Tag Archive for: injury

skiing

Four tips to Protect your Knees and Avoid Injury when Skiing

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Skiing can put a lot of stress on your knee joints and if you’re not careful – lead to pain and injury.

Your knee joint requires both mobility and stability to function well. It’s important for your knee joint to be mobile enough to allow for a full range of motion. But, it also needs to be stable enough to support your body weight and absorb the forces that come with everyday activities. When it comes to skiing, mobility is going to protect your knees when you fall, and stability is going to keep your knees feeling strong as you twist and turn down the slopes. Maintaining a balance between mobility and stability is crucial for knee joint health in general. It certainly is crucial when it comes to skiing.

Here are four tips to help protect your knees and avoid injury when skiing:

1. Warm up before hitting the slopes.

When you take the time to stretch and warm-up your muscles before skiing your knee is not only going to feel better, but be better equipped to handle the stress of the day. Warming up helps to increase blood flow to your muscles and improve your strength, endurance and agility on the slopes.

When warming up, choose exercises that take your knee, hips and ankles through full range of motion. Plus – if skiing is a day trip for you, you’ve likely just sat in the car for an hour or more. Prolonged sitting puts extra stress and compression on your knee joint, especially in the front of your knees. Warming up your knees can help relieve this added stress on your joints before you hit the slopes.

2. Strengthen your upper leg muscles and core

Having good strength of your upper legs and core can help improve both the stability and alignment of your knee joint – which is important during skiing.

Your knee joint is surrounded by a complex network of muscles, ligaments, and tendons. When the muscles around your knee joint are weak, imbalanced, or simply not functioning well – this will cause your knee to move in ways that add extra stress to your joint. Given the stress skiing already adds, you don’t want to make your knee work any harder.

Strengthening your core and upper leg muscles will improve the alignment of your knee during activity, reduce the risk of injury, and improve the overall function of your knee – which can only help you when skiing.

3. Keep your Knees Mobile

Full and free mobility of your knee joint is important. It helps maintain the health of your joint and surrounding tissues.

When your knee (or any) joint doesn’t move well, you will get added stress on your ligaments, cartilage, and tendons. Your knees need to bend all the way so you can squat and pick things up.  They need to straighten all the way to give you stability when needed. When either of these motions are lacking – your knee joint suffers.

When it comes to skiing, if your ligaments and surrounding tissues are already stressed due to lack of mobility in everyday movement – they will certainly not be happy when you add the stress of skiing. Having a good mobility routine for your knees as a preventative activity is important. It’s going to really pay off when you go to hit the slopes each ski season.

4. Talk to a mechanical pain expert

70% of all knee pain is going to be mechanical in nature. Everything I’ve already described above is going to help you deal with mechanical movement faults that might be happening in your knee joint. But occasionally, despite all your best efforts, you need help from someone who specializes in mechanical joint pain.

Mechanical joint pain responds very well to what we call “corrective movements”. When you know what specific movement your joint needs to feel better, it literally acts like a prescription medication. You can use that movement any time you want to help relieve knee pain on your own. This is particularly advantageous when you’ve gone a little overboard on the slopes. You can “fix” your knee and be ready for the next day.

If you’ve already tried many of the strategies I mentioned, and continue to have knee pain when you ski, it might be worth visiting a mechanical pain expert to help set you on a customized path to preventing knee pain and avoiding an injury that requires more invasive intervention down the line.

It’s more fun to focus on the ski day ahead than worry about whether or not your knee joints can handle it.

I hope these tips help you to not only enjoy what’s left of ski season – but help you have healthier knees in general to keep enjoying all of the activities you love.

Local to Portsmouth, NH and need help with your knee pain NOW?

CLICK HERE to request a Free Discovery Session with one of my Specialists. They’ll ask you all about what’s been going on – and figure out if we would be a good fit to help.

Dr. Carrie Jose, Physical Therapist and Pilates expert, owns CJ Physical Therapy & Pilates in Portsmouth. To get a FREE copy of her guide to knee pain – CLICK HERE

Back Pain

Tips to Avoid Injury When You’re Over 50

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Most of our clients are aged 50 or above, and staying as active as possible while they age is a big priority for them. As we get older, our bodies do need more care and maintenance to not only age well but avoid injury. 

Here are some of my top tips I like to give clients to help them stay active and mobile, avoid injuries, and continue doing everything they love.

1. Keep Moving

You’ll often hear me say: “You don’t get stiff because you get old, you get old because you get stiff.” If you want to stay healthy and mobile, you need to keep moving. One of the biggest concerns I hear from folks aged 50+ is whether they should start modifying what they do because of arthritis. Remember, arthritis is normal. It happens to everyone as they age, and it’s rarely a reason to stop doing your favorite activities. In fact, research has shown that activities like running, when done consistently and with proper form, can prevent knee arthritis! The effects of arthritis worsen when you don’t move, which is when I typically see people having problems. Common “injuries” like meniscal tears and bulging discs are more likely to occur in arthritic joints. But the more active you stay, the less likely you are to be impacted by ailments such as this — and the better your joints will feel.

2. Maintain a Healthy Diet

Both osteoporosis and heart health become bigger concerns as we age, and what you eat can have a direct and positive influence. With osteoporosis, your risk of injury, especially from a fall, becomes much greater. Greens like kale, spinach, and arugula are awesome for your bones, along with citrus fruits, fish, and nuts. These foods help your bones stay strong and durable. According to Health magazine, “The risk of a heart attack climbs for men after age 45 and for women after age 55.” As you enter middle-age, increasing the presence of foods like unsalted nuts, unprocessed oatmeal, raisins, blueberries, and even dark chocolate (over 70% cacao) can help keep your heart healthy. Before making any drastic changes to your diet, especially if you’ve got comorbidities such as diabetes or kidney disease, you’ll want to check with your doctor or dietician. But otherwise, paying attention to your diet can have a big impact on how healthy you keep your heart and bones.

3. Work on your Balance

Balance is one of the first things to go as a person gets older, and it’s one of the most crucial factors in helping you prevent falls and avoid injury. Slips and falls due to poor balance can lead to broken bones and fractures, which become more common and harder to recover from as you age. But if you’re intentional about improving your balance when you exercise, it’s not too late to improve it. While there are many great balance exercises you can do at home, I always recommend incorporating balance strategies with movement and activity. Because rarely do we fall when just standing still. Try standing on one leg when you brush your teeth, place one foot up on a stool when washing dishes, walk around on your toes and heels during commercials. These are really easy strategies to incorporate into your daily living. And of course, activities like walking regularly, Tai Chi, Yoga, and our favorite — Pilates — are also great to promote good balance.

4. Strengthen your core

Having a strong core is beneficial at any age, but especially as you get older. Strong abs, hips and buttocks (all part of your core) help you to sit and stand more upright, prevent back and neck pain, and will help you feel stronger and more confident in just about everything that you do. In our office, our favorite core-strengthening activity is Pilates. We especially love it for folks aged 50+ because it’s easy on your joints and it helps to promote flexibility at the same time. But what I love most about Pilates is that it teaches you how to strengthen your core properly and safely, two important things at any age, not just when you’re over 50. When you know how to properly engage and use your core, you start to incorporate it more into other exercises. Suddenly walking, running, Yoga, and lifting weights all become that much more effective, and you’re far less likely to get injured doing them.

5. Educate Yourself

Knowledge is power, and lack of it, is one of the biggest reasons I see people decreasing their activity levels when there is no reason to. People think that things like arthritis, bulging discs, or a torn meniscus are reasons to decrease or cease certain activities. But that’s not necessarily true! Most of the things I just mentioned are normal occurrences as we age, and having them show up on an x-ray or MRI is not a reason to change something you’ve been successfully doing for years. Plus, regular movement and exercise actually helps these problems. If you’ve got pain, that’s a different story. Talk to an expert who can help you figure out what’s going on, so that you can quickly get back to your activities and not make your pain worse. Whatever you do, try to avoid Dr. Google. It can send you down a rabbit hole and not all the advice you read will apply directly to you. 

Should You Heat or Ice an Injury?

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Earlier this week, we put on a free Zoom workshop all about preventing and overcoming knee pain – and one of the questions that came up was if you should apply heat or ice when something is hurting. This is a VERY common question in our office, so we wanted to share the same advice we give to clients right here!

When to apply ice:

Generally speaking, the best time to apply ice is within 24 to 48 hours immediately following an injury. Application of ice during this stage has been shown to reduce the formation of edema and “secondary injury.” After that, it really becomes a personal choice. If you’re in pain, and ice makes you feel better, go for it! Some research has claimed that icing an injury after 48 hours is “bad” for you. But if you really dig into the research, it’s inconclusive on this topic. What I tell my clients is that if something feels irritated or inflamed – go for ice. It’s a much better and more natural alternative to pain pills!

When to apply heat:

Once you’re into the chronic stages of injury or pain, I’m generally a fan of heat. But the term “heat” is relative – and doesn’t necessarily refer to the application of a heating pad only. In fact, research has shown that heating pads are not able to penetrate deeply enough to actually have an effect on the injured muscle or soft tissue. But it does feel good… which can be beneficial in and of itself because when you “feel” better – your nervous system relaxes. If the superficial heat can relax the nervous system enough so that you can actually tolerate the movements or exercises that WILL actually heal you – then I can see a benefit.

The BEST way to provide “heat” as a way to promote healing to an injury is through movement – but you need the right prescription. The mistakes I often see, especially around 2-4 weeks post injury, is that people aren’t moving enough (if at all), or they are overloading the tissue and moving too much.

Movement truly is medicine, and it’s one of the best and most natural ways to properly heal from an injury – but you MUST get the prescription right.

So there you have it. You can’t really go wrong with either modality. The general rule is that if it’s an acute injury – ice up to 48 hours. For anything else, we typically recommend heat.

If you’re presently healing from an injury and not satisfied with your progress – perhaps you’re just missing the correct prescription. If you’re wondering what that magical movement is, or you’re wondering if the current movement you’re doing is safe, get in touch!

Speaking of movement as a way to heal…

Our Pilates 101: Get Your Back to Health is back!

This is our signature program and it’s designed to help those dealing with lingering back problems learn to move and heal the RIGHT way – from the inside out with proper core strengthening. It’s also ideal for those that had recent back surgery and you’ve already been through your initial stages of general physical therapy.

Interested in learning more or getting on the VIP waitlist for the program? Click here!

5 Ways to Prevent Injury In Your 50s

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Many of our clients are in the 50+ range, and we love seeing how these adults are staying active as they get older! However, as we age, our bodies do need more care and have different needs when it comes to exercise. Here are some tips that we like to pass on to our “more mature” clients, including our Pilates students!

1. Stay Moving

This is true for everyone – if you want to be healthy, you need to keep moving. But it’s especially relevant to older adults who might find that they don’t have the stamina for high impact workouts anymore. There are plenty of ways to exercise that are easy on your joints and still help you maintain the mobility that’s crucial for balance and strength as you age! Walking is often overlooked, but consistent walks will build up your strength and endurance greatly. Also, walking outside is a great way to get some fresh air and enjoy the beginnings of spring! For a more structured exercise regimen, consider trying Pilates! Pilates is a full body workout that is gentle on achy joints and allows you to move at your own pace. It will also improve your balance and coordination!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Maintain a Healthy Diet

What you eat directly affects your ability to keep moving – because if you’re not keeping your bones and heart healthy, you’re not going to be able to exercise! Greens like kale, spinach, and arugula are awesome for your bones. Along with citrus fruits, fish, and nuts, these foods help your bones stay strong and durable, and can help you recover faster from a fracture. It’s also crucial that as you get older, you’re intentional about taking care of your heart. According to Health magazine, “The risk of a heart attack climbs for men after age 45 and for women after age 55.” So as you enter middle-age, be sure to increase the presence of foods like unsalted nuts, unprocessed oatmeal, raisins, blueberries, and even dark chocolate (over 70% cacao) in your diet!

3. Choose Your Activities Wisely

We love seeing passionate adult athletes who still enjoy their sports as they get older! However, it’s important to understand that the risk of injury associated with certain sports tends to increase as you age. Contact sports, like basketball, soccer, etc., may lead to more broken bones and fractures when you’re in your 50s than they would’ve in your 20s. As you get older, your bone mass and cartilage both decrease, so be aware that collisions and falls could result in more severe injury. Also, note that non-contact sports like tennis, golf, and softball aren’t without their risks either.  With these activities we tend to see more soft-tissue-type injuries, like labral or ligament tears in the shoulders or knees. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to give up your sport – or be afraid to continue with them- just be aware of the risks, and take steps to prevent injury by giving yourself longer warm-up and cool-down periods and trying to avoid collisions. If you aren’t sure what an age-appropriate warm-up or cool-down looks like, talk to a physical therapist!  We can help.

4. Work on Balance

Balance is one of the first things to go as a person gets older – and it’s one of the most crucial elements in avoiding injury. Slips and falls can lead to broken bones and fractures that only get harder to recover from as you get older! But if you’re diligent about exercising with the intention of improving your balance, you can maintain it far into your later years. As mentioned before, Pilates is an excellent way to work on balance. It starts with your core, which is essential for good balance, but continues to work the whole body, leaving you much stronger and steadier. Yoga is also a great activity to work on your balance.  You can do simple yoga exercises at home too! It’s always a good idea to talk to a physical therapist about what is safe and practical for you, but one of my favorite home balance is activities is to practice standing on one leg when you brush your teeth! It’s super practical and very easy to implement.

5. Educate Yourself

The best way to prevent injury and make sure that you’re exercising safely is to find a regular healthcare provider -like a PT- whose goal is to KEEP you healthy and mobile versus only helping after an injury occurs. It’s possible to develop a good relationship with your PT to where you can access them and speak directly to them whenever you need them, instead of having to go through all the red tape of insurance and PCPs. Our biggest priority in our office is YOU, the client – your health, your happiness, and your ability to get the help you need, when you need it!

If you think it’s time to find a PT who can help you stay active as you age, want to try Pilates, or both, just let us know! Taking care of your body while staying active is essential to preventing injury, and we are here to help.