therapy, we would be pleased to help. We have an office located inside Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness Center as well as a facility in downtown Redding. SUN OAKS SEPTEMBER 2012 NEWSLETTER PLANTAR FASCITIS Pain on the bottom of the foot can be caused by a sudden increase in your activity level, a change in footwear or a change in walking surfaces, such as walking on concrete floors. The arches of the foot are normally maintained by a delicate balance of muscles, ligaments and numerous bones. Picture a Roman archway built of bricks; the foot bones are even more complex than this structure. Plantar fascitis can occur when irritation of the muscle, ligaments and supportive tissues (such as fascia) are overworked. Treatment to reduce the irritation consists of the use of ice and/or heat. Both of these are helpful, especially when done alternatively, such as a "contrast bath". Stretching the heel cord muscle is helpful. Try leaning forward against a wall that is two to three feet in front of you. Keep your heels on the floor. Perform the heel cord stretch with the knee straight and repeat with the knee bent. This way you stretch both of the muscles comprising the heel cord. Strengthening the muscles by walking on your tiptoes on a padded surface such as a pillow or chair cushion placed on the floor. In addition, walking on the heels only, on the same padded surface can be helpful. Try taking 10 to 15 steps in place. Developing symmetry and coordination of the involved muscles and joints can be very helpful. Attempt to pick up marbles with the toes and place them in an exact location. Rest and elevation is also of value as well as the use of sport tape. Sport tape can support the arches and numerous strips of tape can be placed either longitudinally or width-wise along the plantar surface of the foot.
Give us a call and see us at our Sun Oaks office for a consultation. JUNE 2012 SUN OAKS NEWSLETTER A Healing Attitude Counts Recuperating from an injury? You’re not alone. Most of us ebb and flow from one whoopsi-daisy to the next. How significant the injury may be will vary, but injuries come and go with alarming frequency. As a physical therapy for 30+ years, my patients have taught me many things that contribute to their quick recovery from injuries. At this point in my career, I envision the recuperation process to be a unique journey for each patient. When a new patient comes into my clinic, it is as if they are stepping through the threshold of a new experience. When it goes well, the stages I have observed follow a pattern. The stages I have observed initiate with a positive change to the patient’s rest/sleep cycle. They are able to be more comfortable at rest with less tossing and turning. The range of postures for sitting, standing, or lying down increases from reports of “I could only sit in my recliner” or “sleep on my left side” to new reports of “I can watch a movie sitting in any chair now” or “I can sleep anywhere. In fact, I camped outside last night.” This happy change to better rest and sleep is usually followed with less intense symptoms and gradual return to fun leisure activities with eventual return to gym workouts and sports. My patients have taught me that attitude counts. A healing attitude tends to be one where the patient embraces the journey of recuperation. Anger, resentment, and depression may be inevitable, especially when lost income accompanies the injury, but these personality traits are not conducive to healing. Science has demonstrated that these “rainy day” emotions actually reduce the immune response. Concurrently, thoughts of contentment or “sunny day” emotions enhance the immune response. It is important to remember that our thoughts and beliefs influence our immune response. The immune response influences our rate of healing. A healing attitude counts.
Please contact Cresswell Physical Therapy for more information on recuperation and healing from an injury. We have an office inside Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness Center as well as a physical therapy-owned private practice located at 2449 Court Street in Redding. We accept most insurances and you can call us at (530)244-7686. May 2012 TENNIS: A HEALTHY SPORT FOR CHILDREN Sports and physical activity is a lifelong commitment to good health. Active children are usually healthy children. Most children love playing a lot of different sports, but if you want to involve your child in something different than the usual soccer, basketball, and baseball, you could give tennis a try. There are many things that you can do to help ease him or her into the sport and with enough work and training a life long love of the sport can develop. Parents provide their children with the gift of good health and friendly competition through the sport of tennis. Try the following:
1. Before you put them onto the tennis court, expose them to the fast paced game. Show them clips on T.V, take them to a professional tennis match if you can, or just show them some of the action on the Sun Oaks tennis courts. Before they start playing you will want them to understand some of the rules and the purpose of the game. SUN OAKS APRIL 2012 NEWSLETTER YOGA: HERE AND NOW (Click here for complete Group Fitness Schedule)
Yoga for physical fitness is a beneficial way to observe the body gain strength and coordination. Our yoga studios at Sun Oaks Tennis and Fitness Center offer Hatha, restorative, power and flow yoga practices. We’ve come a long way from the ancient practice that began in India about 2,500 years ago. For centuries, the philosophy centered around the separation of mind and body with the body considered a burden to overcome. Yoga really took off in the West in the 1960s, an era when Eastern ideas appealed to many seeking a less hierarchical form of spirituality. Bikram Choudhury introduced his hot yoga in the early 1970s emphasizing the health benefits of increased lung capacity and circulation. The next wave of interest occurred in the 1980s. This wave embraced the physical benefits of the practice and yoga interest has steadily grown since then as people grasp the health benefits. Yoga has been credited with easing chronic pain, reducing risk of heart disease, reducing stress, increasing concentration and improving range of motion. Yoga is a balanced practice; it targets every muscle and joint in the body. Within this physical fitness aspect, yoga is an ancient tradition that is very deeply rooted in philosophy and spirituality as opposed to just training the body in the gym with music blasting. Yoga incorporates the mind and how to train the mind. Yoga challenges the Western idea that we are our thoughts. This challenge to our everyday idea of ourselves can be very freeing. In this society we tend to be so mind-identified, everything is about maximizing and multi-tasking and projecting ourselves in the future. Yoga is a practice that happens only here and now and is about being present and being aware and mindful. Yoga classes are offered daily at Sun Oaks. Cresswell Physical Therapy provides a yoga class on Tuesday evenings. Contact Cresswell Physical Therapy for your physical therapy concerns, we have a satellite office inside Sun Oaks. Call 244-7686. Gym Exercises for Tennis – March 2012 While you will need upper body strength to compete in tennis, most of your power comes from your legs and torso, which is where you should concentrate your workouts. In addition to increasing muscular size and strength, you'll want to improve muscular endurance and aerobic stamina. You'll also want to train specifically for tennis, which means fast muscle movements and improving your anaerobic energy system. You can accomplish all of this at the gym.
Build leg muscles with squats, dead-lifts, leg presses, hamstring raises, lunges and calf raises. If you are doing box squats with free weights, experiment with the height of the box on which you'll be sitting to make sure you can stand up with a weighted barbell on your shoulders without straining your back. Your knees should not be higher than your hips. Try a few box squats with no weight to get a feel for this exercise.
For your core, perform abdominal workouts that have you moving not only forward and back, such as sit-ups, but also side to side, such as oblique crunches. Perform five to eight repetitions, using your maximum weight, depending on your starting strength.
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