Category: bonejoint2
Can better sleep reduce your pain?
The short answer is yes. Rapid Eye Movement (REM), the dream state of sleep, and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM), the deepest state of rest, allow your brain and nervous system to recover from the day’s activities.
In his 2017 book, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Matthew Walker tells readers a lack of sleep makes people vulnerable to significant health conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart attack, depression… and chronic pain.
According to Walker, during NREM sleep, the brain prunes memories and transfers short-term memories to long-term memory areas, gains “muscle memory,” […]
Would an ergonomic assessment help you enjoy less stress while working from home?
Have you noticed a pain in your neck, back, shoulders, knees, or hands since the pandemic started?
It may be your workspace:
- A low chair strains your knees.
- A poorly positioned monitor leads to neck pain.
- The wrong seat height or chair pitch can create painful back conditions.
- Incorrect keyboard placement causes pressure and pain in the wrist.
Sitting for hours with your body in the wrong position plus the stresses and strains of working from home, and you have a recipe for tight muscles and pain.
Ergonomics is the study of designing equipment to work with the […]
Are pre- and probiotics the new wonder drugs for bone and joint health?
We’ve all heard, “You are what you eat,” but the more accurate statement may be, “You are what your gut bacteria eat.”
And when it comes to the typical American fast-food meal, the cheeseburger, fries, and milkshake are not good for you or your bacteria. Not only do the fats, sugars, and preservatives add weight to your body, but they cause unhealthy changes in your gut.
This fact is particularly concerning since a 2018 study shows the root of obesity’s impact on osteoarthritis may start in the gut’s microbiome.
Gain more flexibility at any age
The ability to bend, twist, and move freely increases a person’s balance, agility, and strength. If you’re healthy and do not have a pre-existing, movement-limiting condition, you can improve your flexibility no matter how old you are.
The goal is to be more flexible today than you were yesterday.
You may hear the term “Range of Motion” or ROM, which is the system orthopedic specialists use to determine a person’s flexibility level. To measure the degree of movement, your health care provider will use a protractor-like instrument called a goniometer or inclinometer.
As you bend and flex your […]
Why do I still hurt? Life’s circumstances can intensify pain.
You went to the doctor when you broke your elbow. They said it would take about six months for everything to heal and feel normal. Since then, you’ve been back to the doctor several times to talk about your elbow pain. Your X-rays show the joint healed well; the MRI showed the soft tissues are in healthy working order, so what’s wrong?
If you’ve followed your doctor’s orders and you still experience pain, it may be related to circumstances in your life.
Your brain produces pain when it perceives a threat.
Sometimes after […]
Why does my hip hurt when I walk?
Your hip joint is the largest joint in your body. When it hurts, it can slow you down or even stop you.
Hip pain can result from injury or diseases that directly affect the bone, cartilage, or other parts of the joint. Pain can also occur when something goes awry with the heavy-duty muscles supporting the hip joint: quadriceps in the front of the thigh, hamstrings in the back of the leg, and gluteus maximus or buttocks.
If you experience pain in the outside of the hip, in the groin, thigh, buttock, or low back when you […]
Meet Caitlyn Van Der Geest, PT, DPT, TPS
Caitlyn Van Der Geest, PT, DPT, TPS, has been a practicing physical therapist since 2010. She has lived and worked in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and has been in Wisconsin since 2015. Caitlyn is a Therapeutic Pain Specialist and a Fellow in Pain Science through Evidence in Motion and she is certified in trigger point dry needling.
Caitlyn Van Der Geest specializes in treating patients who are experiencing persistent pain after an injury or with chronic conditions. She also provides physical therapy care for all orthopedic conditions and sports-related injuries of all ages. Treatment […]
It’s Tick Season
If you live in Wisconsin, you know it’s tick season.
And with ticks comes the possibility of Lyme disease.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread by the saliva of black-legged or deer ticks. Ticks often secrete anesthesia as they bite, so the bite is painless.
Since we know ticks transmit Lyme disease, it should be easy to stop, right?
Not really. Besides biting painlessly, deer ticks are small. Adults are the size of sesame seeds, while the younger nymphs that also carry Lyme disease are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Their size makes it challenging to find them.
Not all ticks […]
Walking may be the key to avoiding osteoarthritis in your knees
You’ve heard that walking 10,000 steps is the best thing you can do for your health. But when you have sore knees, walking five miles may seem impossible.
The good news is that as few as 1,000 steps every day helps maintain mobility in your knees.
According to a study of 1,788 people with an average age of 67 years and a body mass index considered obese, walking just 1,000 steps each day made a difference. The daily exercise lowered the risk of loss of mobility by 16 to 18 percent——even when they were at risk of […]
What is persistent pain?
Pain. Everyone has experienced the uncomfortable feeling that signals something is wrong.
But people do not experience pain the same way. A person suffering from a broken bone will describe pain much differently than someone suffering a migraine headache. Sometimes pain is an inconvenience, at other times it is so severe it knocks you off your feet.
We know what pain feels like, but what is it?
In short, pain is your body’s alarm system.
Pain is normal. It’s our body’s way of telling us there is something wrong or dangers are present.
Just think about what happens when you step […]
