Musculoskeletal Pain Syndromes: The Janda Approach

Hayashida  & Associates Physical Therapy, Inc. hosted a great 2-day lab intensive workshop with Clare Frank, DPT, MS, OCS, FAAOMPT.  This course introduced the theory, research, and concepts of Czech physician, Dr. Vladimir Janda (1928-2002).  Dr. Janda pioneered the concept of muscle imbalance syndromes, and developed a systematic evaluation and treatment approach to musculoskeletal pain syndromes.  Hayashida & Associates Physical Therapists attended this workshop which provided the scientific evidence to support the role of muscular imbalance in the pathogenesis of musculoskeletal pain. With functional pathologies, the actual cause of pain is rarely at the site of pain.  A systematic evaluation helps clinicians quickly determine the cause of pain to initiate specific treatment using a variety of techniques. Dr. Janda developed a specific proprioceptive exercise program, Sensorimotor Training (SMT), using inexpensive exercise equipment ideal for clinical or home exercise programs.  This course has helped the clinicians at Hayashida & Associates Physical Therapy broaden their knowledge base in order to provide the most current physical therapy in the Santa Barbara area.

Hayashida Made Strides Against Breast Cancer

Hayashida and Associates would like to thank everyone who helped our team by walking and donating in this year's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer here in Santa Barbara.  Our team successfully had around 15 walkers and raised over $1000 making our team a "Blue Ribbon Team" two years in a row.  The event helped raise over $21,000!

A New Doctor In Town

The Evidence In Motion (EIM) Institute of Health Professions would like to recognize Brook Phillips of Hayashida and Associates Physical Therapy, Inc for completing the Executive Program in Private Practice Management with Postprofessional Doctorate of Physical Therapy.

EIM’s Executive Program is an MBA-style, 12-month educational program for physical therapists that provides training in practice management and business administration.  It is the first program of its kind within the physical therapy profession and is designed to enhance the business savvy and sophistication of private practice physical therapy by teaching evidence-based business. Physical therapists who complete the program gain industry specific knowledge and best practice solutions in the areas of strategy, leadership, human resources, marketing, finance, legal, and business development. The ultimate outcome of the program is designed to enhance the role of physical therapists in the delivery of cost effective health care.

“The greatest benefit of the Executive Program is the expanding community of private practices that continue to collaborate and cross consult with each other well after the completion of the 12-month course,” states Larry Benz, PT, DPT, OCS, MBA, EIM owner, and Executive Program Director.  “We are very proud of these graduates who are now better equipped for the challenging environment.  We are fortunate to have an on-going strategic partnership with the Private Practice Section of the APTA which has broadened our reach of private physical therapy practices.”

The curricula is modeled after many of the top executive MBA programs in the country, utilizing a combination of online didactic and collaborative education experiences in a series of weekend intensive on-sites. Based on educational research, the hybrid model of online education and on-site intensives demonstrates a best-in-education approach.  This is the exact approach that EIM was founded on and has successfully used to graduate over 200 physical therapists in its APTA credentialed Residency and Fellowship Programs. 

Brook Phillips has developed strong knowledge of evidence-based business and best practices and has integrated this knowledge into Hayashida and Associates Physical Therapy, Inc.  Not only will Brook strengthen his practice to obtain competitive advantages in the market place, but he will also strengthen the private practice community as a whole.  Brook Phillips also received a Postprofessional Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the EIM Institute of Health Professions upon completion of the program by completing advanced coursework in Radiology, Medical Screening, Pharmacology and Evidence-based Practice.

With the added knowledge and experience Brook Phillips gained from completing EIM’s Executive Doctorate Program, he will now provide physical therapy at a higher level to the community of Goleta and Santa Barbara.

The Moment

I want to welcome you to, “the moment.” This moment, right now. Take a second and look at your life right now.  Take in all the sights, all the faces. Form a picture in your mind and remember this exact moment. It might not seem like it -- but this is a pivotal moment.

It’s a pivotal moment for a woman facing breast cancer right here in Santa Barbara County.

The statistics tell us she hasn’t been diagnosed yet. She doesn't know she will need help.

She’s walking around right now thinking of a thousand things: her life, her job, her kids -- none of them having to do with breast cancer.

But between now and the end of the year her life will change.

Between now and New Year’s Eve she'll have her annual mammogram, she’ll feel fine and a few days later she’ll get the news that she is one of the 300 women in Santa Barbara County diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

She may never know how important today was in her life. But this moment, right now, matters because this is the moment you pledged to help her and thousands of other local women just like her. Because of the actions you take today and funds you raise during the next two months, when she picks up the phone -- or sits down at the computer, or walks into one of our community offices, or meets a patient navigator in the hospital -- when she reaches out in any one of these ways and asks for help, the American Cancer Society will be able to answer. You will enable us to be there for her.

Please join our team in the Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk this October in Goleta.  Walk with us, raise money with us, just be on our team.

Join by visiting:

    1.  http://main.acsevents.org/goto/HAPT or

    2.  http://www.hayashidapt.com  

  

Exercise is Important for the Teenage Brain

It has long been known that exercise and other physical activity has many benefits for both young and old, including positive changes of both mind and body.  But a recent study published in Clinical Psychological Science, researchers looked to see how exercise had an effect of the adolescents’ mental health.

Researchers mainly interviewed teenagers regarding self-esteem, anxiety, relationships with friends and negative behaviors.  In the research the “teenagers who took part in organized sports had a more positive self-image and greater self-esteem than teens who weren't physically active”. 

A question does still remain.  “Does the exercise make teenagers more confident or do more confident teenagers’ partake part in sports?”  This may be an unanswerable question but they did find that those in single person activities, such as, dance class, running, or even Wii sports can make a difference. 

So all the teenagers out there need to get out and start moving.  It is important for their body and mind.

Ref: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/07/168616995/why-exercise-may-do-a-teenage-mind-good?sc=17&f=1001

Img: http://www.drkhuram.com/articles/exercise-and-teens.html

See Our Pictures

The open house was such a great event that we had to capture some of the great moments.  Please check out our FACEBOOK PAGE to see the photos of the night.  While you are there please "like" our page and share it with your friends, family, and coworkers.  We are constantly updating it and often have great deals for free screens, discounted workout equipment and other fun goodies.

Open House - Did You Miss It?

Did you miss the open house?  Maybe you were busy, out of town, with your family, or just didn't hear about it.  We would like to invite EVERYONE to stop by and get a tour of our new location.  We have customized the space to best serve the public's need for individualized programs that include premier one-on-one manual therapy and therapeutic exercise.

Open House - A Success!

All of us here at Hayashida and Associates Physical Therapy want to thank everyone who attended our open house at 319 Anacapa Street. It was a great night with great food, drinks, and conversation.   The open house gave us a chance to show off our new custom space and explain to patient, clients, and local business owners how we can get them reach their functional and movement goals.

Does a 7-Minute Workout Work?

If you talk to many fitness professionals they may tell you that you need to combine high intensity cardiovascular activity and resistance weight training.  What if we were to say that you can get a high intensity workout that fulfils these needs in only 7 minutes? A recent scientific article in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal gives us evidence that you can!

In this article scientists were able to show that “a few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding” at submaximal effort.   The exercises should be done in intervals. This recovery period between large muscles groups of the upper and lower body should be a maximum of 10 seconds.  The nice thing about alternating between the upper and lower body is that during an exercise, the unexercised muscles have a moment to recover, which can make the order that you perform the exercises very important. 

“The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each [with a 10-second rest between exercises], while, throughout, the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10, [director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute] Mr. Jordan says. Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done.”

Ref and Img: http://lifehacker.com/this-7-minute-research-based-workout-exercises-your-wh-498676327?utm_source=feedly

Img: http://www.my7minutes.com/Content/Images/my7minutes-logo.png

Energy Drinks: Good or Bad for Fitness?

Energy drinks are all over.  You see them in your local drug store, convenience store, and even nutrition stores.  There have been claims that these drinks can help your training and your performance in sporting events.  There are also worries about how safe they are to use for fitness or if they are even safe to consume on a regular basis.  So are these drinks good for you and your performance?

Do they help my performance?

Based on many recent studies there is limited to no data that shows the main active ingredients in energy drinks, caffeine and carbohydrates, can help with your aerobic or anaerobic exercise performance.

Are they safe?

Caffeine is one of the most studied substances in the food supply and it has always been shown to be safe when consumed in moderation.  I guess it goes back to the old saying, “The dose make the poison”

Suggestion?

It does not seem that energy drinks have any beneficial effects to your sports or fitness performance and may be dangerous for your health.  There is little data indicating short term, low dose use will be bad for your health but little long-term studies have been conducted.

Ref: www.nsca.com/contenttempletes/publicationarticledetail.aspx?id=2147486468
Img: http://www.energyfiend.com/the-15-top-energy-drink-brands

Heat or Cold Therapy?

Every day I have an evaluation and one of the questions that always comes up is, “Should I use heat or cold for my pain/injury?”  Since it is such a common question, I thought I would address it here.

Heat: The Good and Bad
Superficial heat can help improve flexibility to your tendons and ligaments, reduce muscle spasms. It can also alleviate pain and elevate blood flow.  “Increased blood flow occurs in the heated parts of the body because heat tends to relax the walls of blood vessels.  That is one reason why sports doctors recommend you steer clear of the practice of heating already inflamed joints.”

Cold: The Good and Bad
Cold therapy can also reduce muscle spasms but is most noted for pain relief and reducing swelling.  The cold actually “deadens” the nerve-cell activity.  Some issues with the pain relieving effects are that people get so much pain relief that they often return to work too soon.   Studies have shown that cold therapy, when combined with compression dramatically decreased swelling.  This is because the cold constricts the walls of the blood vessels and compression restricts the amount of blood that can reach that part of the body.  Studies show that cold produces large decreases in edema or swelling and better reduction in discomfort, compared to heating.

My first option is always ice but it is important to look at the pros and cons of each modality.  If you are still confused, contact your local physical therapist for a better evaluation of your specific issue.

Ref: http://physical-therapy.advanceweb.com/SharedResources/Downloads/2013/012813/PT_HotCold.pdf
Img: https://www.mountainside-medical.com/product_images/uploaded_images/HotCold_01.jpg

6 Reasons Why You Should Stretch

Everyone knows that regular exercise is good for your health but many do not know that regular stretching is just as important.  Many patients and/or clients of mine always ask how often they should stretch, when they should stretch, or even if it is important to do so.  There are many reasons that stretching is important for you and your health.

Stretching For Your Body….

-          Helps improve flexibility (increases your range of motion)

-          Assists in correct posture by lengthening tight muscles that pull areas of the body away from their intended position (because of so much time at our computers, many of us have tight chest muscles which pulls the shoulders and head forward, leaving us with a hunched shoulder look).

-          These is a potential to decrease injury by preparing muscles for work before activity

-          Increases blood and nutrient supply to muscles, thereby possibly reducing muscle soreness

Stretching For Your Mind:

-           Even a short amount of time (10-15 minutes) of stretching can calm the mind, provide a mental break, and give your body a chance to recharge

-          Classes like yoga or Pilates offer you a chance to spend an hour releasing tension physically and mentally.

Main ideas are to stretch muscles that tend to be tight; spend longer times on areas where you have symptoms or notice increased tightness.  Stretch when your muscles are warm such as after a workout. Don’t just stretch for short periods of time.  Sometimes you need a session or two each week that lasts up to 45 minutes to increase your flexibility.

If you need help building a stretching program visit your trained physical therapists at Hayashida & Associates Physical Therapy.

Ref: http://www.fithealthy365.com/6-reasons-why-you-should-stretch/

Img: http://www.organicsoul.com/5-great-daily-stretches-for-your-body/

Fitness Information Overload

As my patients and clients start getting into workout routines there are many common questions that come up.  The most obvious one relates to if a patient should continue through some pain or if they should stop at the first sign of pain when entering a new program.  This is a hard one to answer many times as sometimes we need to define what pain is versus the idea of overcoming obstacles.

The problem in these cases comes down to information overload.  If you look to your peers, health professionals, or the internet for advice you will often find conflicting advice.  “This seems to be true whether you’re looking for nutritional recommendations, training programs, or even deciding what type of exercise equipment is best."1

The best thing you can do is join a team, support group, or group fitness class.  This can minimize the information overload and you all can focus on the easiest pathway towards your goals.  During this journey to “health” you should have a physical with your physician to sort through some of the advice.  Then meet with a physical therapist to get a full body evaluation so that you can understand where you may run into road blocks during your fitness routine.

Keep learning, listening to your body, and make informed decisions!

Ref: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/29/health/fit-nation-information-overload/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+(RSS%3A+Top+Stories)

Img: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/post/2011/01/27/Information-Overload-Feed-your-Client-one-spoonful-at-a-time-by-M-Theresa-Brown.aspx

How to Gain Weight?

Many of you read this title and ask, why anyone would want to gain weight?  Doesn't everyone look to lose weight?  But there are active individuals in the community that are looking to gain weight.  This weight gain may be to increase strength and power in a sport or secondary to a medical condition.  But putting on pounds does not mean that people should take in high-calorie junk food.  Let’s look at 5 steps to gain weight, healthily.  

1.  Set a realistic goal.  Look to your family and keep genetics in mind.  If everyone in your family is tall 

and lanky you are not likely to gain large amounts of body mass.

2.  Start a food diary.  Track how many calories you take in each day.  Add 300-500 calories to this number.  These calories should be from whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats.

3.  Eat small meals and snack often.  Your body will absorb the calories more efficiently if you take them in throughout the day instead of just loading up on one meal.  Do not use supplements that promise instant weight gain.  If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. 

4.  Have a professional asses your body composition and track your weight changes.  In most cases the goal is to add muscle mass, not body fat.

5.  If you are unsuccessful, contact a registered dietitian to help with your goals.  They can change your eating habits and can help improve meal planning.

Ref: http://www.nsca.com/Education/E-learning/5-Steps-to-Healthy-Weight-Gain/

Img: http://leehayward.com/blog/protein-powders-vs-weight-gainers/

30 Minutes Per Day

Could you give up a half hour for your health?  Physical therapists are often in contact with the general population, some who exercise religiously and some who have not exercised a day in their life.  Often after patients move on and become clients or reenter the community to continue with their own rehabilitation and fitness they start to do less and not participation in general fitness.  The story I always here is "I don't have time for that".

That is where Dr. Mike Evens comes in.  He is a physician who has a big interest in preventative medicine, as all health care professionals do.  Dr Mike Evens explains that "there are many things that you can do that are incredibly important for your health and I wouldn't want you to minimize your efforts in any one category. But I wanted to know, what comes first?"

In this viral video (watched over 3 million times), Dr Evens answers a challenging question: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

Aide Training

Here at Hayashida and Associates Physical Therapy, we are extremely passionate about the profession and the care that you receive while you are here with us.  With this push for excellence, we also like to ensure that our staff is capable to providing the same quality of care as your therapist.    Physical Therapy aides are screened prior to hiring and evaluated on their desire to pursuit a career in health care.  This measure enables the physical therapist to assist in the development of the necessary skills towards becoming a physical therapist, strength and conditioning coach, or personal trainer. During their time at Hayashida and Associates, these individuals are pushed to continue towards and many achieve additional certifications in the strength and conditioning industry.  Just as the your therapist stays sharp with their evidence based practice, by attending seminars, labs instruction, teaching and reading literature, we believe that growth within our staff is important as well.  During their time at each clinic, aides are all continually trained in rehabilitative exercises and proper mechanics to ensure that the patient is able to strength the targeted area and reproduce the exercises with their home programs.   Multiple training sessions are made available so that the aides can assist us with your care

Written By: Riley O'Hagan, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS

Outsource Your New Year’s Resolutions

You may sit there and read the title of today’s blog post and question, “That would be easy, send my New Year’s Resolution overseas and have someone else worry about it”.  But there is another meaning to outsourcing your resolutions.  When we make resolutions for ourselves we often make foolish ones such as, lose 60 lbs in 1 month, workout 7 days a week when you have never worked out before, or stop eating chocolate.  Although these resolutions may be helpful for your health they may be too ambitious or not change what you really want to change.  So it is time to outsource!  Ask your friends and family to pick resolutions for you.

Your loved ones will be able to give you ideas in a constructive way. “The idea is that when your friends and family point out where you might need to improve, it's more likely to have an impact on you than your own ideas do.”  The key for the friend, or you, if you are the one giving the advice for a resolution is to start with a positive one instead of just listing harsh criticisms.  The other nice part of outsourcing is the person who gives you the resolution acts as a second pair of eyes to make sure you are on the right track.

Ref: http://lifehacker.com/5871534/outsource-your-new-years-resolutions-to-make-them-stick
Ref: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204552304577114722549353752.html
Img: http://engage.networkdepot.com/Portals/154468/images/outsource%20button-resized-600.jpg

How to Make a New Year's Resolution

Do you know that almost half of all Americans make resolutions for the New Year?  Did you also know that only about 10% of these resolutions are successful?  So before we talk about different resolutions that would be good for your health and habits we first need to discuss how to make a resolution that you will stick to.  Luckily there are some scientific findings that can greatly help keep your resolutions.

1. Don’t make too many resolutions at once – “In an experiment conducted at Stanford, one group of students was given a two digit number to memorize while the other group was given a seven digit number. Afterwards, they were asked to walk down a hallway while holding that number in memory and presented with the option to eat a slice of cake or fruit salad at the end. It turns out that the seven digit memorizers were nearly twice as likely to choose cake over the fruit salad. It was as though memorizing the extra numbers took up ‘good decision making' space in their brain.”  The moral of the study is make one resolution that you can work on so you do not get distracted or spread yourself too thin.

2. Set a specific goal – “In health behavior change and maintenance studies, the effects of setting specific, difficult goals leads to higher performance when compared with no goals or vague, non-quantitative goals, such as "do your best.”  For example do not just make a goal of ‘eat better” or ‘lose weight.’  Instead you should make a goal that has a lot of detail such as ‘lose 10 pounds by April 15th

3. Tell Friends, Family and/or Coworkers about your goals. – “An experiment conducted on the effects of social support at the workplace concluded that weak social support often leads to elevated levels of heart rate and cortisol, which are indicators of anxiety and stress.”  Having the support during your time of change can greatly decrease the stress and help you achieve your goals.  This is the basis behind support groups of any manner (i.e. AA, Anxiety, etc).

We have only outlined a couple ways to make sure that you can make goals that work for you.  Also an idea on how to keep that goal as the year wears on.  Look out for our next post regarding further helpful hints and ideas regarding New Year’s resolutions.

Ref: http://lifehacker.com/5871955/the-science-behind-new-years-resolutions-and-how-to-use-it-to-achieve-yours

IMG: http://tomsworkbench.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/New-Years-Resolution-629x395.jpg