Tag: pain-free

By PSI MAT® Therapy , ,

Facilitating Muscles through (MAT) Muscle Activation Techniques™

As we age, due to various forms of stresses being placed on the body, the muscular system may become less efficient in its contractile abilities. The result of this diminished muscle activity may correlate with many of the physical complaints that we relate to aging.

MAT recognizes that every injury may have a negative impact on our neuromuscular function and that over time, the communication between the nervous system and the muscular system becomes negatively altered. If this altered communication is not regularly addressed, then the cumulative effect may be a progressive weakness of the muscular system. This may result in an increase in susceptibility to pain, injury and/or degenerative issues.

MAT is a specific program designed to identify and address these altered communication pathways with the primary goal being to restore muscle contractile capabilities. It can be looked at as part of the exercise continuum. The most important component of MAT is that it provides a system of checks and balances.

MAT is a specific technique designed to improve muscle function which can provide an environment that reduces the risk of injury while also speeding up the body’s ability to recover from injury.

The (MAT) Muscle Activation Techniques philosophical framework promotes the following perspectives regarding the nature of the human body and the role of a Certified MAT Practitioner within the health and wellness continuum:

The human body is a dynamic and complex set of integrated physiological systems. Each system can have a profound impact upon other system functions; therefore a client’s muscle system capabilities may be affected by issues relating to any of these other systems that can confound the efficacy of MAT techniques and its implications for exercise activities.

How do muscles lose their efficiency or contractile capabilities?

This can happen due to trauma, overuse, inflammation and dehydration. Inflammation is one of the greatest factors contributing to this issue. Inflammation can diminish sensory input to CNS. This can have a two-fold effect:
1) Inflammation can diminish sensory input to CNS which lowers the efficiency of muscle contractibility
2) Inflammation can limit the inhibitory input to other muscles; thus allowing them to become tight and overworked

Can MAT help clients with their pain?

MAT does not treat pain directly; however the lack of efficient muscular contraction may be a contributor to pain. The lack of efficient contraction places joints and other tissues under strain, which may lead to additional inflammation. When we have large amounts of inflammation the sensory receptors responsible for communicating pain can become sensitized and overactive. Improving the muscle’s efficiency can provide an environment for reducing inflammation and the promotion of healing.

Take your health into your own hands. There are NEW ways to utilize physical therapy for your health. Consider (MAT) muscle activation techniques to treat a muscular injury or increase your performance in sport.

By PSI Physical Therapy, Work Injury , ,

Take Back Your Back: How to Treat Low Back Pain

For more than 80 percent of us, low back pain (LBP) will be a reality at some point in our life. For 15-20 percent of us, that pain escalates and becomes chronic low back pain. Patients who choose physical therapy as their first choice for treatment are realizing better results than those who turn to traditional western medicine which often includes pain medication, imaging tests and specialists visits. So why aren’t more people getting the message? It’s all about education.

Dr. Chad Garvey, DPT, OCS FAAOMPT, recently spoke with Dr. Ivan Huergo, DPT, MATcs, founder and owner of Physical Sciences Institute Physical Therapy (PSI) about ways in which people can treat low back pain using non-invasive techniques. Dr. Garvey is board certified in Orthopedics and completed a certification in manual physical therapy and currently directs an outpatient orthopedic clinic in Louisville, Kentucky.

According to Garvey, evidence supports the fact that when it comes to low back pain and intervention, patients first seek treatment from their physician. “You’re more likely to get imaging, medication and likely a referral to a specialist, like a spine or orthopedic specialist,” says Garvey. “In other words, a surgical specialist. Those referrals deny potential treatment such as physical therapy that can start providing relief immediately.”

Delaying manual physical therapy treatment for longer than four weeks can dramatically change the trajectory of the potential costs and disability associated with patients experiencing low back pain, Garvey adds.

Why is low back pain so important to treat? In addition to the 80 percent of Americans who experience it in their lifetime, low back pain is also the second leading cause of lost work time after the common cold and the third most common reason to undergo a surgical procedure. Americans spend nearly $50 billion each year on low back pain.

Huergo has begun incorporating neuroscience education into his physical therapy practice as research suggests that just by listening to a neuro educational session, a patient can decrease their low back pain. This doesn’t surprise Huergo who is encouraged by results of the non-invasive approach.

“Psychosocial issues have been shown to be a strong predictor of long-term disability and chronic pain,” says Huergo. Huergo asks two very simple questions when he meets with patients to better understand the status of their psychosocial status: How are things at home and how are things at work?

“The answers to those questions could be a yellow flag or considered an increased risk for psychosocial issues or increased risk for developing chronic pain,” he adds.

Using neuroscience education has been shown to decrease fear, change patient’s perception of pain by improving the patient’s attitude about pain.

“Some proposed explanations of this is that it re-conceptualizes their problem in such a way that it leads to increased confidence and activity levels,” Huergo notes.

The results can be immediate, so it is worth noting.

“After listening to one 1 hour educational session about pain and pain processing, neuroscience and psychosocial issues, the patient in this study improved her spinal movement and her perception of pain.”

There are several different approaches to treating low back pain and while pain medication and surgery are options, they aren’t the only options and, in fact, often not the best options. Incorporating physical therapy early on as part of a treatment method has shown to dramatically reduce low back pain.

Hear more from Drs. Garvey and Huergo about how physical therapy, including the use of neuroscience education, can help patients with low back pain find relief.

To schedule a consultation with Dr. Huergo, click here or call (630) 850-7901. PSI  has offices in Westmont and Lincoln Park in Chicago with convenient hours.

By PSI Therapy , ,

The Tipping Point of Pain

Pain is normal—it is sensible to have a system which protects and preserves. Of course something can hurt; life can hurt. There are many different kinds of pain. Pain can be traumatic or pain may develop with much less obvious damage. Pain may emerge over time— like the pain you feel after sitting in front of a computer all day. It could be in your neck or in your back. Pain is useful here, and hopefully will encourage you to get up and move about more often. But pain is often unpredictable, which can make you frightened of it.

Sometimes you can lift the same object 1000 times without a problem. Then,–all of the sudden, one lift causes extreme pain. How can this be? Why do I hurt? What can I do for my pain?

David Butler explains it in the following way, Pains from bites, postural pain, and joint sprains are simple every day pains which can be easily related to changes in your tissues. Your brain decides that your tissues are under threat and that action is required—which includes healing behaviors. An added benefit is that your memories of pain will protect you from making the same mistake twice.

We all know that pain can be a more complex experience. This word pain is also used in relation to grief, loneliness, and alienation. What is it about the pain of lost love that can be as debilitating as any acute low back pain? Actually, the pain of lost love looks quite similar to that of low back pain under fMRI. That is the same areas in brain light up during both pain experiences.

All pain and all experiences for that matter involve multiple thoughts and emotions. Pain relies on context, Sensory information (which is any information coming from your senses) needs to be evaluated by your central nervous system. Evaluation of these cues is extremely comprehensive, which involves; Complex memory, Reasoning processes, Emotional processes, and potential consequence of response. The context of the pain experience is critical.

To effectively deal with pain, it is important to identify the sensory cues. We like to call them the cues that ignite a pain experience—called ignition cues.

AGE

The traditional Western model view has often been that older and younger people feel less pain than middle-age people, That is not true. Pain management skills presented in the explain pain text are of equal use for all ages, with adaptation where necessary.

You began attributing the meaning of pain from a very early age. Have you ever noticed when infants hurt themselves, they often look to their parents on how to react? Parents can inform infants about the meaning of their sensory input. Similarly, health care professionals can influence their patients in the amount of pain they experience.

GENDER

There is a popular myth that females have a lower pain threshold than males. At least until they go through labor—then their pain threshold increases. It is more likely that females will report pain more until they have experienced labor—at which time they feel obliged to be tougher.

 

CULTURE

Many studies report differences in pain thresholds and responses between people in different cultures. For example, the level of radiant heat found to be painful to Mediterranean peoples is merely regarded as warm to Northern Europeans. Your pain will never be the same pain as that experienced by anyone else.

Take your health into your own hands. There are new ways to utilize physical therapy for your health. We will be discussing these paradigm shifts on future podcasts and blog posts.

 

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