Latest News & Blog

Patellar Mobilizations  - What is it? Why is it done? 

If you have recently had surgery, you may have noticed your physical therapist frequently moves your kneecap, or patella, up and down and side to side. Why is this performed you may wonder? Well, if you tense your quadricep muscle on the front of the thigh on your uninvolved side you will see that the patella moves up, or superiorly.  

The quad and the patella have a working relationship for the knee joint to function properly. When the quad fires, the knee extends, and the patella moves superiorly. Inversely, when the knee flexes, the patella moves downward, or inferiorly.  

Immediately following surgery, the ability of the quad to fire decreases due to swelling and atrophy. Sometimes adhesions can form around the patella during this time, so it is important to get the patella moving again. Your physical therapist will often mobilize the patella in different directions. The purpose is to help the quad to fire or to restore range of motion in the knee joint. Your quad can’t fire without a superior movement of the patella. Also, if you have increased superior movement of the patella, you will gain more knee extension. Have you ever noticed feeling more range of motion in the knee following manual therapy? This is one of the reasons why PT works! 

Stress is one of the most pervasive issues adults face every day. It comes from your job, your social life, your financial health, and sometimes the community at large. Whatever the cause of your stress is, the longer you experience those feelings, the more impact it can have on your health and wellbeing. Though getting physical therapy in Aurora, CO, can help you manage the physical symptoms of your stress, it’s still best if you understand how stress can impact your health. The sooner you can recognize the signs, the faster you’ll be able to seek proper treatment and get your life back on track. 

Frequent Aches and Pains
One of the most common symptoms of stress is seemingly inexplicable aches and pains that pop up without warning. This happens because your muscles are overly tight and, as long as you’re stressed, will stay that way without being given the chance to relax and let go. Over time, those tight muscles can lead to changes in your posture and your body’s natural alignment, making it harder to enjoy the activities you normally do. Worse, by overcompensating for those sore muscles with other muscle groups, you increase the number of pain points across your body. 

Increased Blood Pressure 
Stress doesn’t just make your muscles sore. It can also have far-reaching consequences with your heart health and blood pressure. When you get stressed and stay that way, your blood pressure goes up on its own. This is true even if your blood pressure levels are normal when you’re less stressed. It’s part of your body’s natural response to external stress triggers. Unfortunately, high blood pressure can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke over time. The sooner you can de-stress and unwind, the easier it will be to get your blood pressure levels back down where they belong.

Intestinal Upset
If you’ve ever been so stressed and anxious that you’ve felt sick to your stomach, you’re not alone. It’s more common than you might think and while stomachaches are relatively rare and reserved for people experiencing the highest levels of stress, it’s normal to have digestive upset during periods of increased emotional or mental strain. In most instances, this will show up as increased bloating, gas, nausea, and even a lack of hunger. Though dealing with those symptoms in the short term is doable, they can become particularly troublesome for your health if you have to cope with them for days on end. 

Weakened Immune System
Stress can also wreak havoc on your immune system. It causes it to weaken or become less effective at fighting viruses and bacteria that you get exposed to at work, the store, or in public. This is because your body is diverting energy away from your immune system to help you maintain your fight or flight response. The weaker your immune system is, the harder it will be for you to stay healthy throughout the year. Once you find ways to de-stress, you’ll be able to boost your immune system and get things back in shape.

Trouble Sleeping
One of the biggest symptoms of serious stress is the inability to get to sleep or stay that way throughout the night. Insomnia doesn’t just hurt your sleep schedule. It can also have a major impact on your health. Remember, your body rests, heals, and recharges when you’re sleeping. If you’re not getting enough sleep each night, your body won’t be able to recover fully. You’ll likely notice changes in your productivity at work, your focus, and your ability to enjoy the little things in life.

Increased Risk of Injury
Remember those tight muscles you have when you’re stressed? Well, they can end up increasing your risk of muscle strain and injury just from your normal activities. When your muscles are tight, they have less of their natural range of motion and aren’t able to withstand the shifting, pushing, and pulling that you do in your regular movements. Instead, they’re more vulnerable to strains and tears. Those strains can take months of work and recovery to heal fully. Though a physical therapist will be able to help you speed up your recovery, you’ll still need to find ways to lower your stress if you want to avoid injuries in the future.

Weight Gain
Though some people experience digestive issues and upset when they’re stressed that can cause them to stop eating or eat less, others don’t. Some people end up eating more than they need to or start indulging in junk foods that they shouldn’t eat on a regular basis. Unfortunately, eating more junk and more calories each day can cause you to gain weight even if you’re otherwise maintaining the same healthy habits you do when you’re not stressed. The more weight you gain, the more it can impact your stress levels and your overall health. Remember, carrying more weight than is healthy can be tough on your joints and your cardiovascular system.

What You Can Do
One of the best things you can do for your overall health and wellbeing is to find ways to relax and unwind even when you’re stressed. This might mean stepping away from situations that you find stressful or taking time for yourself each evening to meditate or read a favorite book. These simple acts of self care can help you avoid the common issues caused by stress in the long run. 

Put Yourself First
Stressors are everywhere. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed and notice aches and pains that just won’t go away, schedule an appointment with your physical therapist as soon as you can. The sooner you can find ways to help your body heal, the better off your body and your wellbeing will be. Remember, asking for help isn’t something to feel ashamed of. It just means you’re recognizing your own limits. Reach out to our team and schedule a consultation with our experienced physical therapists. We’ll help you find the appropriate treatment protocol to help you overcome any stress-related injuries.

What is IT Band Syndrome and What You Can Do To Heal It.

Do you experience pain the knee that has slowly started and you don’t know why?
Do you avoid activities you used to love because of pain?
Do you feel like your knee just isn’t as mobile as it used to be?

You could be experiencing something called IT Band Syndrome. 

Where is the IT Band?

The IT Band stands for the Iliotibial Tract or Band. It is a band of tissue that is a mix of muscle and tendon, it starts at the pelvis along, what is called the Iliac crest, and goes straight down the side of the leg and ends just below the knee at the Tibia. Its biggest job is abducting your leg (bringing it out to the side or stepping to the side). 

So what causes the pain?

Most commonly, the IT Band can get overused and start to cause problems that relate to the knee. Typically, if you are having knee pain with walking, pain when you bend your knee, tenderness when touching the side of your leg towards the knee; this is irritation, a strain, or overuse of the IT Band.

How do I get out of pain?

At Peak, we see a lot of people with tightness and tenderness in this area and it can be treated with a consistent regiment of stretching, soft tissue mobilization, and strengthening of surrounding structures. Deep tissue massage, cupping, and massage with a medical grade instrument (similar to Graston) can be very helpful in decreasing tightness that most commonly occurs from overuse.

A resolution of this commonly overlooked issue can range from a quick 4 weeks to 2-3 months depending on how consistent you are with your therapy and stretching. You also need to make sure you aren’t doing any of the activities that flare it up. Remember if it is an overuse cause you need to let it rest. 

If you feel like you are being affected by this stubborn IT Band, come in and let us help guide you down the road of recovery, don’t suffer over something that can easily be addressed. 

What is Cupping (aka those big circular bruises seen on peoples back)?

Have you ever seen those big bruised circles on your favorite athlete and wondered “what happened??” For many, the first experience with cupping was seeing Michael Phelps during the 2016 Olympics, covered in dark circular bruises.  Since then, the sports world has been taken with cupping.  

 

Historically, cupping has been utilized since ancient China. Originally it was used to help cleanse impurities and balance chi however since 2016, cupping has been used to help address imbalances in the body that are more physical in nature. In physical therapy, cupping is used to address muscle tightness, tissue adhesion and trigger points. In the body, the different muscles and tissues are layered on top of each other and, when there is an injury in the body, these layers can stick to each other.  This sticking, or tissue adhesions, can cause muscles to become tight, uncomfortable, and sometimes to even cause trigger points. Trigger points are irritable nodules that develop in the tissue, more often known as muscle knots. 

 

Cupping is the use of plastic or glass cups and a pump to create a vacuum over the area of issue in the body. The cup is placed on the area that is either tight, painful or restricted in motion and the pump is used to remove air from inside the cup. When the air is removed using the pump, the superficial skin and tissue is pulled into the cup. The act of pulling these tissues into the cup, this distraction of tissues, can cause a few different effects that can benefit the different muscles. Cupping can increase fluid between the layers and “break up” tissue adhesions. First, increased blood is pulled to the area of the cup and, therefore, increased fluid is able to flood these tissues.  This fluid can help to “hydrate” the tissue and to allow for better gliding between tissues. Second, this increase in pressure can cause tissue adhesions to break apart and improve the ability of the tissues to move and glide over one another.  

 

In the Physical Therapy field, the color of your marks do not correlate to greater issues in the tissue but most people will experience dark bruising from the cups. These bruises generally take 7-10 days to fade and often are tender, as bruises can be, for up to 0 days as well. Overall, your therapist can use cupping to help get rid of those nagging muscle knots and often, address the tightness and pain you may feel after an injury.

 

Come see your therapist today to see if cupping therapy is the right thing for you!

Is Your Weak Core Causing You Back Pain?

Have you ever had low back pain that just doesn’t go away or doesn’t seem to get better?
The first thing to look at is how strong and stable your core is.

If you have a weak core, your low back can compensate in order to complete different activities. Keep in mind that your core is not just your “six pack”, it goes all the way around your waist.

When lifting something off the floor while not activating your core, your low back will take over and you could risk a back injury. The most common lift people do wrong without the proper core engagement is a deadlift (a.k.a. picking something up off the floor). A poor deadlift is one that includes a rounded back which is the leading cause for possible strains/sprains in the tissues as well as disc issues. The same thing applies to rotating movements. 

You could also find yourself having back pain with walking. This could happen for many reasons but the most common seems to be excessive pelvic tilt, mostly anteriorly.

What this means is that your back muscles are overactive or tight. This then causes your abdominal muscles to be lax or overly stretched and your front hip muscles to be tight as well. On the other hand, if someone demonstrates an excessive posterior tilt this would mean that their glute muscles and abdominals are going to be tight instead. Low back pain can get complicated as it is one of those things that shows symptoms with a chain reaction down the body. Your low back could be tight due to hamstring, quad or hip flexor tightness which can all be addressed by stretching. 

One other reason that your back could be hurting is if your QL or your hip hiker muscle is overactive and is mostly seen as a “limp” when walking (pictured below).

Someone can also present with a hip hiking compensation walking pattern with other leg injuries; they do this to avoid using the injured area because of the discomfort associated with use. This compensation pattern will lead to back pain and as you can see in the picture it could radiate up into your shoulders as well.

Does any of this sound like it may fit your situation?
Check out this Instagram post for core strengthening exercises and if you still experience back pain, come see us at your local Peak Physical Therpy location so we can help!