Live a Healthy Life with Prevention

American’s today are beginning to throw the word “prevention” around a little more when it comes to their health.  As we discussed in our last blog, taking minor steps in the correct direction can decrease our chances of heart disease and dementia.  So besides getting an annual physical exam and teeth cleaning what can you do to stay healthy?

EXERCISE – This is the easy one.  Exercising, especially in low impact sports such as swimming, bicycling, yoga, or tai chi can help with increasing you cardiovascular endurance while maintaining both strength and flexibility.  The more your body is prepared for the unexpected, whether it is a simple fall or the need to run from a tiger in the safari, the less of a chance you will be injured during the process. 

WEIGHT CONTROL – In physical therapy when a patient cannot perform weight bearing activities because of joint pain or recent surgery physical therapists often put the patients in some sort of off-weighted environment such as a pool.  This is because increased weight on joints leads to breakdown of cartilage, ultimately causing osteoarthritis and pain.  If a person already has osteoarthritis the added weight of a couple pounds can significantly increase pain and disability levels.  Studies show that losing just 10 pounds can reduce the risk for osteoarthritis by 50%.¹

AVOID INJURY – I know what a lot of you are thinking here.  “Of course, we all try to avoid injury so that we do not need to visit health care practitioners.”  But there is more to this.  I would say that about 50-60% of all Achilles tear injuries that I see in the office are people who are “weekend warriors.”   If you are stuck at a desk 5 days a week for 9 months and then decide to partake in a full contact basketball tournament on Thanksgiving  day your are probably a “weekend warrior”.  Your chance of injuring yourself is tremendous; if you are not prepared for sports you will be injured.  Make sure to prepare for your upcoming sporting events by exercising regularly in order to increase your cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility.

Take care of yourself today.  It can save you from pain in the future.  The pain is not just physical but can also be financial.  Protecting your body, especially your joints can save you thousands.  If you don’t exercise, are overweight, or partake in high impact sports you are at risk of wearing down the cartilage in your joints, creating pain, an ultimately causing you to spend up to $50,000 for a joint replacement, not including time away from work. 

If you are currently not maintaining this level of exercise or you need guidance on how to perform exercises correctly Hayashida and Associates offers many options such as Pilates, and both  one-on-one personal training and group fitness classes.  Prevent injury and live a healthy life.  The choice is yours!

1. Fingertips. http://massage.largeheartedboy.com/

Eat a Mediterranean Diet...For Your Heart...For Your Brain....For Your Health!

The common theme nowadays is to find ways to decrease the cost of medical services.  Part of this is done by prevention techniques that are often not covered by insurance companies.  The general population is quickly finding out that they need to take care of themselves whether it is by diet or exercise in order to save on their health care dollars.  It has been long believed that by partaking in a Mediteranian Diet one can keep a heart healthy and avoid extensive heart disease; the largest killer in America.¹

The Mediterranean Diet consists of eating large quantities of fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, olive oil, and fish.  Low to zero quantities of dairy, saturated fats and red meat are eaten.  Wine is moderately drunk in a Mediterranean diet.

Recent research shows that the Mediterranean diet not only helps with heart disease but can also decrease the chances of suffering from brain infarcts, which can be thought of as mini-strokes that cause mild cognitive changes such as memory loss, like we might see in beginning stages of dementia. 

“Researchers found that people who most closely followed a Mediterranean-like diet were 36 percent less likely to have areas of brain damage, compared with those whose eating habits were furthest from the diet.” ²

This news is important for those in America, as it is believed that 1-4% of all Americans over the age of 65 have some sort of dementia, a number as large as 4.5 million people, according to the Mayo Clinic.

This new information, although not completely correlated, can help prevent dementia-related illnesses.  As we all know, “knowledge is power.”  Now is the time to become healthier.  It makes financial sense to take care of yourself; Save money, live healthy!

      1. American Heart Association; 2010. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4644

      2. CNN Health; February 8, 2010. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/08/mediterranean.diet.brain/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

We've Moved Our Goleta Clinic!

We are excited to announce that we have relocated our Goleta clinic just down the street to a new location at Twin Lakes Golf Course. As you know, we have occupied the space in the Costco shopping center for the past 6 years. Starting Monday May 3, we began offering the same unparalleled care from our new location at 6030 Hollister Ave in Goleta. To insure that the transition is smooth, the same 3 therapists that were treating at the Marketplace clinic have moved to the Twin Lakes location and will continue treating their own patients. Also, our Santa Barbara location remains in the same spot at 2921 DeLaVina St just below the Trader Joe's.

To celebrate the grand opening, we will be holding an Open House on May 22 from 11am-4pm at the new location. This will be a chance for us to introduce the facility to our loyal patients and referring physicians. We will provide refreshments and also be giving away prizes.

Hope to you see you there!

DPT, MPT, OCS, CSCS...What does it all mean?

It's pretty obvious that the letters behind your therapist's name indicate the type of degree and certifications they have. But what do they all mean? To cure your curiosity (and brag a bit about our therapists) I will enlighten you.

All of our therapists have a MPT or DPT from one of the 200 accredited Physical Therapy schools nationwide. MPT refers to a Masters of Physical Therapy. This degree was more common for PTs who got their degree 10+ years ago. Because the profession has progressed significantly over the past 10 years, the competition between grad schools and the knowledge of Physical Therapy has become more advanced. Therefore most PT schools offer the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) alone now.
Almost all of our Physical Therapists have received their Doctor of Physical Therapy degree placing them in the top 8.1% of physical therapists nationwide. Those with MPTs have been in their professional careers as physical therapists for 10+ years and are in the process of their transitional DPT program in order to be on top of the latest PT findings. In summary, both degrees signify the completion of the current requirements needed to enter the profession and also represent the completion of a comprehensive program and the fulfillment of the high standards of clinical performance in professional preparation.

Now that we have that our of the way, what is an OCS? OCS stands for Orthopedic Clinical Specialist. This is a certification given by the American Physical Therapy Board of Specialities and is achieved only by completing a list of rigorous requirements. To obtain this degree a therapist must have 2000 hours of clinical practice in Orthopedic physical therapy. Once this is complete they can apply to take the nearly 8 hour exam covering all aspects of orthopedic diagnoses, treatment and physical therapy patient care. Only the top 2% of physical therapists in the country have this certification and four of our seven therapists belong in that top percentile. This is more than any physical therapy clinic in the tri-county area.

Finally, the CSCS indicates that the therapist or personal trainer, in this case, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. To earn this certification, one must have a bachelors degree from an accredited institution or be a college senior enrolled in an accredited institution. They must also be CPR and AED certified. Once these prerequisites are met, the individual may take the 4 hour exam which consists of a scientific foundations portion and a practical/applied portion all dealing with exercise science, program design and nutrition. Physical Therapists often get this certification because of their passion for exercise science and optimal body functioning.

In addition to all of these degrees and certifications, our therapists are actively involved in continuing education immediately after receiving their degree. They take multiple courses each year with their colleagues in order to stay on top of the newest findings in their field.

As you can see, our therapists have spent quite a bit of time in school and embrace the opportunity to learn more every day. Their quest for more knowledge is fueled by the reward for their efforts. These rewards are evidenced by more successful outcomes for their patients in shorter periods of time.

Advice for the Snow Shoveler

I know you people in Santa Barbara had the pleasure to enjoy record 80 degree temperature in February, blue skies, and beautiful beaches but we must remember that most of this county went through a deep freeze.  This past month 49 of the 50 United States had snow on the ground; forcing many people to shovel snow in order to get out and do daily activities such as grocery shopping or commuting to work.  Even those of us in beautiful Santa Barbara may need to shovel snow (if we choose to) when we visit our beautiful vacation spots to ski or snowboard.

Snow shoveling is a repetitive activity and we have talked multiple times on this blog how repetitive activities, especially when completed incorrectly, can cause breakdown of the body’s tissues ultimately leading to inflammation and pain.  Technique is important during snow shoveling; as it is with any activity that includes lifting heavy items (i.e. snow).  Check out these tips from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) to avoid injuries this snow season.

1.       Lift smaller loads of snow.

2.       Make sure to bend at your knees and lift with your legs; not your back.

3.       The snow shovel should be long enough so that you can keep your back straight.  Be careful if the shovel is too long; it with make the weight at the end heavier.

4.       Step in the direction that you are throwing the snow; do not twist!

5.       Take frequent breaks.

Often if these steps are followed, injuries to the back and shoulder can be avoided.  If you or someone you know has back pain, consult a licensed Physical Therapist (PT). 

“PT’s are experts in restoring and improving motion to people’s lives.  They can treat pain without surgery, in many cases, and reduce the need for prescription medications, helping patients avoid side effects.”  -APTA

Reference:  http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=69238

Exercise as a Prescription

Every day, every where we look, there’s a study, a news article, a blog, or a health professional explaining how important exercise is for our health.  We know exercise can help decrease cholesterol levels, keep blood pressure in check, minimize the amount of insulin a diabetic would have to take, and flat out make you “feel good” (It really does… by increasing the amount of endorphins released in your brain).  So we know it is good for us, and many people reading this are probably partaking in exercise on a regular basis.  But we must ask ourselves some important questions.

·         Are we doing the right exercises?

·         Are we performing the exercises correctly?

·         Are we really exercising enough?

In order to choose the correct exercises one should talk to a health professional regarding any underlying pathologies.  It is important to contact an individual who not only has extensive education regarding health of the human body but also someone who can modify your exercise program based on your overall health condition, your needs, and your “aches and pains.”  Physical therapists fill this need and are a great transition point for those just entering the world of exercise.

It is interesting to me, as a physical therapist, to hear friends who go to their general practitioner, only to come back and tell me “my doctor told me I need to exercise more.”  Yes, there are even scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles stating that those groups who where prescribed “exercise” perform better on most objective measures than those who were not.  It is my belief that those exercises need to be prescribed by those who have the education to do so.  One thing you will never hear is a doctor tell you, “You’re sick, just take some drugs.”  No, that doctor is diligent enough to tell you which drug, how often, and what to watch for in terms of side effects.  The physical therapists at Hayashida and Associates can truly prescribe you exercises based on your biomechanics and current strength and agility levels.  And best of all you will perform the exercises correctly, minimizing any chance for injury.

It is recommended for the average American to exercise 30 minutes a day, close to all days of the week.  This exercise should address cardiovascular health, strength, flexibility and balance.  If you are currently not maintaining this level of exercise or you need guidance on how to perform exercises correctly Hayashida and Associates offers both one-on-one personal training and group fitness classes.

A Call to Blue Cross

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter on Monday, February 8, 2010 to Anthem Blue Cross and called on the company to publicly justify its decision to raise premiums for its California customers by as much as 39 percent. In her letter Sebelius notes that the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross, WellPoint Incorporated earned $2.7 billion in the last quarter of 2009.

Contact: HHS Press Office @ 202-690-6343

Not only have premiums gone up but Anthem is also cutting benefits at the same time.

YOU TOO CAN HELP!

Send your own comments directly to Anthem Blue Cross.

Nidhi Jagani
Director of Network Management
Anthem Blue Cross
21555 Oxnard Street, CAAC08-08A
Woodland Hills, CA 91367