The Jackson Clinics

Physical Therapist Named ‘Best Job’ in 2012

US News & World Report yesterday issued its list of “best jobs”—ranking physical therapist as the fourth best job in health care and the eighth best overall job in 2012. The annual list includes jobs that are “hiring in droves, paying well, and providing room to grow.” READ MORE

Why Join The Jackson Clinics?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms, such as muscle weakness and fatigue, often make sufferers struggle to move around. Further limitations in daily movement and difficulty functioning at work can result as symptoms progress.

Several studies, however, have suggested that engaging in exercise such as strength training can significantly improve MS symptoms. It may also delay the degenerative effects of the disease.

Although physical therapy will not cure the symptoms of MS, it can give you the tools to cope with the changes you experience. As soon as possible after your condition has been diagnosed, you should make an appointment to see us. We can teach you how to

• strengthen muscles
• relieve stiffness
• reduce fatigue
• improve independence
• minimize pain
• enhance overall functioning

Although weight-training machines and free weights such as dumbbells can be very helpful, an additional benefit to physical therapy is that you can go beyond weight
training. To provide you with practical ways to improve your functioning at work and in the home, we will also design exercises that do not require specialized equipment. These include modified push-ups and leg squats, both of which you can perform at home. By incorporating strength training into your day, you can improve your balance, coordination and strength.
The ultimate goal of physical therapy is one of empowerment—helping you to manage your MS. Through strength training and other techniques, the result will be long-term management of your symptoms and a better quality of life.

Often used for up to four days after surgery, pain pumps allow a patient to administer medication on an as-needed basis through a catheter to the specific part of the body experiencing pain, typically nerves or incised tissues. These devices effectively help avoid complications that might result from taking the pain medication intravenously, which introduces it into the circulatory system, or orally, which introduces it into the digestive system. Most importantly, pain pumps facilitate a more comfortable and faster recovery, shorten the length of a hospital stay and reduce the patient’s need for narcotics.

Pain pumps are no longer inserted directly into joints. Some recent well-publicized cases reported that patients who underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery and subsequently used pain pumps to deliver anesthetics like bupivacaine to the joint developed damage to the cartilage, producing a condition technically called glenohumeral chondrolysis.

Glenohumeral refers to the shoulder joint, and chondrolysis to the death of chondrocytes, the cells that compose cartilage. Normally, cartilage cushions the ends of the bones that form a joint, so if the cartilage cells die and the tissue degenerates, the result is the painful bone-on-bone friction of osteoarthritis. While physical therapy cannot “cure” this condition, we are often the rst to recognize the signs and refer the patient to a surgeon.

Even with a pain pump, a good rehabilitation program will hasten and enhance your recovery. After surgery, we can design a progressive program of physical therapy that will

• increase your range of motion
• build up your strength
• enable you to resume daily activities in a timely manner

To achieve a successful outcome after surgery, let us help you begin an exercise program that will return you to optimal function—pain-free, strong and flexible.

Chances are you have seen runners and people in rehabilitation from serious knee injuries wearing straps or sleeves on their knees. While it might seem hard to believe, those devices can actually help relieve knee pain.

Knee pain and injuries happen when you damage cartilage, muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones in your knee. A blow to the knee, a sudden twist or an unusual landing while running or jumping can all cause significant stress to the knee. These injuries can occur during running, extreme sports, football, basketball, lacrosse and hiking, among other activities.

Twisting or landing hard can sometimes result in a torn anterior cruciate ligament, causing two distinct types of knee pain, chronic pain and acute pain. Acute pain can be more intense in the short term, but chronic pain can last indefinitely.

A knee strap or sleeve impacts the patellar tendon, producing several benefits. The patellar tendon can be overused in certain sports, which can lead to inflammation and a partial tear of the tendon. The knee strap or sleeve

• enhances knee reactions
• speeds healing
• reduces pain
• helps prevent further injury

After an injury, you will probably have to protect your knee for a while, but using a strap or sleeve should get you up and moving more quickly. Best of all, these devices usually fit all sizes and anyone can learn how to properly tighten one.

Whether or not your physician prescribes a knee strap or sleeve after injury, we will gladly design a program of rehabilitation that hastens your recovery in a safe, eeffective manner. A combination of exercise, manual therapy and a positive attitude can assist in healing and put you on the road to recovery.

Because your feet are subjected to nearly a million pounds of pressure during an hour of strenuous exercise, proper footwear is important to cushion these loads. For this reason, shoe companies and medical professionals have recommended wearing specific types of footwear to prevent injuries.

It would be nice if the right shoe could really protect you from injury, but research conducted by the U.S. Marine Corps and published in the September 2010 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine found no significant difference between shoe types when it came to injury prevention. So what does this mean for you?

Proper physical training— weight-bearing exercises to strengthen bones, stretching to avoid muscle tears, avoiding overtraining, etc.—is a proven, effective way to reduce injury and a safer bet than investing in an expensive pair of shoes. We can design a program targeted to your physical health, your tness and sports goals, and your body type.

As for selecting footwear, stick to the basics:

• Ensure a good fit.
• Choose shoes specific to your type of exercise (e.g., running shoes for runners; basketball shoes for basketball players).
• Go shoe shopping with the type of socks you typically wear while exercising.
• Make sure to walk around the store for a while before deciding on a pair.
• The best shoe for you will be the shoe that feels the best.

To ensure that your body is in the best condition possible while avoiding mishaps on the field, on the court or on the street, our team of experts can help you with training form and instruct you in appropriate and proper stretching and recovery techniques. We can provide you with tools that will help maximize your performance as a healthy and happy athlete.

Athletic pubalgia is the technical term for the severe groin pain often called a sports hernia—although unlike a true hernia, no abdominal-cavity organs protrude where they should not. Because the cause of the pain is often missed or misidentified, an accurate diagnosis of athletic pubalgia is the first step in treating the condition and often comes only after other conditions have been ruled out and nonsurgical treatment has been ineffective for a long period of time.

Pubalgia most often affects high-level male athletes. The pain results from a stretching and weakening of the internal inguinal ring, a triangular anatomical structure in the groin area through which the ilioinguinal nerve and spermatic cord pass. Tears or strains in the lower abdominal muscles, in tendons or ligaments in the groin area, or in the pelvic lining may also contribute to the pain.

The surgery to repair the inguinal canal wall is performed either through a small traditional incision or through several very tiny incisions. Because lower abdominal muscles are shifted during traditional surgery and need to heal first, some time must pass before you can engage in physical therapy.

However, if your physician wants to manage your sports hernia conservatively to avoid surgery, we can design a program that fosters core stability and carefully balances the interactions between the muscles of the hips, thighs and pelvis. Strengthening the inner thigh and abdominal muscles, and balancing the way they are used in sports can minimize the chance of future injury. In addition, we will teach you the best way to heat and/or ice the affected area and oer deep-tissue massage if appropriate. Similarly, a postsurgical physical therapy program that focuses on increasing your endurance and strength will enhance your recovery.

Whether or not you undergo surgery for athletic pubalgia, we can design a program of physical therapy to alleviate pain and strengthen the muscles, making you more
comfortable and preventing re-injury. By following our program, you will once again be able to participate in the sports you love—pain-free.

“Please pass along my thanks to all of the team that help me get my knee and the rest of my body stronger. You two, Melisa, Dan, Rob and Ryan each did your part in helping this healing process while helping me to understand what I needed to do to build and maintain better balance, strength and overall health for my body. (more…)

WE’VE MOVED
The Franconia Clinic

NEW ADDRESS:
6551 Loisdale Court, Suite 155
Springfield, VA 22150
(Formerly on Walker Ln.)

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Just across from the Springfield Mall near Kaiser.