3 Ways to Prevent Falls With Your Walker
Elderly falls are not uncommon. According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 Americans aged 65 or older falls each and every year. Health officials say that more than 3% of those falls result from walkers and canes. That means nearly 47,000 senior Americans end up in the emergency…
PROGRESSIVE RESISTANCE STRENGTH TRAINING
Progressive resistance strength training (PRT) is an effective intervention for improving physical functioning in older people, including improving strength and the performance of some activities, according to authors of a systematic review published July 8 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Researchers searched the Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialized Register (to…
EXERCISE AFTER LOW BACK SURGERY
Exercise programs starting 4 to 6 weeks postsurgery in adults after first-time lumbar disc surgery seem to lead to a faster decrease in pain and disability than no treatment, and high-intensity exercise programs seem to lead to a faster decrease in pain and disability than low-intensity programs, say authors of a systematic review published in…
APTA SUBMITS STATEMENT ON POPTS
Yesterday [October 8 2009] APTA spoke during the public comment period at a MedPAC meeting during which MedPAC explored whether the in-office ancillary services exception to the Stark II physician self-referral law should be modified. MedPAC expressed concerns with the increase in imaging, pathology, therapy, and other services in physician offices, and discussed specific approaches…
PT FOR CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY
Cervical radiculopathy happens inside the cervical spine. It is caused when a nerve becomes inflamed or damaged and can change neurological function. It can cause numbness, weakness, slower reflexes and is very painful. Studies show that physical therapy can help manage this pain. A semi-hard cervical collar and rest for 3 to 6 weeks or…
PT FOR LYMPHEDEMA – NEW RESEARCH
Early physical therapy could be an effective intervention in the prevention of secondary lymphedema in women for at least 1 year after surgery for breast cancer involving dissection of auxiliary lymph nodes, say authors of an article published online January12 in BMJ. The study was conducted in a university hospital in Madrid, Spain. Participants were…
INDIVIDUALIZED EXERCISE PROGRAM MAY IMPROVE ADHERENCE
Interventions such as supervised or individualized exercise therapy and self-management techniques may enhance exercise adherence, say authors of a systematic review that assessed the effects of interventions to improve exercise adherence for people with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). However, the authors add, high-quality, randomized trials with long-term follow up that explicitly address adherence to exercises…
Aquatic Therapy for Hip & Knee Arthritis
Hip and Knee Arthritis, just like any other form of the disease, is extremely painful. Wear and tear on particular joints cause cartilage damage. That cartilage damage becomes inflamed, causing pain and discomfort from those experiencing it. The two most common types of is Hip and Knee Arthritis. Hip and Knee Arthritis affects people of…
METABOLIC SYNDROME ON THE RISE
A new study finds that 34% of US adults in government health surveys conducted between 1999 and 2006 had metabolic syndrome, up from 29% in similar surveys done between 1988 and 1994, says an article by Reuters Health based on a study in Diabetes Care. The syndrome is a collection of risk factors for type 2…
PT CAN HELP REDUCE FALLS
Primary care-relevant interventions that include physical therapy can reduce falling among community-dwelling older adults, say authors of a systematic review published in the December 20, 2010, issue (Vol 153 No 12) of Annals of Internal Medicine. The reviewers evaluated research published in 2003 and researched databases from the end of that review’s search date to…
