Functional Performance Center, Author at Functional Performance Center

Hand Hygiene & Health

Some things are always a good idea! Hand washing is one of them. It is always a good idea to maintain good hand hygiene! In times of infectious spread of illness, it’s the best idea! Do you know what’s awesome about hand hygiene? It’s easy to do! The poster with this post gives a quick glimpse on hand hygiene. If you follow its recommendations, you will be off to a great start. If you want to learn even more about hand hygiene, specifically in the healthcare setting, use the link provided to see the CDC’s full recommendations and statistical information on the subject.

https://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/index.html

Hydration Nation

The Topic

Let’s talk about hydration! It’s common knowledge that staying well hydrated is a good thing and dehydration is a bad thing. But, do you know enough about this topic to avoid problems? For instance, when should you start taking in more fluids? What are the signs and symptoms of dehydration? When should you seek medical assistance? Knowing the answers to these questions could help you avoid trouble in this area.

The Good

It’s that time of year again. When the temperature starts to steadily increase and summer is on its way! What better time to learn about proper hydration and prevention of dehydration?

Let’s start with daily water intake. As a general guideline, Mayo Clinic recommends approximately 15.5 cups per day for men and 11.5 cups per day for women. This is a combination of all fluid intake for a day. Fluid intake can come from multiple sources! Water is the primary source, other beverages and food also contribute to overall intake. Keep in mind that this recommendation is a general guideline! There are multiple factors that can change these numbers. Activity level, environment, and health status, are just a few of these factors. In general, your fluid intake should increase if your output increases. For example, if you are in a hot environment, your water intake should increase to match the increased temperature. This will help prevent dehydration. Which brings with it certain risks. We will get to that next!

The Bad

Dehydration occurs when your fluid output is greater than your fluid input. When this happens, your body does not have enough water to perform its normal functions. As you can guess, this leads to problems! The tricky part is that your body does not tell you it is becoming dehydrated until the problem is there, which means you don’t feel thirsty until it’s too late. Once the problem is there, then your body lets you know about it, in the form of symptoms. There are multiple symptoms that can occur when you are dehydrated. Some of the symptoms of dehydration are fatigue, dizziness and confusion, less frequent urination, and extreme feeling of thirst. If these symptoms are severe, medical assistance may be needed to restore the body to normal function. Other times, dehydration can be self-treated with rest and increased fluid intake.

Wrap-up

The best way to treat dehydration is by preventing it altogether! This can be done by maintaining proper hydration! Seems simple, right? If you rarely feel thirsty and have light colored urine, you are probably well hydrated. Here are some helpful hints to maintain your hydration. It’s always a good idea to drink water before, during, and after physical activity. Drinking water with your meals is another easy way to help stay hydrated.

But wait, there’s more…..

To read more on this topic, visit the links provided, which give more information on proper fluid intake, general guidelines for various activities, conditions, and risks/dangers of dehydration for various populations.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/symptoms-causes/syc-20354086

New Year, New Routines

Where to start?

It’s the beginning of a new year! It’s time to set new goals, make a plan to meet them, and then go after them. If any of these goals involve increasing your physical activity or continuing an established physical routine, there are several things to keep in mind. The first is, are you safe to begin physical activity. If you have had a major illness or injury in the past year, you should get clearance from a medical professional before starting regular physical activity. Do you have a nagging ache or pain, that you are worried will worsen with activity? Getting an evaluation from a physical therapist to identify specific deficits and make a personalized plan for you could be the answer!

Things to consider.

Before starting physical activity, it is important to warm-up the body properly. This can be done with active stretching. By making stretches active, you begin to promote motor memory to the muscle, which in turn allows for proper functioning of the muscle during exercise. It is vital to stretch the areas that you are going to be working. So lower extremities, for leg work-outs, and upper extremities for arm work-outs. It does not hurt, however, to stretch both areas, even if you aren’t working those areas out on a particular day. Below are some pictures of basic stretches for the upper and lower body.

Another thing to keep in mind when beginning a new physical activity is moderation. For example, if you haven’t been doing a certain exercise or activity in awhile or ever, do just 10-20 minutes to start. Then, build onto your time as your body gets used to it. Don’t add a lot of new activities all at once, if something bothers you, then you won’t know which thing caused the issue. Start with one or two things and add more on each day or week. Start with low weights or repetitions and increase slowly. This way, you don’t strain or stress any tissues in excess. Lastly, don’t get worried if you are very sore after starting a new activity. It takes time for the muscles to get used to being used in a new way. Soreness is a good sign that you worked the muscles well.

Make it personal!

Whether you are beginning a new physical routine or continuing a previous one, injuries can occur. The best way to treat an injury, is prevent it from happening in the first place. Having a professional, such as a physical therapist, evaluate your movement could do just that! Here at Functional Performance Center, we can analyze your movement, to determine areas that may need more mobility or strength. Then, we can create a plan to address any findings, that is personalized to you! We look forward to helping you in 2020. Happy new year to all!

Let’s get active!

Start with thumb on end of stick/bat/golf club, with same foot forward. Shift weight onto front foot and use bottom arm to push lead arm up to ear, keep elbow straight. Return to starting position, repeat 15-20 times, then switch arms. Perform 2-3 sets per side. This will help improve shoulder mobility and shoulder blade rhythm.

Standing in doorway, put arm on frame at shoulder height, with same foot forward. Shift weight forward, driving chest straight ahead, until stretch is felt in front of shoulder and chest. Return to starting position, repeat 15-20 times, then switch to other side. Perform 2-3 sets per side. This will help to improve muscle length and improve mobility in shoulder and shoulder blade.

Begin with one foot on edge of chair or bench. Then, drive hips forward, keeping weight in back leg, going forward until you feel a stretch in the front of your hip. Return to starting position and repeat. Perform 15-20 times, 2-3 sets on each leg. This will stretch the lower extremities and improve hip mobility. Remember, safety first. If your balance is compromised, stand at edge of counter or at wall for upper extremity support.

Sitting or standing at edge of bed, leg straight out in front of body, lean forward until stretch is felt in back of leg, then rotate entire leg back and forth (like a windshield wiper). Rotate 20 times, switch legs, performing 2-3 set per leg. This will actively stretch your hamstring muscles. Do not progress to standing stretch until confident balance is adequate to maintain position without falling.

With hands on wall, bring one leg forward and rotate it from side to side, keeping knee in line with belly button. Rotate 20 times, switch legs, and repeat. Perform 2-3 sets on each leg. This will stretch the muscles in the calf. If you don’t feel a mild to moderate stretch, move stance leg back farther from wall.

Foam Rolling: Do or Don’t

Why you should care!

Have you ever finished a workout and felt great! Then, hours later or the next day you are so sore it’s hard to move? Did you know there is a term for this feeling? It’s called delayed onset muscle soreness. Although it isn’t fun to have, it is a good indicator that you worked your muscles really hard, which is good for your strength. If there were a way to reduce this problem before it started, wouldn’t you want to know about it? Well, there is something that can help!

What can foam rolling do?

Foam rolling has been shown to effectively reduce delayed onset muscle soreness. In multiple studies foam rolling after bouts of physical activity, reduced muscle soreness and improved passive and dynamic range of motion. Meaning muscles didn’t get as tight! This happened because foam rolling affected the neural responses in connective tissues. Want to learn how to foam roll yet?

What to do next?

Below are some basic foam rolling techniques to use after a workout or physically demanding activity, such as house or yard work. If you find that these are helpful, let us know! If you feel you may benefit from a full evaluation to determine a more personalized routine, contact us to set up an appointment today!

Let’s roll!

Start sitting on floor with foam roller behind ankle. Roll on top of foam roller moving it from behind ankle up to knee. Continue rolling between these two areas for 20-30 seconds, then switch legs and repeat. Perform 2-4 sets on each leg.

Start laying on side with hip on top of foam roller. Roll from hip down to side of knee. Continue rolling between these two areas for 20-30 seconds, then switch legs and repeat. Perform 2-4 sets on each leg.

Start sitting on top of foam roller with leg crossed over. Lean to side of leg that is crossed over, putting weight onto buttocks. Roll from bottom of buttock to top of hip. Continue rolling between these two areas for 20-30 seconds, then switch sides and repeat. Perform 2-4 sets on each side.

Swing Those Hips

Why is this important?

Do you enjoy playing sports such as golf, baseball, tennis, or racquetball? If you do, you may have had a time you didn’t perform as well as you wanted. But, you are unsure how to improve other than playing more often. Or, maybe, you experienced pain during or after you played. Low back pain is common in swinging sports. One study found that low back pain was the most commonly occurring injury in golf, with up to 36% of golfers experiencing it. Whether you have or haven’t experienced this, the information below could help you!

How the hips work

In any sport, there are many moving parts, which all must come together correctly to have success. For example, if you are swinging a golf club or a bat, not only do you have to transfer your weight from one leg to the other, you have to stabilize your trunk while you rotate, and all of this is to bring your upper body and arms through smoothly to make contact with the ball. This sounds like a lot, because it is a lot! And, at any given point during that motion something can go wrong, causing failure and possible injury. One such area, which was previously mentioned is the low back. There are several ways to address this type of pain. One of those, is to address why the back was injured in the first place, and correct that error.

What you can do

In physical therapy, we specialize in the area of examining and evaluating movement. We do this to find what areas are moving to little or too much, and which muscle groups require more strength to improve or maintain such motions. For example, if your hip mobility is limited on one side or both, this can lead to over rotation through the lumbar spine, which is a contributor to back pain. The stretches and exercises below are the beginning of a much larger program to improve functional mobility and strength throughout the body. If you, or someone you know, has had problems in the past with an injury, or recently sustained one, please contact our office and set up an appointment to be evaluated!