It’s important to use ice and heat on your injured area but it’s equally important to know which one to use and when. 

Ice should be used if your injured area is feeling swollen. You can use gel packs that go in the freezer or just toss some ice cubes in a bag and wrap a towel around it. The ice will help reduce the swelling and eventually provide you with better motion in your wrist and hand. 
However, if your area of injury is feeling stiff and achy, a heat treatment may be a better option. The heat can help increase blood flow and loosen joints to give you a better range of motion. You can use a bucket of warm water, heat up a damp towel in the microwave or use a heating pad to help the area of injury. 

Rest is Necessary 

Remember, rest is just as important as exercising your injured area. You are allowed to take a break especially if your hand or wrist is causing you pain. Unfortunately with injuries, you aren’t able to do everything you are used to doing so it’s important to slow down and take it easy for a little bit to ensure you have the quickest recovery. 
Don’t be afraid to ask for help with certain tasks that are difficult due to your injury. Trying to do it yourself could cause you more pain and potentially reinjure the area, thus taking it longer to heal. 

Hand And Wrist Exercises 

Here are two simple PT exercises you can do at home to help strengthen your injured area: 

Wrist extension 

1. Place a towel or pad on a table
2. Place wrist on pad with hand hanging over the table with your palm facing downward 
3. Rotate wrist up and down 10 times
4. You can repeat this exercise with your palm facing up as well 

 
Okay Finger 

1. Make the ‘OK’ sign with your hand
2. Lift pointer finger and place middle finger on thumb and continue to do the same with your other fingers, changing the finger on the thumb every few seconds 
3. Repeat 10 times 

Wrist And Hand Specialized Physical Therapy

​When most people think of physical therapy, they think of going in to address big injuries or learn rehabilitation therapy solutions after surgery. There is a lot more to it than that, though. A physical therapy evaluation can be beneficial for both rehabilitation therapy and as a preventative measure for many individuals. Proactive physical therapy can allow anyone to excel at their everyday activities, hobbies, and busy lifestyles, while ensuring they are taking the healthiest approach for a longer and more enjoyable life.
 
There are many differences between a proactive physical therapy approach and a rehabilitative one. However, most physical therapists understand how to use similar tools and techniques to benefit any client that walks through their door. Whether someone is working up ankle strength after a bad sprain, or just wanting to ensure they are doing everything in their power to avoid chronic pain, PT specialists can really help.
 
We are diving into the differences between proactive physical therapy and rehabilitation therapy so that you can understand all the ways in which physiotherapy can help you improve your life and overall strength.

​Proactive physical therapy refers to using PT as a preventative measure, rather than only looking to it once an injury has occured. Most people don’t think of physical therapy until they are experiencing extreme discomfort, but what they don’t realize is how beneficial it can be to ensure those injuries don’t happen in the first place. A physical therapy evaluation can tell you many things that can be done to prevent future pain and injury, so that you don’t have to come in for the rehabilitation therapy later.
 
While you may have never thought to visit a physical therapist when you weren’t injured, it’s actually very common. Many people add PT checkups to their list along with the dentist and general physicals. As people age and grow, they become increasingly concerned with how to live a longer and healthier life, and avoid the pitfalls of people around them. Ie: back surgery from bad posture, bad knees, and chronic pain that seemed to arise out of nowhere! Often times, these are all things that can be avoided, or at least pushed back to a much older age if we learn healthy tips and exercises to keep our bodies stronger. This is where proactive physical therapy comes in.

Firstly, visiting a physical therapist is good just to ensure a longer and healthier life. Like any other form of healthy living, there are plenty of things we can be doing right now to strengthen our bodies in really beneficial ways. Through a simple physical therapy evaluation, a therapist is able to better understand what those things are for each of us, as individuals. This is far more than a generalized list of “healthy-living tips” that you can find on the internet. Instead, your physical therapist is able to look at specific aspects of your life: activities, hobbies, time spent at a desk, and your unique physical wellbeing, to curate a list of ways you can stay healthy.
 
For The “Gym-Rat”
Visiting a physical therapist with this proactive mentality is especially useful for those that hit the gym hard and often. If we’re being honest with ourselves, it’s usually a matter of time before an injury arises when we spend that much time pushing our body to its limits. It’s even more common for someone who’s in the gym everyday to notice a small discomfort and continue exercising without addressing it. This is the perfect occasion to preemptively visit with a physical therapist who can talk you through ways to prepare your body for the type of stress you’re putting it under. Specific stretches and exercises can make all the difference between getting the most out of your work out and finding yourself having to rest for weeks at a time, recovering.

Even if you’re not the type to be in the gym everyday, you may find yourself training for something new, one day. Maybe you set a new years resolution of losing X pounds, running a half marathon, or participating in your first triathlon. Maybe this year you want to try a new sport or help your child improve at theirs! Proactive physical therapy is very useful before taking on these big active goals. A physical therapy evaluation will help you understand where you’re at, and what it will take to reach your goal without putting your body under the kind of stress that will lead to an injury. The help of a professional can even help you reach your goals sooner!

Rehabilitation therapy is probably more familiar to most of us. If you’ve ever gone to the doctor for a surgery or injury, it’s likely that they suggested rehabilitation therapy to help you heal properly and get back to full strength as quickly as possible. These are the times that physical therapy are really crucial to ensuring you don’t develop more serious or even permanent damage down the road.
 
Sprains, Strains, Post-Op, Etc.
As many people know, rehabilitation therapy is very important to addressing an injury, anywhere from a simple ankle sprain, to post-operative rehab. PT allows you to utilize the most effective tools and learn the best exercises to ensure you are healing quickly, but also correctly, so that your pain doesn’t last long-term

Although it is often used after a big injury, rehabilitation therapy doesn’t have to just come after a serious disability. If you’re having back pain, neck pain, or any other sort of discomfort, these can become far more serious than they may be now. It’s possible that you are partaking in an activity that’s actually causing this discomfort and that could lead to chronic or worsened pain over time. A physical therapy evaluation would allow you to find simple solutions that can not only ease your current discomfort but keep you from the worst case scenario later.
 
Regular Activities
Visiting a physical therapist for discomforts that you wouldn’t even consider an injury is especially useful if you’re experiencing the pain during an activity that you participate in regularly. It is so common to feel a little off, and push through it instead of stopping and finding out what is wrong. A quick PT visit, and you can learn how to continue that activity in a safer and more effective way that will protect your body.

Both proactive physical therapy and rehabilitation therapy can be utilized to improve overall well being and longevity. When used correctly, physical therapy can set an individual up to be more successful at their everyday activities and prevent them from unnecessary injuries. This can help save future medical expenses and allow you to better handle injuries when they do arise.
 
At StrongLife Physiotherapy, we offer all types of proactive physical therapy and rehabilitation therapy to the Provo, Utah area. Whether you are training for a race, recovering from an injury, or just wanting to live your healthiest life possible, come schedule a free physical therapy evaluation today to see how we can help!
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In this post I'm going to teach you the most effective exercises to eliminate plantar fasciitis! 

First how do you know if your pain is from plantar fasciitis? The most common sign is heel pain with the first few steps in the morning after getting out of bed. The pain will be on the bottom inner portion of the heel and is tender when pressed on. The pain is worse when walking barefoot on a hard floor. And often times the pain starts after a recent change in physical activity like starting a new exercise program, or a new job that gets you on your feet longer than your accustomed to or increasing running mileage.

The first exercise can provide some quick relief in many cases. It is a toe extensor stretch. This is the opposite stretch of what patients are usually told to do but it's very beneficial to decrease the tension on the fascia and improve blood flow. To perform the stretch bend the toes down using your hand and hold for 20 seconds and repeat this 5 times. You'll want to do this stretch several times throughout the day. It can also be performed by sitting and curling the toes downward and holding that position. Some people may experience some cramping near the arch of the foot, that's OK and this is usually just the readjusting to the new position. 

Next is a modified heel raise with rolled up towel underneath your toes. If it is too difficult or too painful start with both feet on the ground but progress to one foot, which will be more effective. Perform 3 sets of 12 heel raises at a slow speed of 3 seconds up, 2 second hold and 3 seconds down. As the exercise becomes easier, perform with a weighted back pack and progressively increase the weight to increase the load on the plantar fascia which will help stimulate healing and strengthening.

Next are gastroc and soleus stretches. This is best done on one leg, dropping your heel off a step and holding for 20 seconds with your knee kept straight to stretch the gastroc and with your knee slightly bent to stretch the soleus. Repeat each stretch 3 times and perform 2-3 times per day.

Do these exercises consistently for 4-6 weeks for best results. Some people will get some relief early on but to get more lasting relief you will need to improve the strength and mobility in your foot and ankle which takes time. So hang in there, and get it done!

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Thoracic Outlet Syndrome causes numbness, tingling and circulation problems in the arm. It usually just occurs on one side of the body and is caused by tightness in the scalene muscles in the neck. These muscle form a triangle which various nerves and vessels pass through. Tightness in these muscles causes compression which restricts blood flow and interferes with nerve function. Poor posture also contributes to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. So we need to loosen these muscle up and improve your posture. In this video we'll go over some specific stretches to get to the root of the problem.

First there's an easy test to see if you have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. It's called the Roos Test. Hold your arms at 90 degree angles like this. And open and close your hands for up to 3 minutes. If it reproduces your symptoms or if you can't hold your arm up for that long then there's a good chance you have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. When you lower your hands compare the color. The affected side will often appear more pale due to lack of blood flow. 

To stretch the scalenes tilt your head back and away from your problematic side. Then rotate toward your problem side and hold this position for 30 seconds. You should feel a good stretch in side of your neck. And sometimes it will cause some tingling in the arm. Start gentle, over time you will be able to handle a stronger stretch. If you don't feel a stretch usually you need to tilt your head further back or more to the side. Play with the angle of stretch until you get it right.

Get in front a doorway. Place your arms in the doorway and lean forward. You should feel a stretch in your chest as your shoulders are pushed back. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times. You can adjust the height of your arms in the doorway to stretch different parts of your chest. If you get pain or reproduction of your symptoms try different angles to get a more comfortable stretch.

With the head starting in a neutral position bend to the side while applying a gentle to moderate amount of pressure to the head. Hold for 30 seconds, repeat 3 times. To add intensity do the stretch while sitting on your hand and simultaneously applying pressure to the head. Perform these exercises 3 times a day to get relief from your symptoms. 

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is often accompanied by rib dysfunction because the scalene muscles attach to the first and second ribs. You may benefit from a rib manipulation to get further relief from your symptoms. And that's available here at Stronglife Physiotherapy.  
 
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