Recognizing the signs of Lymphedema
Recognizing the signs of Lymphedema
Are you recovering from a mastectomy or lumpectomy surgery? If so, have you begun to notice some new sensations in your arm? You may have feelings of swelling, heaviness, tightness, pain, burning sensations, limited motion in the arm, and/or numbness at the arm, shoulder or chest. These could be signs of lymphedema, an inflammatory disease caused by failure of the lymphatic system.
Injury Prevention Program: OPRF
I’ve written before about injury prevention for ankle sprains and knee injuries and I want to show just how effective a basic injury prevention program can be. This past year, Oak Park River Forest (OPRF) High School’s soccer program implemented an ACL injury reduction program known as the FIFA 11+. The FIFA 11+ is a warm-up program that focuses on correcting the most common faulty movement patterns seen in adolescent female athletes. Those faulty movement patterns – knees collapsing inwards, relying too much on your quads, ankle instability, etc – can lead to all of your common soccer injuries like ankle sprains, shin splints, stress fractures, and knee injuries.
Athletico’s New Certified Hand Therapists
Athletico congratulates six staff hand therapists who recently passed the Certified Hand Therapist examination. All have now earned the distinguished mark of the CHT.
The credentials “CHT” distinguish an occupational or physical therapist as someone who has had:
- At least 5 years of clinical experience in their respective field
- 4000 hours or more of direct practice experience in hand therapy
- Successfully completed a comprehensive test of advanced skills and theory in upper extremity rehabilitation.
Athletico’s Certified Hand Therapists have earned the highest professional credential in this specialty area. Successful outcomes depend on the highest level of competency and advanced knowledge and skills. Athletico is pleased to offer the highest quality and most advanced hand therapy to patients.
Athletico offers hand therapy at over 100 locations.
Congratulations to these newly credentialed Certified Hand Therapists!
Read more about them below.
Stretch of the Week: Revolved Triangle
I can’t believe it’s the final week of July already! This weeks stretch is a yoga posture called Revolved Triangle. It is a great upper body twist as well as a stretch for the Lateral side of the leg.
You will need some wall space as well as a yoga block (or something similar) for this stretch. Contraindications for this stretch are if you’re experiencing any of the following; Low blood pressure, Migraine, Diarrhea, Headache, and Insomnia please don’t do the stretch.
Stretch of the Week: Half Splits IT Band Stretch
Stretch of the Week: Half Splits IT Band Stretch
Week 3 of July is something I call Half Splits IT band stretch. Don’t let the name scare you off! We won’t be doing the splits….exactly; just a variation that will target the outside leg muscles. So give it a try! (more…)
Level of Education Required for a Physical Therapist
Patients often inquire how much schooling is required to become a physical therapist. Read below to learn about the level of education required for a Physical Therapist. (more…)
Stretch of the Week: Big Toe Grab Stretch
For the month of July, we will focus on “IT Band” Stretches. I use quotations because the IT band is not really a muscle, it’s a connective tissue. The muscle that really gets the benefit of these stretches is mostly the vastus lateralis. In most cases if you have an outer knee issue or “tight IT Band” it’s coming from this lateral(outer) quadricep muscle. Sometimes it’s the biceps femoris, that’s the lateral(outer) hamstring on the back of the thigh, as well. So if your having generalized IT band issues those are the muscles to focus on. And these stretches should help! (more…)
Let’s Do The Twist: Maintaining Posture Throughout the Golf Swing
Today’s blog post is written by guest blogger Joe Estes, PT, DPT, CGFI. Joe is a physical therapist and Certified Golf Fitness Instructor at Athletico’s Golf Performance Center.
The summer is underway, and so are most people’s golf games. Like the weather so far this spring and summer, the condition of your swing may not be the best you have seen. From a golf fitness and biomechanical perspective, I talk to my patients and clients a lot about maintaining posture throughout the golf swing. This mostly refers to maintaining the spine angle from your set-up position through just after impact. Maintaining posture helps with both consistency of ball striking, as well as power production. (more…)
