chronic pain relief Archives - GOODLIFE Physical Therapy

Are You Experiencing Chronic Pain? Improving Your Diet Could Help You Out!

Stop feeding your chronic pain!

Do you live with chronic aches and pains? Do they make it difficult for you to enjoy your daily routine? Is it hard for you to do things that you once loved doing with ease?

If your discomfort has been continuously worsening, you may want to reconsider your eating habits! We truly are what we eat.

Inflammatory responses can be triggered by eating too much or the wrong foods, which can lead to muscle, nerve, or joint discomfort.

Although physical therapists are not dietitians, providing dietary recommendations to patients is an important part of their job. Dietary adjustments can make the biggest difference in decreasing or eliminating pain in some chronic diseases.

By adopting a healthy nutritional strategy as part of a holistic physical therapy program, you can begin to make the changes necessary to live a more full, comfortable life.

Call GoodLife Physical Therapy today to learn more about pain management and dietary changes you can make to feel better!

How is my diet linked to my pain?

Certain kinds of foods are known to cause or aggravate inflammatory responses and chronic pain. You may be doing yourself more harm than good if you regularly consume the following kinds of foods:

White bread or other highly-processed carbs
Alcohol
Red meat
Foods heavy in processed sugars and/or trans fats (including cookies, donuts, and margarine)
Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and other members of the nightshade family
Caffeinated foods and drinks

These foods can harm you in a variety of ways. Sugar and aspartame, for example, enhance insulin levels while also increasing pain sensitivity.

Caffeine and tomatoes both increase acidity in the body, which promotes inflammatory discomfort. However, the bottom line for all of these items (and a few more) is the same: an increase in your aches and pains.

Poor dietary and nutritional choices can also increase your pain by increasing your waistline. Excessive quantities of rich, fatty, sugary or starchy foods can cause your weight to balloon, especially if you lead a sedentary lifestyle.

This extra weight can accelerate joint degeneration, aggravating arthritis pain. It can also place undue strain on your muscles as they struggle to support your heavier body. Obesity can even encourage the development of bulging or herniated discs, leading to neurological issues such as sciatica.

Physical therapy and nutritional pain relief

Certain foods have been known to alleviate inflammation, where some foods can aggravate it. In fact, according to Harvard Health Publishing, “A lot of chronic pain is the result of chronic inflammation, and the evidence is quite strong that your diet can contribute to increased systemic inflammation.”

The good news is that the correct foods can help you battle inflammation just as much as the wrong foods can make it worse. Simply switching to a Mediterranean diet can put you on the road to better health and less pain.

Fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains, and healthy oils like olive oil are all wonderful options with great nutritional content and low inflammatory potential in this diet.

Even the spices you use can make a big difference in how comfortable you are; turmeric, for example, is a powerful natural anti-inflammatory. Your physical therapist can advise you on the best dietary modifications to make to help you manage your pain.

Weight control is another vital aspect of pain management. Your physical therapy plan may include recommendations on how many calories you should consume, what kinds of foods you should eat to avoid getting fat, and any other necessary changes to your eating schedule or patterns.

Increasing your physical activity will help you get the most out of your new nutritional routine. For example, strength training that builds muscle boosts your metabolic rate, helping your body burn calories more easily.

Other physical therapy techniques to ease chronic aches and pains will help you become that much more mobile – enabling you to boost your workout regimen, lose more weight, and take more strain off of your joints and tissues.

What conditions can be improved with a healthy diet?

There are a number of common conditions in America that are directly related to diet and nutrition.

Here are some conditions in which nutritional advice will likely be a part of the patient’s physical therapy regimen:

Diabetes. More than 90 percent of patients with diabetes also experience neuropathic pain. Diet and nutrition will play a key role in managing these conditions.
Osteoarthritis. Obese patients are more likely to develop arthritis, especially in the knee. Once a person has been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee, managing their weight becomes the most important key to managing the arthritis and pain.
Inflammation. American diets tend to have a lot of vegetable oils and other inflammatory foods in them. This can make the pain from inflammation even worse. In many cases, a physical therapist will prescribe a diet with more antioxidants and anti-inflammatory foods to help manage pain.
Autoimmune disorders. The combined total of various autoimmune disorder patients (such as Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis) now outnumber cancer patients in America by a wide margin. Autoimmune disorders are frequently linked directly to deficiencies in a patient’s diet.
Obesity. Being overweight causes a patient pain, so they become more sedentary. Becoming more sedentary causes them to gain more weight, which leads to more pain.

Request an appointment with us today!

Eating for health can include eating for pain management. Contact our physical therapy center to make this strategy work for you!

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Trouble Staying Active While Working a Desk Job? We Can Help!

A Sedentary Job Doesn’t Have to Mean a Sedentary Life!

At our PT clinic, we see many hard-working patients with desk jobs—but it can be challenging to find time to stay active in sedentary environments.

Unfortunately, many people eventually realize that it is the sedentary nature of their work that directly affects their health and job performance.

Everyone needs to move a lot throughout the day. However, if you’re sitting for most of your working day, it’s essential to find a way to move more frequently.

Not only will regular movement help mitigate the risks associated with excessive sedentary behavior (such as back pain, obesity, and even heart disease), but research suggests that it can also increase productivity, mental focus, and job satisfaction.

Need some tips on how to increase physical activity? Check out these helpful ideas from our dedicated staff of physical therapists!

The importance of staying active throughout the day

According to PT in Motion News, 80 percent of Americans aren’t meeting physical activity guidelines set forth by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Finding the time or the motivation to exercise is difficult for many people.

Maintaining a high level of physical activity can possibly lengthen your life as well as improve the overall quality.

The truth, however, is that getting active can vastly improve your health, your comfort, mobility, and overall quality of life. That’s why it’s so important to stay active, even when you have a desk job.

5 steps to improve physical activity throughout the day

Addressing past injuries. It’s hard to stay focused and comfortable at work if you’re in pain. And while we know that sitting for longer than 7 to 8 hours per day is associated with health problems, sometimes the idea of increasing your physical activity can seem like a huge obstacle. By consulting with a physical therapist, you can get underlying health problems diagnosed and managed. Our therapists use non-invasive, evidence-based techniques that work with your body’s natural healing power—it’s not just about masking the pain! Doctors of physical therapy can also prescribe expert guidance on ergonomic improvements around your office and can help you maximize your posture, core strength, and other elements of health so you can function better while on and off the clock.
Use a pedometer. Research shows that wearing a simple pedometer (you can find super inexpensive options online and in sports retail stores) helps increase the number of steps you take per day. This kind of objective data can be inspiring and get you to move more frequently than you may otherwise. You may even consider getting some colleagues to join the “pedometer club” and create a little friendly competition to see who can get the most steps in throughout a typical work day or week!
Use the office as your gym! Come up with ways to move more on and around your work area. Can you park farther away from the building? Allocate 10 minutes of your lunch break to a brisk walk around the campus or neighborhood. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk down the hall to chat with your colleague or employee instead of sending an email or text.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Staying well-hydrated on the job offers multiple benefits: it helps your tissues and joints stay healthy, it improves focus, it eases headaches, and yes—it will make you need to get up more frequently to use the bathroom!
Do short exercises throughout the day. At least once per hour, pause what you’re doing and take a few minutes to run through some simple exercises or stretches. These can be done in the privacy of your own office or even out in the open (hey—maybe you’ll inspire your co-workers!). Ask a physical therapist to provide you with an individualized program that can address your specific needs and be tailored to your job duties.

Get moving with physical therapy!

If you’re looking for more ways to stay active, a physical therapist can help you. Don’t hesitate to contact us today to get started!

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5 Reasons You’ll Benefit From Seeing a Physical Therapist

This demand for pain-management drugs has caused the opioid crisis we’re all too familiar with today. Opioids are both dangerous and addictive when taken for extended periods of time or in large amounts. Because of this, many Americans are understandably looking for safer pain relief alternatives.

According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, approximately 100 million Americans live with chronic pain. So, if you are living with chronic pain, or pain lasting three months or longer, you are not alone.

Unfortunately, that also means that the dependency on prescription medications is continuously growing. In the year 2013, doctors across the U.S. prescribed nearly a quarter of a billion opioid prescriptions – that’s roughly a bottle per person in the United States.

Physical therapy is a natural, safe, and non-invasive treatment of chronic pain. To learn more about how physical therapy can help you find relief, without the need for dangerous pain-management drugs, contact GoodLife Physical Therapy today.

The 5 benefits of physical therapy for chronic pain

Our physical therapists are mobility specialists who are ready to help you with your chronic pain symptoms. They will design a treatment plan that is tailored to your unique needs in order to give you with the most effective passive and active therapy treatments for your disease.

Physical therapy has numerous advantages; nevertheless, the following are the top five:

1. Better physical function

Participating in physical therapy is an engaging process that can inspire you to take a more active role in your pain management. Physical therapy sessions last anywhere from 30-60 minutes, allowing you to work closely with your therapist to achieve your goals. At the end of the day, physical therapy is the only natural, risk-free, and active method of pain relief, providing long-lasting effects.

2. A treatment plan catered to YOUR needs alone

In addition to passive treatments, your physical therapist will design an active exercise program for you that is tailored to your individual healing needs. Physical activity can dramatically reduce pain while also reducing swelling, enhancing range of motion, aiding healing, and boosting general strength and endurance.

3. Safe, conservative treatments.

Some common treatments that physical therapists provide include massage, ultrasound, joint mobilization, electrical nerve stimulation, and diathermy. These are all-natural treatments that have a very low risk of side effects, especially when compared to other methods of pain relief, such as surgery and medication.

4. Treatments supported by credible medical professionals.

Rigorous study and strong research are just two of the many ways that the successes of physical therapy have been proven. These studies have provided credible evidence for physical therapy treatments, illustrating how they can significantly reduce a vast number of pain-related conditions. The implementation of care backed by scientific research allows physical therapists to greatly improve their patient outcomes.

5. Relief that targets the source of the pain

Physical therapy’s success is due in part to the fact that it reaches the root of the problem rather than simply hiding it. Pills may be simpler to swallow for pain relief, but their effectiveness is fleeting. Many drugs’ effects only last 12 to 24 hours, so you’ll have to keep popping tablets if you want to keep feeling better. It essentially hides the discomfort while failing to address the underlying issue.

At your first consultation, your physical therapist will conduct a complete assessment to establish the source of your pain and the most effective treatment options. Physical therapy addresses the underlying cause of the problem in order to provide long-term relief, whereas medicine simply provides temporary relief.

Are you ready to discover the benefits of physical therapy?

There’s no guarantee when it comes to taking medication to quell the effects of a painful chronic condition. Physical therapy is a much safer bet if you’re looking for a healthy way to return to a life free of constant discomfort.

Are you living with pain? Are you looking for a natural way to treat your pain? If so, look no further. We can help you get the treatment you need so you can live a pain-free life, without the risks of opioids!