“A lot of times we find people start to strengthen rather than just stretch, and wouldn’t you know it, their symptoms start to change. Their symptoms start to go away, because strengthening through the range of motion can actually help you provide more mobility and more length through the tissue,” explains host Dr. Andrew Fix.Today, Dr. Andrew talks about common issues like low back pain and sciatica and getting to the root cause rather than only focusing on the symptoms.

People frequently seek out physical therapy when stretching fails to relieve symptoms for what they refer to as tightness in their hamstring. In reality, ‘tight’ is a slang term and the root of the symptoms is unlikely to be tense or shortened muscles that need to be lengthened through stretching. In some cases stretching can actually cause more pain and problems long term due to irritating the nerves. And oftentimes, the root cause is actually coming from the pelvis or the lower lumbar region of the spine rather than the hamstrings themselves.

If you feel like you have a ‘tight’ hamstring, it may indicate an underlying issue that would benefit from physical therapy to strengthen and stabilize the deep muscles of your core. By finding and working on the root of the pain, you can begin to see improvements in the symptoms.

Quotes

• “We hear the story that someone is stretching and stretching and stretching their hamstrings over and over and over again. And unfortunately, they are not always getting the results that they’re expecting or hoping for, because the hamstring is not the root of the issue, it is the symptom.” (8:19-9:07 | Dr. Andrew)

• “A lot of times we find people start to strengthen rather than just stretch, and wouldn’t you know it, their symptoms start to change. Their symptoms start to go away, because strengthening through the range of motion can actually help you provide more mobility, more length through the tissue.” (15:07-15:24 | Dr. Andrew)

• “If you’ve been stretching it over and over and over again, do you really have short hamstrings? Do you really have tight hamstrings that need to be stretched out? Or is it possible that the issue that you’re actually dealing with could be something else?” (19:15-19:30 | Dr. Andrew)

Links

Connect with Physio Room: 

Website | ​​https://physioroomco.com/

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/physioroomco/

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/physioroomco

Andrew’s Personal Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/dr.andrewfix/

Andrew’s Personal Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/andrew.fix.9/

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The post 54. Do You Really Have Tight Hamstrings? appeared first on Physio Room.

Golf is an intricate sport and your swing is the most important piece of the puzzle. Ensuring you are making the most of your swing will not only improve your game but also help protect your body as you play.

So, how can we make improvements cost-free and on your own time? The proper warmups can help along with a couple of quick mobility drills. Check out these instructional videos – try them out and let us know if you notice a difference!

Pre-Game Warmup

Prayer Stretch

Pelvis Mobility

Thoracic Mobility

The post Want To Improve Your Golf Swing? Tips and Tricks… appeared first on Physio Room.

Of course, there are many treatments we can provide for you here in the clinic that will ease, help correct and begin to heal your aching knees. Dry Needling, soft tissue mobilization, deep tissue laser session and corrective exercise are all tools in our tool box our doctors can use to get you the relief you are after.

There are several things you can be doing on your own, however, that will offer you relief without having to come in and see us. Dr. Chris will walk us through several postures, tips on safe and proper form, stretches and exercise that will keep you and your knees moving forward, pain-free.

Dead Lifting and Squat

Glute Activation

Glute Activation Cont’d

Ice Skaters

Activation Drill

Hip Extension

Reverse Hyper Extension

Lower Body Foam Rolling

The post Bulletproof Your Knees appeared first on Physio Room.

However, no matter the age, body type, sport or motivation, there is one thing that all athletes have in common; they all want to feel good and succeed. It is in this light that sports physical therapist and performance based PT has received a considerable amount of attention in recent years. Much of this awareness has developed over the past decade, due to an increased participation by individuals in recreational activities, the government’s role in encouraging physical fitness and an increase in the publicity given to professional athletes and their injuries. Most importantly, performance, recovery, and physical therapy clinics have been developing at a considerable pace, because Physio Room is keeping athletes at the top of their game through pain relief, accelerated recovery and performance enhancement.

Physio Room is keeping abreast of the latest advances in the field, most recently with the use of deep tissue laser therapy, a technique that has been shown to benefit non-professional and elite athletes alike.

The basic science behind deep tissue laser therapy is compelling. Cells absorb the light and undergo significant positive changes. Studies have shown that impaired cells have a stronger response than healthy cells. So, the light seems to produce the most benefit where it is most needed.

Lasers work by impacting cellular function. Damaged cells will absorb and become energized by photonic energy; this has been well documented with over 2,000 clinical studies stretching back 30 years. Stimulated cells increase adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, and dramatically reduce inflammation, pain and swelling. This modality may be considered a “healing” process, as it quickly corrects compromised cellular function, allowing the body to heal itself.

Physio Room prepares our athletes for the challenges ahead and keeps them healthy on multiple levels and with the addition of deep tissue laser therapy, sports chiropractors can also offer a variety of patients a new tool for reducing pain and accelerating their recovery to get them back on the field more quickly.

Conditions which have shown significant improvements using this form of therapy without the use of drugs or surgery include, but are not limited to, medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow), lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), patellar tendinitis, muscle strains (quadriceps, hamstrings, forearm, shoulder, oblique), joint sprains (ankle and knee mainly), carpal tunnel
syndrome, neck pain and low back pain. Whether your patient is a professional, college, high school or amateur athlete, they may benefit from laser therapy, getting individuals back into their game, whatever it may be, at the “speed of light.”

FREE DEEP TISSUE LASER SESSION WITH ANY INITIAL EVALUATION IF YOU MENTION THIS POST!

CALL 720-316-9974 TO SCHEDULE TODAY!

The post Deep Tissue Laser: Relief for Lifestyle Related Pain and Dysfunction appeared first on Physio Room.

Today we are in the clinic talking about overuse injuries. What is an overuse injury? This usually occurs when we do too MUCH, too SOON. What happens, then, is we create a micro-trauma state within the muscles being used. In other words, you are breaking down that muscle tissue more than what your body may be used to.

Let’s look at an example of this. It’s spring, it’s getting nice out and you may want to get out there and swing that golf club a little more than you had been over the winter months. Maybe you get out there and end up hitting 100+ balls when your body is accustomed to hitting no more than 60. This can start to create that micro-trauma state, causing your muscles to become aggravated and inflamed.

What we would like to see you do in this circumstance is to back off (but not stop!) that activity a little bit. Let’s bring it back down to what your body is more accustomed to and keep your increases smaller with a little bit more time in between.

Even more beneficial in treating this overuse is a Deep Tissue Laser Treatment, offered here in the Physio Room clinic. The laser will increase your cellular energy level through increased ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production. Additionally it reduces the inflammation you are experiencing and this is key to getting back to what we want to be doing more quickly.

If you think you may be suffering from an overuse injury, we want to hear from you. Comment “overuse” on this post and let us help! And, as always, if you have learned something, SHARE!

The post Overuse Injury appeared first on Physio Room.