There Are Benefits To Working Out In The Cold.

When the temperature drops outside, it makes a lot of us feel like hibernating indoors and waiting it out till sunny and longer days return. Exercise will usually take a back seat but if you decide to brave the cold and leave the electric heater behind you will soon find training in cold weather can bring plenty of benefits to not just your body but your mind too.

Boost your immune system

As winter’s grip tightens on all of us, bugs and viruses become common place and do the rounds, only a few escape without being hit hard by the common cold or flu.

Doing exercise will not only help you fight off any symptoms of a cold or flu but reduce the likelihood of you even being affected. Your immune system works harder and is more prepared to fight off foreign invaders and their nasty symptoms.

Great cardiovascular workout

Cold weather forces your body to work harder during training, and this also applies to your cardiovascular system. As the heart works harder to pump blood around the body during cold weather exercise, this invigorating workout helps to keep your heart health in tip-top shape. With cardiovascular disease being a major health threat in this country, anything that strengthens your heart is a smart move.

Improves your mood

The winter blues or professionally known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is when you feel down and your mood is off despite all the holiday cheer. This happens due to shorter days and your body/mind not getting enough light and endorphin's.

Exercise can boost your mood at any time of year, but it has a particularly profound effect during winter, sending those all-important feel-good hormones soaring, and keeping the winter blues at bay. In fact, research has shown that a good workout can be up to four times more effective than taking antidepressants, for improving symptoms of depression. As well as being an effective mood booster and pick-me-up, getting outdoors in the fresh air in cold weather can help replenish vitamin D levels in the skin.

Burn more calories

Think of a wintertime workout as a supercharged version of your normal sweat session, why? Because whatever workout you do, the cold weather will max out your caloric burn. This is due to the body working much harder to keep its core temperature regulated. As the body works to stay warm, the metabolism is kicked into overdrive and your body burns through more calories and fat.

Presents new training opportunities

The winter weather gives you the opportunity to try activities you may not have experienced before. Embrace the winter months for the new opportunities that come with them. You could try your hand at something new such as skiing or even cold water swimming, which has been proven to alleviate stress and aid body circulation.

Is It Safe To Work Out When You Are Sick?

It can be frustrating to put workouts on hold when you have a cold or other virus, but working out when you are sick can potentially worsen symptoms and affect your recovery.

According to NYU Langone sports health specialist Dennis A. Cardone, DO, the importance of listening to your body to help determine when it’s safe to exercise. “Not being able to exercise is not an easy prescription to fill, but there are certain symptoms that should be a warning sign to stop exercising,” Dr. Cardone says.

If you feel up for it, it’s safe to exercise when your symptoms are all above the neck, such as a mild sore throat, runny nose, or congestion, Dr. Cardone says. Even so, it’s best to take it easy and reduce your workout’s intensity or duration, especially if you feel like you have less energy than normal.

Don’t exercise when symptoms are below the neck, such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or a productive cough. These are signs that your body is busy fighting off infection and would benefit from rest. “Remember, when you have a fever, your body is working overtime to fight the infection. Adding exercise will further stress the system,” Dr. Cardone says.

While regular exercise has been shown to boost immunity, there’s no truth to the notion that an intense workout aids recovery. “The idea of exercising so you can sweat out a fever is a myth,” Dr. Cardone says.

Exercise also increases your heart rate and body temperature and can increase the risk of dehydration when you are already running a fever, which is dangerous. Once your fever breaks, you should wait at least a few days before resuming exercise. During this time, Dr. Cardone recommends staying well hydrated, eating a balanced diet, and avoiding overexertion.

After being sick, listen to your body, rest when you need it, and ease your way back into your normal workout routine, he says. It may take a few weeks for you to get back to your usual intensity and duration, so be patient.

The Truth About Holiday Weight Gain And Pain.

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and the American Dietetic Association, significant weight gain over the holidays is a big fat myth. The weight gain comes after the holidays, when people don't drop that one little pound.

A study of 195 adults demonstrated — from late September to early March — the majority put on 1.06 pounds in six months' time. A year after the study began, 165 of the participants were weighed again. On average, they were each up about 1.36 pounds from their initial weights.

People who were overweight or obese to begin with were more likely to gain five pounds or more during the initial six-month season, according to the study, which appeared in a March 2000 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

On the bright side, you are not condemned to gain 5-6 lb between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Be aware, however, even just a little weight gain — if it continues — can lead to problems beyond just struggling to buckle your belt. Continued weight gain may come with a compounding risk of musculoskeletal pain.

According to research*, there is a positive correlation between increased body fat and widespread and single-site joint pain in the low-back, knee and foot. Longitudinal studies suggest elevated body fat may infer increased risk of incident and worsening joint pain.

Take-home — you can still enjoy the homemade stuffing and apple pie — just be mindful of the long-term implications associated with weight gain; especially if you are already struggling with body composotin and musculoskeletal pain.

*(Walsh, T.P., Arnold, J.B., Evans, A.M. et al. The association between body fat and musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Musculoskelet Disord19, 233 (2018)

Are Muscle Cramps Cramping Your Style?

muscles of the calf and foot are particularly prone to cramps

A muscle cramp is an uncontrollable and painful spasm of a muscle. Any muscle can be affected, but the muscles of the calf and foot are particularly prone. A cramp can happen spontaniously while exercising or even in your sleep. They can last for varying periods of time and generally without treatment. The exact cause of cramp is unknown but risk factors may include poor physical condition, mineral and electrolyte imbalances, dehydration and tight, inflexible muscles.

Cramps are usually harmless but may sometimes be symptomatic of an underlying medical disorder, such as atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries). Regular cramping or severe cramping that lasts longer than a few minutes should always be investigated by your doctor.

Minerals and electrolytes

Muscle tissue relies, in part, on a range of minerals, electrolytes and other chemicals in order to contract and relax. Some of these important substances include calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium. Inadequate diet, dehydration, vomiting and diarrhoea are just some of the factors that are thought to disturb the body’s balance of minerals and electrolytes, and make muscles more susceptible to cramping.

Tetany is a special form of cramping – it can be brought on by overbreathing, which results in a low level of carbon dioxide in the blood. It is usually caused by anxiety.

Risk factors for muscle cramp

The exact cause of muscle cramp is not known, but risk factors may include:

• Tight, inflexible muscles

• Poor physical condition

• Poor muscle tone

• Inadequate diet

• Physical overexertion

• Physical exertion of cold muscles

• Muscle injury

• Muscle fatigue

• Excessive perspiration

• Dehydration – caused by, for example, a bout of gastroenteritis

• Reduced blood supply (ischaemia)

• Wearing high-heeled shoes for lengthy periods.

Muscle cramp associated with medical conditions

Certain diseases or conditions may increase the risk of muscle cramp, including:

• Atherosclerosis – a condition characterised by narrowed arteries due to the formation of fatty plaques. Muscles are more likely to cramp if their blood supply is inadequate.

• Sciatica – pain in the buttock and leg caused by pressure on nerves in the lower back. In some cases, the irritated nerve may prompt the associated muscles to contract.

• Medications – some medical conditions require the regular use of fluid pills (diuretics). These drugs can interfere with the body’s mineral balance and contribute to cramping.

Treatment options for muscle cramp

Most muscle cramps resolve after a few seconds or minutes. There has been very little research done to work out which treatment works best but treatment options include:

• Stretch and massage – lengthen the cramping muscle using a gentle, sustained stretch then lightly massage the area until the cramp subsides. If you are unsure how to stretch leg muscles, see your physiotherapist for advice.

• Icepack – in cases of severe cramp, an icepack applied for a few minutes may help the muscle to relax.

• Medication – some medications can be helpful to control muscle cramps. See your doctor for further information.

• Further treatment – see your doctor if you experience regular muscle cramping or if cramps last longer than a few minutes. You may have an undiagnosed medical condition that requires treatment.

Prevention strategies

Suggestions on how to reduce the likelihood of muscle cramp include:

• Increase your level of physical fitness.

• Incorporate regular stretching into your fitness routine.

• Warm up and cool down thoroughly whenever you exercise or play sport.

• Drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise.

• Make sure your diet is nutritionally adequate, and include plenty of fruits and vegetables.

• A regular massage may help to reduce muscle tension.

• Wear properly fitted shoes and avoid high heels.

Where to get help

• Your doctor or nurse on call

• Pharmacist

• Physical Therapist

• Dietitian

Things to remember

• A muscle cramp is an uncontrollable and painful spasm of a muscle.

• The exact cause is unknown, but some of the risk factors may include poor physical condition, dehydration and muscle fatigue.

• You can help reduce the duration and severity of cramp by gently stretching the muscle and massaging the area.

• See your doctor if you experience regular muscle cramping or if cramps last longer than a few minutes.

Magic Wands Don’t Exist. Recovery Can Take Time, Teamwork And Guidance.

Patience in practice

Magic wands don’t exist and treatment of musculoskeletal ailments is not turn key. More often than not, it takes time, teamwork and patience. Chronic conditions like plantar fasciitis, chronic low back pain and persistent neck tightness from poor posture may require a long-term investmen and the occasional physical therapy tune-up. Often the underlying cause has been brewing for years ~ the product of 1000s of hours and repetitions moving, standing and sitting the wrong way.

To correct some muscle firing patterns leading to low back pain, the well-recognized Ola Grimbsby institute of physical therapy suggests it may require performing sub-maximal corrective exercises 3 to 5 times day, with each sessions including 3 to 5 sets of 30 receptions (or 1 minute hold). Yes, that’s right, it may take performing the CORRECT muscle firing pattern between 270 to 750 times a day for weeks or even months before creating permanent change.

Not all musculoskeletal ailments take that much time to fix. It is possible to see permanent relief for many acute issues in just a few sessions using skilled manual therapy and NeuFit Neubie electronic stimulation. ⚡️90% of people who try the Neubie electronic stimulation have noticeable pain relief in their first session.⚡️

To eliminate chronic pain and re-occuring injuries permanently, treatment usually requires more than just 30 minutes of therapeutic exercise 5 days a week. Exercises by themselves will not fix the problem unless you also take out the cause. Lifestyle changes may need to be made, including modifying how you sleep, eat, walk, lift and work. These types of changes are much more difficult and time consuming. If the cause of your problem involves an activity you are not able to stop, ongoing therapy may require periodic treatments from a skilled therapist, just like taking your car in for tune-up.

Teamowork and guidance. Where do you start?

Successful therapy for musculoskeletal ailments may sometimes be optimized using more than one treatment strategy. Be careful, however, where you seek out guidance. Although yoga professionals, fitness trainers, nutritionists and massage therapists may all play an important role in your recovery, they may not be the most appropriate resource to start asking for directions. Like seeing your PCP for an unexplained ear ache, a skilled physical therapist should be the first person to consult when dealing with muscle and joint pain. PTs are medically trained to diagnose musculoskeletal problems and the most qualified to determine your MOST effective treatment plan. Doctors may refer you to an ENT for the ear-ache just like PTs might recommend yoga. Whether ear ache or knee pn, your care plan should be determined by the most appropriate and well educated professional.

Remember, a high percentage of musculoskeletal ailments in the outpatient setting are a result of the long term effects of poor posture or innapropriate movement strategies. Passive treatment solutions like massage may be appropriate for pain management but does little to fix the root of most chronic problems. Reducing pain with massage as to allow more successful execution of therapeutic exercise, however, may be just what the doctor ordered.

In a nutshell? Magic wands don’t exist. Successful long term solutions for chronic conditions can take time, teamwork and the right guidance.

Kidneys Health Impacts Your Rehabilitation

“During the last few years battling kidney failure, I grew a new respect for how important kidneys were. Beyond their life-saving functions, I FELT first hand how kidneys VERY tangibly impacted how I felt, performed and healed. I am so very thankful to have received a kidney transplant from a dear friend on October 5th, 2022”

~ Quote from Noal Cattone - co-owner of Anderson & Cattone Physical Therapy

To optimize rehabilitation of your musculoskeletal ailments, whether its knee pain or chronic back pain, don’t forget about the role your kidneys play in the healing process (among other organs).

Physical therapy works well when tissues are healthy, your nervous system isn’t compromised and your body is metabolically stable. If hydration, nutrition and your global health is compromised, success treating superficial ailments and/or increasing athletic performance will be difficult if not impossible, even with good physical therapy interventions.

6 Things Healthy Kidneys Do:

• Regulate the body’s fluid levels (hydration)

• Filter wastes and toxins from the blood

• Release a hormone that regulates blood pressure

• Activate vitamin D to maintain healthy bones

• Release the hormone that directs production of red blood cells (preventing anemia)

• Keep blood minerals and electrolytes in balance (sodium, phosphorus, potassium)

8 Problems Kidney Disease Can Cause:

• Heart disease

• Heart attack and stroke

• High blood pressure

• Put your life at risk

• Weak bones

• Nerve damage (neuropathy)

• Kidney failure (end-stage kidney disease, or ESRD)

• Anemia or low red blood cell count

8 Possible Trouble Signs:

Most people with early kidney disease have no symptoms, which is why early detection is critical. By the time symptoms appear, kidney disease may be advanced, and symptoms can be misleading. Pay attention to these:

• Fatigue, weakness

• Difficult, painful urination

• Foamy urine

• Pink, dark urine (blood in urine)

• Increased thirst

• Increased need to urinate (especially at night)

• Puffy eyes

• Swollen face, hands, abdomen, ankles, feet

9 Things Everyone Should Do To Prevent Kidney Problems

• Exercise regularly

• Control weight

• Follow a balanced diet

• Quit smoking

• Drink only in moderation

• Stay hydrated

• Monitor cholesterol levels

• Get an annual physical

• Know your family medical history

Does Snoring Influence Pain?

Snoring occurs when you breathe during sleep and the flow of air makes the tissues in the back of your throat vibrate. Believe it or not, over 50% of people have snored at some point in their lives. Although light snoring may disrupt your sleep, heavy snoring may be associated with sleep apnea: a serious sleep disorder increasing risk of sleep apnea, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other health problems. Numerous studies suggest there is a direct link between sleep and musculoskeletal pain.

Common causes include:

• Sleeping on your back can make the tongue and soft tissues block the airway.

• Alcohol or sedatives at bedtime can cause relaxation of muscles in the throat, causing a restricted airflow

• Weak muscles in the mouth, nose and throat. Airflow can also be restricted by a deviated septum, large tongue, or enlarged uvula, adenoids or tonsils c

• smoking

• Obesity or excessive body fat can lead to compress the airway.

Treatment for snoring includes: 

• Quit smoking

• Choose side sleeping over back sleeping. .

  Lose weight. A 10% loss of body weight can reduce nightly breathing interruptions by more than 30%. Revising dietary and exercise strategies in combination with the evaluation of other potentially harmful lifestyle choices can go a long way to reduce the risk of snoring and the associated health risks.

• Seek guidance from the appropriate health care professional

If you are having chronic musculoskeletal pain, consider evaluating your sleep habits and find out if you snore. It might actually be magnifying your aches and pains, or part of the cause.

Physical Therapy Can Improve Students' Education

Physical therapy is not just for people recovering from knee of back surgery. Like going to the dentist to prevent cavities or your primary care physician to check your cholesterol, going to a physical therapist can help identify and treat musculoskeletal deficits that may negatively impact the your child’s experience at school.

Being the last kiddo picked for a basketball team in gym class doesn’t necessarily mean your child needs P.T. Kids’ coordination can be affected by many things, including age-appropriate limitations based on age, maturity and level of focus. Nevertheless, if you believe your child may be in need of help, take a quick look at the lost of questions below:

• Can your child navigate her classroom without tripping or falling over obstacles (desks, chairs, kids, rugs, etc).

• Can he get up from circle time at the floor, sit down on the floor from standing, get in and out of a classroom chair without a loss of balance.

• Can she negotiate the hallways with and without other students without falling or needing help to stay in a line or keep pace with her peers

• On the playground, can they participate in recess activities with her friends.  Can she climb the slide, sit safely on a swing, walk or run on the grass/blacktop/rubber mulch.

• Are his gross motor skills (jumping, throwing/catching, kicking a ball, hopping, galloping, etc) developed enough to allow him to participate in a form of physical education class?

• Can they safely get onto and off of the bus?

If you believe the quality of your child's body awareness and coordination might be affecting their safety of quality of their education, consult a qualified physical therapist or talk to your doctor about options. Consider talking with your child’s school/teachers as well to brainstorm potential solutions. Moving our body in constructive and safe ways, whether dance, sports or play is very important for a child’s brain develpment and overall health. Integrating safe and constructive physical activity into the curriculum can be a fun and easy to help improve coordination and facilitate learning.

Stress Can Cause Pain. How Full Is Your "Stress Bucket"?

Do you ever wonder why your neck or back pain miraculously decreases on vacation? It’s important not to under-estimate the cumulative effects of stress!

Imagine an empty bucket. Now every time you encounter stress in your day, imagine pouring some water into that bucket.

The bucket gradually gets fuller and fuller with the stress you encounter and only has a limited capacity so will eventually overflow. If your bucket is very full, it might only take a tiny splash of stress for your stress bucket to overflow.

Believe it or not, your nervous system often expresses this overflowing stress through its most familiar pain pathways. Yes, that’s right, stress can cause pain.

So what can we do to prevent our bucket from overflowing?

Self care and effective coping strategies are the way to create holes in our bucket so the stress can drain out! When we’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, we can often neglect to do the things which keep us feeling well, when this is exactly the time when we need them the most! As long as you keep engaging in your stress-relieving activities, your bucket is much less likely to overflow and you are much less likely to feel overwhelmed!

Spend some time identifying the activities which help you to feel rejuvenated and make sure they happen on a regular basis so you have plenty of drainage holes in your stress bucket!

Physical Therapy For Smartphone Abusers.

There is not yet extensive research on how smartphones affect the body. Yet, many health care practitioners like Seattle based physical therapist and clinic owner Sarah Anderson PT, DPT, OCS, MTC, FAAOMPT, could probably write a book on it.

“There is no doubt cell phones use causes poor forward head posture, headaches, shoulder and wrist problems. If you spend too much time on your cell phone and DON’T yet have symptoms, just wait, it’s only a matter of time”, Sarah says confidently.

Jessica B. Schwartz, a physical therapist based in New York and a spokeswoman for the American Physical Therapy Association, during an interview with PubMed states

“When we text friends or browse the internet on our phones, we often use our muscles and joints in ways that strain them… Looking down at our phones, as well as holding them in our hands with our wrists flexed as we scroll or text, require our joints and muscles to do things they did not evolve to do: stay in the same position for too long, hold too much weight and move repeatedly across a short range of motion.

Concerned if smartphone use may be affecting you? Consult a knowledgable physical therapist.

*Check out some current research in PubMed’s research study on De Quervain's tenosynovitis, a well-known dysfunction in your hand.

The Best Exercises To Eliminate Knee Pain.

Knee pain can have many causes, but almost all patients with knee pain have similar dysfunctions. Here are a few exercises you can do to get rid of knee pain:(1) Stop walking on the outside of your foot or your feet turned out. Walking like this prevents you from integrating the gluteus medius muscle, and creates tension in your IT band. Having weakness and tension in these structures are one of the main reasons people have knee pain.(2) Glute Bridges-this exercise is the best way to recruit gluteus medius in a functional movement.(3) Roll out your IT band, gluts, quads, hamstrings with a foam roller or hand held massage tool.(4) Perform a self mobilization of your knee. This movement can open up the knee joint and create more space for better mobility. Use a rolled up towel behind your knee and passively flex your knee.These 4 exercises are a good start to see if they help your knee pain.

Demo of 4 great exercises to improve knee health

Identify EXACTLY Where Your Problems Might Be With The NeuFit Neubie.

In this video, Garrett Selpeter, the GEO and Founder of NeuFit explains one of the most powerful features of the Neubie electronic stimulation device - it's ability to scan the entire body for "hot spots", which are areas in which the nervous system has placed inhibitory governors on certain muscles. With this information, we're able to create a map of the body to show precisely which areas need attention. This process completely eliminates the guesswork in therapy!

⚡️Anderson & Cattone Physical Therapy brings NeuFit technology to you here in downtown Seattle! ⚡️

Neubie Mapping To Find Dysfunction

Don't Forget About Balance

Let’s talk about the importance of the balance between strength and flexibility.

As spring emerges, a lot of us will start increasing their activities and working out more. At ANCPT we want to remind you to make sure to continue to stretch after each work out or physical activities to prevent injuries and maintain full range of motion.

Also, as you start to run, cycle, paddle and hike more outside, don’t forget about strength training at least 2x/week to maintain that muscle mass.

Come see us at Anderson & Cattone Physical Therapy to learn more about the perfect health and longevity routine for your specific body type

How To Find Perfect Posture

Do you have neck pain, shoulder pain, and/or low back pain? Do you notice feeling stiff after a long day at work in front of the computer? It is likely due to poor posture!! It’s time to find your “Gut Bucket”!

The “gut bucket” is essentially visualizing your core as a bucket of water balancing on a 3 legged stool. The front leg is you pubic bone and the the 2 other legs of the stool is your ischial tuberositys (aka sit bones). Finding this balance, stacks your vertebrae of your spine and can help reduce muscle tension and therefore pain.

After prolonged period of sitting in front of a computer, most of us start to sag into what is called in the PT world, a forward head and kyphotic posture. Finding your “gut bucket” can help maintain spinal alignment and reduce neck, shoulder, and/or low back pain.

Therapeutic exercises can also help reduce muscular tension and tone to maintain mobility and ease for proper posture.

Dog, Stress and Musculoskeletal Health

High levels of stress directly negatively affects your nervous system and musculoskeletal system. It can lead to WEIGHT GAIN and INCREASED MUSCLE TENSION among other more serious health conditions like elevated blood pressure and heart disease.

Is your neck or low back tight? Do you have headaches? Often when our "stress bucket” starts to overflow it is expressed through the most familiar pain pathway. In a nutshell, stress can increase and amplify muscle tension and pain.

Research shows DOGS canREDUCE STRESS. Does this mean you should get a dog? Well, not necessarily, but consider choosing health care providers that have dogs at their practice - including your physical therapy clinic.

Peer Reviewed NeuFit Neubie Study Proves Efficiency and Effectiveness Of Strength Training With Neubie.

The NEUBIE Study Conclusion:

This is the first peer review research study that shows that the NEUBIE can be as effective as traditional strength training with less perceived work because it can train muscles without putting undue stress on ligaments, tendons and joints. The USF study essentially proves the NEUBIE works to build muscle without using weights and provides data to back the effectiveness of NEUBIE in this situation.

SEE FULL STUDY

The results of this study are promising in establishing NEUBIE strength training as a viable option for treatment in physical therapy practices. As noted in the study, “a similar acute skeletal muscle response was observed between NEUBIE training and TRAD with some subtle differences observed in the time course of muscle swelling, changes in isometric torque, and muscle soreness” (Vasenina et al.)

Two Simple Moves To Beat Back Pain

Low back pain can be caused my many different things. Often it starts from too many hours sitting during the day. Gluteals get weak and hip flexors get tight. This can put tremendous stress on the low back and even impair good functional movement patterns. Posture, lifting technique and even gait can all be negatively impacted, causing pain and creating a recipe for future, more serious injury. For those who suspect their back pain may be associated with poor posture and sitting too much, check out these two simple moves to reduce your discomfort. *** Remember, stick with it - patience and consistency are the key to your success!

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Hip Flexor Stretch

• With one knee on the ground, place the opposite foot on the ground slightly ahead with the toe pointing straight ahead.

• Move your hips forward while keeping the trunk upright. Repeat 10 X 1 minute daily.

• Hold on to something if need be to make it as passive as possible. Do not push past 7-8/10 on comfort scale. This is not a competition to see how much pain you can endure.

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Gluteal Bridge

• Lie on your back with your knees bent.

• Contract your buttocks to lift your hips off the ground until your trunk is aligned with your legs. Make sure not to arch your back. You should feel it in your gluteals and hamstrings.

• Slowly return to the initial position. Repeat 2 sets of 15 reps 2 X day.

Importance of Heart Rate Variability Testing & ⚡NeuFit Neubie Treatment ⚡

What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?

HRV measures the variance in time between individual heart beats controlled by the autonomic nervous system, including the sympathetic nervous system controlling the body’s “fight or flight” response and the parasympathetic nervous system controlling the “rest and digest” response. 

As an example, imagine a lion walking in to the room. If our nervous system is working properly, the “fight or flight”, or sympathetic response, elevates our heart rate and blood pressure along with other biological changes to help us survive. When the lion leaves the room, a healthy nervous system engages its parasympathetic or “rest and digest” function to then restore all systems to their resting defaults. When the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems perform this way, it is reflected by good (high) heart rate variability.

When a nervous system becomes excessively stressed and burn’t out, as reflected by poor (low) HRV, it becomes unable to effectively regulate its sympathetic and parasympathetic systems which can cause a global decrease in bodily performance. In lion terms, your body is acting crazy like the lion is incessantly knocking on the door. Common stressors includes poor nutrition, sleeping problems, work stress or physical injury. Common signs of a fatigued, unhealthy nervous system include performance deficits, fatigue, pain, mood changes, hormonal imbalances, metabolic changes and poor recovery.

Enter HRV testing.

By measuring the time between beats of the heart, advanced HRV testing technology can actually quantify the level of sympathy or. parasympathy being exercised by our nervous system, and for what purposes. We now have the ability to determine the nervous system’s health and effectiveness managing endocrine function, autonomic function and even stress. These metrics can then be used to optimize care plans, interpret recovery times and even help to qualify pain.

So what if your nervous system is run-down and dissregulated? Is their a solution? YES. The NeuFit Neubie, an advanced electronic stimulation machine, using a protocol call the “master reset”, interacts directly with your vagus nerve to improve nervous system health. Most people see a notable increase in their HRV after as little as 10 minutes of Neubie treatment! Although the Neubie does not take the place of necessary lifestyle modifications to reduce causal factors, it can be a highly effective tool to improve HRV and therefor increase performance, speed up recovery and even improve mood.

⚡ NeuFit Neubie Electronic Stimulation and the Opioid Crisis ⚡

As many as 1 : 4 adults in North America have an opioid addiction. Not only can narcotic use be dangerous, it often does not solve the origin of the problem, it only masks the pain.

The NEUBIE has been shown to have a profound effect on managing acute and chronic pain during countless clinical treatment applications. Physical Therapists have been recommended by the Centers of Disease Control to alleviate and manage pain involving the neck, shoulders, low back, and knees because:

• PT treatment within two weeks of a neck, knee, back, or shoulder injury reduces the odds of needing opioid pain killers by up to 60%

• 80% of patients with knee, back, and shoulder disorders remain opioid-free for at least one year after PT

• Increasing physical activity can reduce the risk of other chronic diseases

The body has the ability to heal itself when given the opportunity. Masking pain with opioids and other medications does not fix the underlying cause(s). Don’t medicate your pain. Treat it.

Secrets To Find The Best Sleeping Position

As a physical therapist I think about sleeping position with my patients a lot. Besides patients possibly sitting/standing for 8-12 hours a day, they are also sleeping for 6-9 hours a night. I feel that a patient’s sleeping position could be the best thing or the worst thing for them, contributing to their pain. So, what is the best sleeping position for a human?

There are 4 things we know about sleeping and the musculoskeletal system:

(1) Sleeping on a firmer mattress or futon supports the body and its joints better than a softer mattress. Let’s face it, humans have gotten pretty wimpy with their sleeping arrangements and cushy mattresses. If you have gotten used to your pillow top mattresses, you may need to think about reintroducing a firm mattress to help your joints in the big picture. It takes about 90 days to move from soft to firm and sometimes longer.

(2) Using a very thin pillow or no pillow is better for the head and neck position if a person has full neck mobility. If a patient has the “forward head posture”, (see picture) this will be difficult but decreasing pillow height gradually over time could be a good way to improve head/neck mobility.

(3) Sleeping on your back on a firm mattress and thin pillow is the best position for healing, and the least amount of stress on your joints. I have lots of patients tell me that they can’t sleep on their back because they snore. Snoring is not normal and is probably a result of sleep apnea or a nasal obstruction. These patients should see an MD about having a sleep study or assessment of their sinuses.

(4) Sleeping on your side is the second best, but lots of room to have your body in poor sleeping positions. If a patient tells me that they can only sleep on their side, I would rather they get the sleep for health. Our goal in PT would be to work on the impairments that may prevent sleeping on the back or in poor side sleeping positions.

The last thing I would like to mention is stomach sleeping. It is true that I do have some neck and back pain patients that are stomach sleepers. I was taught in school and it always made sense to me that this sleeping position was a contributing factor to their pain. But is it?

I recently heard a podcast with a health professional discussing this and he believes that stomach sleeping is good for humans as it’s a primitive sleeping posture. He believes that sleeping with your head turned improves neck range of motion and that our hip flexors in the front get stretched out to combat our all day sitting postures. I thought this was a different take on this long thought sleeping position, and I have yet to decide if I agree.