Category Archives: General

Pain Pump First—Then Rehabilitation

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 […]

Improving Quality of Life for Ataxia Sufferers

People with ataxia lack muscle coordination when they perform voluntary movements such as walking or picking up objects. A sign of an underlying condition, ataxia can also affect speech, eye movements and the ability to swallow, and may be caused by alcohol abuse, stroke, head trauma, brain tumor, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or a defective […]

Blood Pressure Medicine + Exercise = Recovery from Stroke

About every 45 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke, making it the leading cause of long-term disability. Survivors are often left with physical deficits and fear of suffering another stroke. As a stroke survivor, you can do two things to reduce the risk of a second stroke: control your blood pressure with […]

Heart Failure and Physical Therapy

Aweakened heart unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs results in congestive heart failure (CHF). When this happens, fluid builds up in the extremities, causing the legs, ankles, feet and fingers to swell. Fluid also accumulates in the lungs—a condition called pulmonary edema—causing shortness of breath, especially during activity or when lying […]

Microfracture Surgery: Resurfacing

Microfracture surgery can repair damaged knee cartilage, the material that cushions bones at their joints. First, surgeons make a one-quarter inch incision on the affected knee and then insert an instrument into the joint to poke small holes (microfractures) into the bone just below the end of the damaged cartilage. Blood clots cover the damaged […]

Peripheral Artery Disease: Get the Blood Flowing Again

Say you have experienced intermittent pain in your legs after walking or climbing stairs, but you brush it off as an unfortunate side effect of aging. Maybe you have noticed that the hair on your lower leg is growing more slowly or that the skin looks paler on your leg than on the rest of […]

Training in Planes

Many trendy buzzwords and catch phrases are often used in fitness circles, with the phrase “training in planes” heard quite frequently. The concept, which has nothing to do with aviation, sounds interesting, but what does it really mean? Simply put, every move we make involves one of the following three planes of motion in the […]

Don’t Let Pain Cramp Your Style

Significant pain affects many of us. In fact, at one or more points in their lives, about 45% of Americans will experience such persistent pain that they will seek treatment. Pain is the most frequent reason medical care is sought and the number one cause of lost productivity in the workplace, costing employers $80 billion […]

Reducing Surgical Screw Complications

To fix a broken bone internally into position and support it until it is able to bear weight, surgeons have turned to new materials such as stainless steel, cobalt and titanium, which are compatible with the body and rarely cause allergic reaction or implant failures. While metal screws made from these materials are widely used, […]

Strengthening Your “Heart” Following Angioplasty

People who have undergone angioplasty followed by stent placement generally have better blood supply to the heart muscle than do other people. That increased blood supply means that you should be able to participate in more physical activity than you did before the procedure. Not only is exercise safer than it was before your angioplasty […]