Allied Physical Therapy

Best Tests Often Cost Less!

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:14:00 +0000

Anyone who has had back pain knows it can be excruciating.

Many believe that getting an X-ray, CT scan, or MRI to find the cause would be a good idea.

But that’s usually not the case, at least at first. Here’s why.

For back pain, a report shows that people who had an MRI in the first month were eight times more likely to have surgery and had a more than five-fold increase in medical expenses—but they didn’t recover any faster than people who did not have an imaging test. Back pain usually subsides in about a month, with or without testing.

Click here to read the full Consumer Reports article

The 12 Biggest Myths About Stretching

admin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:41:38 +0000

Think you know everything you need to know about stretching? It may be time to take a another look about what you thought you knew. Clicking the link below will take you to an article on greatist.com to separate myth from fact.

The 12 Biggest Myths About Stretching

Anterior Knee Pain: Am I at Risk?

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:54:27 +0000

Anterior knee pain can limit even the most active of people.

For that reason, it is important to know the risk factors that cause this common problem.

A study by JOSPT has narrowed the cause of anterior knee pain to one main source, weak quadriceps. Those that experience pain in the anterior can benefit greatly from a quadriceps strengthening program.

Click here to read the full article by JOSPT

Neck Pain Relief

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:35:41 +0000

Neck pain is something we see in the physical therapy setting everyday. This is because such a larger number of people experience it everyday. A common treatment method of neck pain is manual therapy, something Matthew Harkness, physical therapist and owner of Allied Physical Therapy, specializes in.

However, not all forms of manual therapy have the same benefits to relieving neck pain. Click the link below to read more about this subject in this interesting article taken from the “Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy”.

Manipulation of Your Neck and Upper Back Leads to Quicker Recovery

Exercise Helps Reduce Falls in Young and Old

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:10:00 +0000

Falling is something we in physical therapy work hard with our patients to prevent. We do this because injuries occuring from falls are frequent and it can be a hazard for those of any age. However, there is something that can be done to reduce the risk of falling.

“Regular exercise reduces the risk of falls in both young and old, a new study shows.”

Click here to read the full article about the seriousness of falls and how exercise can help.

Fighting Tradition with Physical Therapy

admin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:31:32 +0000

Hospitals are slowly beginning to realize the positive benefits of physical therapy for even intensive care patients. “They (physicians) have been brought up under a very traditional model of leaving them in bed,” says James Dunleavy, administrative director of rehabilitation services at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, N.J.

What physicians are now learning are the benefits to these intensive care patients. According to Dunleavy, “The degeneration of the muscle system and the neuromuscular system can have a profound effect on other types of illnesses they might be treating.”

Click here to read this full article

Increase Your Flexibility and Improve Your Life

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:03:19 +0000

This interesting article from CNN explains the benefits of flexibility. Unlike strength and cardiovascular exercises, working on flexibility has fallen out of the realm of popularity. This doesn’t mean they’re less important however. Click the link below to read the full article about the benefits of flexibility.

Increase your flexibility and improve your life

Patient Exercise Videos

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:08:31 +0000

Have you ever had trouble figuring out the exact way to perform one of the exercises on your home exercise sheet? This is not an uncommon problem.

In an effort to continue to give our patients second mile service we now have videos of many of the most popular physical therapy exercises right on our website!

If you would like to view these videos click here!

Motor Imagery

admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:23:42 +0000

Motor imagery is a new, innovative, therapy technique in which a person simply imagines, or creates an image, of themselves doing a certain activity. By doing this, the person is then better able to actually preform the activity.

This may sound like a fairy tale but recent studies have been able to prove that motor imagery can have profound benefits on physical therapy patients.

Motor imagery is done by having a therapist describe in great detail the patient performing of a specific activity that they are not currently be able to do, such as walk. The therapist describes to the patient exactly what they see, feel and even smell while the patient closes their eyes and imagines going through the activity. According to studies, using this technique can help certain qualified patients have a better and faster recovery.

Click here to learn more about motor imagery

For Tendon Pain, Think Beyond the Needle

admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 12:15:43 +0000

Information from recent studies comes to the conclusion that two common treatments for tendon pain, corticosteriod injections and resting the joint, don’t help as much as once thought. What does help? You guessed it, physical therapy. Clicking this link will take you to the New York Times website so you can further read this interesting article that goes into greater detail about this subject.