POSTURE/BODY

Posture and Body Mechanics

Why Are Good Body Mechanics Important?

A lack of ability to assume a good posture & utilize good body mechanics for any reason will affect our ability to perform a wide variety of active functional activities. When a patient has a problem that is painful or certain movements blocked by the problem, even simple activities and positions may be severely affected. Sitting, standing, lifting & carrying, walking & running, and recreational activities are examples of activities that typically will need specific retraining by skilled instructors. Unless addressed, subsequent healing of the body may be blocked by posture/body mechanics.

How Do Good Body Mechanics Go Bad?

Ideally, our body uses the least amount of energy possible to maintain good posture (structural efficiency) and to move (muscle efficiency). Injury, pain &/or poor postural habits can cause progressive loss of motion in joints & weakness in muscles, which in turn limits options of position & movement, resulting in structural and muscle inefficiency. The body can develop and maintain compensations for lack of flexibility & strength, but only for a while. As time goes on, these inefficiencies take their toll on the body, with more and more bone, joint, and muscle breakdown.

What Does Functional Retraining Include?

The first step is taking an accurate inventory of functional loss. A typical loss with a low back problem is the inability to sit/drive for more than 20 to 30 minutes. This can be a huge problem with anyone that has to either commute to or sit at work. Another example is the loss of ability to lift or carry; this would place a young mother at risk, as she must do something that is both painful and harmful if she can't find a way to pick up her child safely. Our Physical Therapists are specially trained to identify these problems and assign one on one instruction to them to address these specific problems on an individual basis.
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Joint Mobilization

What is Joint Mobilization?

Joint mobilization is the use of skilled graded forces to move a joint in the desired direction. It is usually used to improve motion and normalize joint function but it may also be used to help control pain.

Which Joints Benefit From Being Mobilized?

Any joint that is lacking sufficient motion may be mobilized. We use joint mobilization on the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine as well as the joints of the extremities such as the shoulder, wrist, knee, and foot.

What Happens to Joints That Lack Motion?

When a joint's mobility is impaired, the structure and function of the region change. Cartilage nutrition starts to decrease within the joint, and adjacent joints begin to move excessively to compensate for the stiff (hypomobile/nonmoving) joint. These adjacent joints begin to break down due to excessive use. Muscles surrounding a stiff joint lose their ability to contract and relax sufficiently and become tight. Soon the whole region is involved in the dysfunction surrounding the stiff joint.

What Benefits Are Derived From Joint Mobilization?

  • Improved joint mobility & joint nutrition
  • Decreased muscle spasms & tension
  • Decreased pain

How Is Joint Mobilization Done?

The person is often placed in a position of comfort where they can relax and allow the region to move freely. The therapist will use his hands to localize the joint in need of mobilization and apply graded force through his hands in the appropriate direction. Soft tissue mobilization, stretching, deep breathing, and various resisted motions/exercise patterns may be used at the same time to help achieve the desired results.

Soft Tissue Mobilization

What Is Soft Tissue Mobilization?

Soft Tissue Mobilization (STM) is defined as the hands-on mobilization of soft tissues, i.e., muscle and associated connective tissues that support it, tendons (muscle to bone connections), and ligaments (bone-to-bone connections). STM is performed on a patient for the purposes of producing beneficial effects on the nervous, muscular, lymph, and circulatory systems.

What Types of Patients Get STM?

Any patient that has not fully moved their spine or extremities can develop soft tissue adhesions that affect not only those tissues but limit movement and normal physiological processes like breathing and circulation. Tight musculature and spasms are also benefited by soft tissue mobilizing techniques.

Prescriptive Therapeutic Exercise.

What Is Prescriptive Therapeutic Exercise?

Typically, a Physical Therapist will group standard exercises based on the general type of problem that the patient has. It is easier to develop several exercise protocols and to reuse them regularly than to develop a new custom exercise plan for each new patient. For example, a protocol for a particular knee surgery will include standard exercises and stretches, whether the patient needs them or not. Prescriptive exercise is the process of the Physical Therapist selecting and prescribing exercises purely on the basis of the need of an individual patient.

What are the Benefits of Prescriptive Therapeutic Exercise?

A patient can recover quicker, and more thoroughly if the Physical Therapist takes the time to develop an individualized exercise program. This process greatly increases the specificity of the prescribed exercise to stretch, strengthen, and coordinate those areas that need it, and not to do what is not necessary.
Contact our physical therapists in Santa Maria, California, for the undivided attention you deserve.
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