Physical Therapy Blog

Living with a limp can pose unique challenges to staying active, but it doesn't mean you have to give up on leading a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle. Understanding the underlying causes of a limp, how to adapt your exercise routine, and the crucial role of physical therapy can empower you to stay active and maintain your well-being. This guide aims to provide you with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the complexities of staying active with a limp, ensuring that you make well-informed decisions for your health.

Living with Parkinson's disease means managing a complex and ever-changing array of symptoms. Optimal care involves a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together professionals from various medical fields to address the wide-ranging impacts of the condition. We love our clients with Parkinson’s at EW Motion Therapy, and we always consider it a privilege to be a part of their care team. Many of our physical therapists are LSVT Big-certified and are ready to create custom treatment plans to address the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s. You may decide that our services don’t fit your needs, but understanding the roles of these professionals and knowing how to find the right ones for your unique needs can make a significant difference in managing Parkinson's disease effectively.

Balance is an integral part of our daily lives, influencing everything from walking and standing to climbing stairs and participating in sports. As we age, it's common to notice changes in our balance, often leading to concerns about whether we can ever return to the levels of stability we enjoyed in our youth. While aging is inevitable, there are strategies you can employ to keep moving and stay healthy, including physical therapy. We love helping our senior patients at EW Motion Therapy move safely through individualized treatment and group balance classes. Even if you decide that our services don’t fit your needs, you can still read on as we explore the dynamics of balance, how and why it changes over time, and the role physical therapy can play in restoring balance.

We all stumble and fall at different points - I’m sure you’ve even tripped on your own feet before. While falls can happen at any stage in life, for older adults, falls can become much riskier. As we age, falls can cause a lot more damage, like broken hips and head injuries, and moving through your daily routine might require a higher level of caution. It’s essential to be mindful of your fall risk and all the factors that can contribute to it, but you should not let it keep you from doing the activities you love. A physical therapist can be a great person to help you modify your favorite activities or daily routine with safety in mind - we do this every day for our clients at EW Motion Therapy. But even if you decide our services do not fit your needs, you can still read on to learn when to start thinking about fall risk, the three categories of contributing factors, and how physical therapy can help.

Once you retire, it can be tempting to use your newfound free time to do absolutely nothing. While that is part of the reward of retirement and should be enjoyed, staying active as you age is vital. Whether you go on walks around your neighborhood or enjoy fitness classes at your local senior center, there are myriad ways for you to get in your daily exercise. But you may be more worried about fall risk, which is a valid concern for many older adults. So how do you stay active while staying safe?

Think about how your feet feel after a long walk or hike. They hurt a little, right? Typically the pain goes away after resting for a while, but if you continue to have pain in the bottom of your foot, you may have plantar fasciitis. It’s a common condition, especially if you have flat feet or don’t have correctly-fitted shoes. But what can you do? Should you ice it and hope for the best?

When you start a new exercise program, it can take a while to start seeing results. If you stay consistent while not pushing yourself beyond what you can handle, over time, you will feel better and improve your fitness. You logically know when you start a fitness program that you will not lose ten pounds on the first day - true progress that lasts takes time to build, but if you are investing in yourself, it is always worth it.

When you have an invasive surgery, the recovery process can be intense. Whether elective or otherwise, surgery can be a major problem in your everyday life and cause you a lot of mental and physical stress. You will have to take time off of work, figure out how much it is going to cost, and you may wonder when you can just go back to your daily activities again. You may even be questioning why your doctor assigned more treatment in the first place - shouldn’t the surgery fix everything?