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Movement is essential to an athlete. At the base of any sport, matter of fact just about anything, an action that must be made in order for a result to be obtained. Sharks cannot breathe unless they are moving, plants move with the sun to live, and a bat must be swung in order for there to be a home run. Having a full range of motion is what an athlete needs in order to thrive in a competitive environment. Here at Peak Physical therapy and Wellness we offer services to aid you in recovery and increasing your mobility.

Every sport demands a certain level of strain on specific muscles. Pitches rely on their rotator cuffs and to soccer players, their hamstrings and acls are precious. When these muscles are injured or torn they cannot function at the same caliber as they once did. At least not for a while. When muscles repair themselves, just like the skin, a scar is left. This is a patch, a cover, a stand in for what was once there. Scars on the muscle can lead to restrictions in the soft tissue which result in a loss of movement; in order to work through the scar tissue we employ a method that is called the Graston technique. This is also often represented as an acronym IASTM which stands for Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manual therapy which we will go into below.

IASTM: Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manual therapy 

There are many different forms of manual therapy, at Peak PT we use the Graston Technique as mentioned above. This technique uses specialty hand held instruments to work through your soft tissue by rubbing and scraping across the skin over the affected area. The act of scraping helps loosen the scar tissue and also rearranges the structure of the tissue to encourage circulation and a strengthened growth pattern. If you suffer from achilles tendinitis, carpal tunnel, rotator cuff tendinitis, neck or back pain, shin splints or joint swelling to name a few, then this technique is for you. Used in the treatment of many professional athletes, this technique is regarded as one of the best ways to rehabilitate damaged tissue.

You can also work towards increasing your mobility at home! While you need us for the proper Graston Technique, staying hydrated and engaging in low to no weight activities will keep your muscles limber. Keeping your muscles active will lessen the strain they receive as you begin to work towards operating at full capacity again! 

Connect with us today to begin your journey to recovery and a more mobile life. Our main focus here at Peak Physical Therapy and wellness is your wellbeing. Whether it be swimming with the sharks or swinging for the fences; using the Graston Technique our physical therapists will work with you to get there.

Everything accomplished in a day is possible because of the sleep achieved the night before. Some of the major systems that keep us alive, our respiratory, cardiovascular, and digestive systems to name a few, are impacted by the amount of sleep we receive. When recovering from a sports injury the body and mind need time to rest and recover as well.

Sleep is not one thing, rather four stages that cycle to form what most consider to be sleep. Within these four stages our bodies are able to repair themselves from the previous day's labors and prepare us for the day ahead. Whether for an athlete searching for the best route to recovery or someone interested in living their healthiest life, sleep is of the utmost importance. Here is some information on all four stages of the sleep cycle and why they are critical to our daily functions.

acronyms to know
NREM: non-rapid eye movement, also called quiet sleep
REM: rapid eye movement, otherwise known as active or paradoxical sleep 

The Stages

NREM Stage 1

The beginning of sleep. In the NREM Stage 1 you transition from being awake to sleeping, this all usually lasts about five to ten minutes. While in stage 1 your brain begins to slow and with it follow your eyes’ movement, heartbeat, and breathing. 

NREM Stage 2

In NREM Stage 2 you become less aware of your surroundings and eye movement completely stops. As your breathing and heart rate even out, body temperature drops and the brain begins to produce sleep spindles. They are believed to be associated with memory consolidation, which is the creation of memories through gathering, processing, and filtering the previous day. Lasting about 20 minutes, this stage is a preparatory for those to follow..

NREM Stage 3

NREM Stage 3 is the most restful of all the stages; your muscles are relaxed fully, breathing slows and blood pressure drops. This is where we experience our deepest sleep; also known as delta sleep. Our brain waves slow, becoming delta waves and while in this stage it is very hard to be awakened. The body takes this tranquil time to begin its physical repairs and the brain consolidates declarative memories, things you have learned throughout the day, general knowledge, personal experiences and such. NREM Stage 3 is the key to us feeling rested and ready for the day to come.

REM Sleep

Before coming into REM sleep, you first dip back into the preparatory NREM Stage 2 rest. Stage 2 accounts for about half of all the time we spend sleeping as it is a transition stage between others. After our bodies have gone dormant, the brain wakes up. Our breathing and eye movements are sped up and irregular, on scans the brain is lit up with activity. This can also be attributed to the fact that while in REM sleep, we experience dreams. 

Cycling through the stages is how our bodies are able to fully rest. Now that we have covered each, you can see that sleep is critical to our body's overall functioning. After completing one sleep cycle, it begins again allowing us to recover from injuries and daily strain. We here at Peak Physical Therapy and Wellness want to help you live your healthiest life and get back to playing your sport as soon as possible! Reach out today for an appointment and let us help you begin your journey through recovery.

Here at Peak Physical Therapy we care about you and your physical health. We believe in the benefits and importance of low impact activities and subtle strengthening exercises. Practices like yoga and pilates are incredible ways to benefit both your body and mind. However, many people use pilates and yoga as if they were interchangeable when in fact, they are quite different. Below we’ve broken down the basics and origins of each practice, read through and discover which might be the better option for you!

What is yoga?

Yoga is a practice that focuses on bodily and spiritual healthing through the use of movement, meditation, and breath. There are six branches of yoga: Hatha, Raja, Karma, Bhakti, Jnana, and Tantra. These each focus on a different aspect of self betterment and health. Hatha yoga is the branch people are most familiar with knowingly or not; often used in physical therapy Hatha yoga uses the physical body. You may have heard of Vinyasas yoga, Power yoga, or Hot yoga, these are all different forms of Hatha yoga which can be used in recovery as well as preventative practice. 

The History:
Yoga is believed to be as old as civilization itself. In yogic lore Shiva is considered as the first yogi who passed down a vast amount of powerful knowledge to the seven sages or Saptarishis. These sages traveled throughout the globe taking the teachings and science of yoga with them. It was in India that the system of yoga we most often consider today took root. From 500 BC - 800 AD yoga was most fundamentally developed though it wasn’t until 1100AD that Hatha yoga became established. 

What is Pilates?

Pilates is an exercise system meant for overall body conditioning and tone founded by Joseph Pilates. Primarily focused on isolating and strengthening certain muscle groups, this form of exercise is often used by dancers. Repetition and specific movement patterns are a defining characteristic of pilates and can be practiced for not only the strengthening of muscles but also recovery. While total body conditioning is the overall goal, much of the focus in pilates is directed at the body's core due to its direct impact on the totality of the body. 

The History:
A once sickly boy, Joseph Pilates was bound and determined to become strong and healthy. Upon the beginning of World War I, Pilates was an emigre living in Britain, considered a “German enemy alien” ; he was interned and worked as a nurse in a hospital. This is where he began to experiment with exercises patients could do from their hospital beds. From these experiments the Pilates reformer was created along with the system of repetitive motion and isolated conditioning. Post World War I Pilates moved back to Germany and worked alongside other pioneers in movement before moving to America in 1923. It was in New York where he opened his first studio with his wife Clara and the Pilates method of movement took off.

We hope you have found this brief overview of the two exercises helpful! If you are looking to improve your physical health situation, reach out to us today. We have an extensive team of qualified physical therapists and specialists who care deeply about their clients and go above and beyond the call of duty to provide the highest quality treatment in the industry. If you are looking for a therapist who will carefully assess your individual needs and formulate a treatment plan that is specifically tailored to your needs, Peak Physical Therapy and Wellness is your preferred choice for the physical recovery process. Contact us today for more information.

Athletes know that no matter the time of year, maintaining their fitness is crucial to being prepared for the next season. It takes a lot more than going to the gym and not skipping leg day to keep in shape! Here are some tips from your Denver physical therapist to staying fit as well as some services we offer to help you along the way!

Firstly, your body can only perform as well as what you put into it. The cliche “you are what you eat” is scarily accurate. This is because the body's natural systems function better when fed specific vitamins and minerals. For example: Vitamin A keeps vital organs working properly such as your heart, liver, and lungs and Vitamin C helps boost the immune system. While vitamin supplements are available, you lose out on the additional nutrients you’d receive from eating them in food form. The next time you’re compiling your grocery list, take a look at these important vitamins and minerals and what foods they reside within. Consider meal planning and add a few items into your cart to enrich your meals and body today.

Beyond the consumption of foods rich in vitamins and minerals, sleep is very important to overall health. Without a solid sleep schedule you can be left drained before the day has even begun. A report by the CDC, recommends 7 hours a night minimum for people aged 18 and up. Throughout these seven hours your body moves through four different stages of rest. The first and second stages are your body's way of entering and then settling into your sleep. These first two stages usually last about 30 minutes total followed by the third stage of NREM or, non rapid eye movement. This third stage is where you experience your deepest sleep. Your body starts to physically repair itself as your blood pressure drops and breathing slows. This is the sleep we are trying to achieve for our body's sake. When it comes to dreams, they are present in the last stage, when you enter REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Here the body is completely relaxed while the brain awakens thus leading to dreams. These stages repeat throughout your sleep until you eventually awaken, usually, refreshed.

When your body is well nourished and reseted it is much easier to engage in any day to day activity. Doing workouts feels easier as your muscles are more equipped to deal with the strain put upon them. One last great way your Denver physical therapist recommends to maintain your fitness is to engage in low impact activities such as swimming or yoga. This helps you balance out more strenuous engagements by realigning and recuperating your body. 

Here at PEAK Physical Therapy, beyond recommending activities best suited for your fitness maintenance needs, we look at and use both FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) and SFMA’s (Selective Functional Movement Assessment). These help inform our physical therapist on how to best help shield your body from potential damaged joints and muscles. Contact us today here to get into one of our clinics; whether looking to begin your fitness journey or maintain it, we have got you covered!

It’s that time of the year where all are gathering in festive cheer. Whether travelling to visit your loved ones or enjoying some solo relaxation, we want to keep you feeling your best! As we stuff our faces with delicious dishes we can amass a little fluff, however, sometimes we swell up not due to what we consume but because of systems within our bodies. This can be caused by lymphedema.

Lymphedema is a condition that causes limbs to become enlarged due to tissue swelling. Improper drainage of protein-rich fluids leads to this ballooning effect; it can develop when you have lymph nodes removed or if your lymphatic vessels are damaged. This condition often affects arms and legs however it can occur in other places as well. While all can suffer from lymphedema, commonly cancer patients experience this swelling due to having lymph nodes removed or damaged while in treatment.

At PEAK Physical Therapy and Wellness we offer a range of services and Lymphedema Treatment is one of them! You can view patient forms here to fill out and submit inorder to get into one of our offices today!

Lymphedema treatment can look like a multitude of things as it is a condition that is not curable. From movement to massage, physical therapy is shown to drastically decrease symptoms you may experience. While enjoying your holidays, you don't want to be plagued with a lack of mobility or an infection. Our specially trained physical therapists will work with you to create a treatment plan to help you stay happy and healthy. 

Briefly, some of the options:

Regular lymphatic massages 

Swelling is caused by a lack of drainage throughout your lymphatic system. A regular massage schedule for your afflicted areas will encourage drainage and keep those protein-rich fluids from building up so quickly.

Exercise

Another great way to encourage drainage is to engage in light physical activity. The gentle contraction of your muscles will help your lymphatic system keep the fluids moving.

Compression garments

Keeping your extremities compressed also helps with drainage. While you can grab a compression sleeve from the store, it is best to see your physical therapist. This is because it is important to get the proper amount of compression for your needs. You can cut off blood flow or end up not compressing enough to encourage drainage if you try to assess yourself.
These are just a few possibilities for a lymphedema treatment regimen with us. As you work with our specialist you may find certain things help you more than others. That is great! Please give us feedback as to how your journey to staying happy and healthy is going. We care about you and your wellbeing, not only during the holidays but year round! Contact us today to get into one of our offices near you!