Denise’s definition of Physical Therapy (PT): Physical Therapists are movement experts working with people of all ages, from infants to the elderly, who understand how the body is supposed to move for any given activity in order to get you back to do doing the things you love. PTs use their highly skilled hands to […]
Finding your Path
In May, my daughter, Jenna, graduated from the University of Tampa and is one of the lucky ones to already have a job post-graduation. However, this is not unexpected, as she took full advantage of her time while in school building connections, seeking out mentors and having paid internships since the beginning of her sophomore […]
Patient Spotlight – Kayleigh: Why Do You Run?
Why do you Run? I like to compete and do well in races. Running makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something even though while racing I feel like I’m dying. I’ve found that my mood is better after a run and it is a good escape from the stress of school. My goal is to […]
Shut Up and Dance
Well it’s that time of year again — to review what’s happened in the past year and set goals and resolutions for the new-year. This past year I finally met one of my longtime goals; I completed a marathon in Milwaukee, WI. As I’ve found with other big life events, this marathon came with the […]
Patient Spotlight – Glenn
Glenn came to me 4 weeks before he was supposed to do his first marathon, the iconic Chicago marathon. He was unable to run because of knee pain and his longest training run to date had been 16 miles. I assured Glenn, with his background of being a sprint triathlete, that he could finish this […]
Transitions
Summer in Chicago is a time to celebrate warm weather with numerous outdoor activities filled with festivals and concerts to help us forget the long winters. But, in our house, summer means its Triathlon season for our son, Drew. Drew has been doing triathlons since he was 13, when he fell in love with the […]
The Risks of Sitting
There are 168 hours in a week. If you subtract sleeping, exercising, doing errands or chores, that leaves approximately 114 hours, or 67% of our time left. What are we doing with 67% of our time? Sitting…..Travis Saunders, a Ph.D. student and certified exercise physiologist at the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at […]
Patient Spotlight – Carney
Carney Minasian How did you start doing triathlons? About 10 years ago I began running, per doctor’s orders to exercise, as I was 40 pounds overweight and had chest and arm pain. In 2009, I had some eye surgery and wasn’t allowed to exercise for 9 months, which made me a bit crazed from having […]
Patient Spotlight – Joan
How did you start “Joan’s hiking buddies”? When I retired in 1999, I didn’t have enough friends to support retirement. So, I joined hiking groups, but after a few years I realized I wanted more than their scheduled events, so I started my own group, Joan’s hiking buddies. I regularly email a newsletter to about […]
CHANCE ENCOUNTER IN TAMPA
Did you ever have a chance encounter with someone that absolutely brightened your day and brought life into such clear focus? Well, my daughter and I had such an encounter recently, not with just 1 person but with 3 gray-haired, very athletic, healthy looking women, while standing in line at the downtown Tampa, Florida Starbucks. […]
Intention
The holiday season signals a time to begin reflection of the past year and set intentions for the new year. At the end of a networking meeting I went to last week, each of the attendees stated their intention for the next meeting, which also happened to be for next year. As others expressed their […]
A Balancing Act 2014
The holidays are a joyous but hectic time, throwing any semblance of our usual schedule or order out the window. And if you are in the midst of a training plan for an early spring race, staying on schedule can be quite the challenge. It can be a balancing act to take care of yourself, […]
Running Services
Unlike any other sport, runners rarely go for instruction on how to run optimally or efficiently in order to prevent injury. As kids, we all just ran; we didn’t worry about form or technique; we just ran because it felt good. As we get older and our bodies change, postural asymmetries and muscle imbalances can […]
Correct Toes and Shoelacing
CORRECT TOES Correct Toes is a silicone toe spacer which allows the toes to spread to their natural position, facilitating the foot to make full contact with the ground. This promotes good proprioception (knowing where the body is in space) and improved balance for all patient populations, whether you are an athlete or a senior. […]
Recent News – October 2014
I hope everyone has been getting outside and enjoying our fabulous weather the past few months. I know I have. I am now going on 3 solid months of painfree running 3-4x/week! Yeah – so grateful! Although I enjoyed my newfound cross training activities of swimming and biking, I just don’t get that “runner’s high” […]
Recent News – June 2014
After the long winter of 2013-2014, Chicago has returned to its usual state of confusion, is it spring or is it summer? I finished rehabbing my left peroneal tendonitis last Thanksgiving successfully and returned to running for the past 5 months, only to be derailed 3 weeks ago with right achilles tendonopathy. As I can’t […]
Chronic Pain (a Central Nervous System Disease) and IMT
When I began dating my husband, I was amazed to find that he was unable to tolerate even a mild, deep tissue massage. Any deep pressure would create a 10/10 pain experience that would last up to 5-10 minutes after my hands came off him. My husband has Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and had fibromyalgia along […]
A Balancing Act
The holidays are a joyous but hectic time, throwing any semblance of our usual schedule or order out the window. And if you are in the midst of a training plan for an early spring race, staying on schedule can be quite the challenge. It can be a balancing act to take care of yourself, […]
Reflections, Gratitude, and Community Events
This time of year is always a time of reflection, gratitude, and joy. As I look back on 2013, it has been a very successful year at The Manual Touch (TMT). TMT is now 3 years old and has found its identity and vision. Not only do I continue to use all my skills to […]
“Prehab”
Here in the Midwest, winter can be a challenging time to keep up with your running fitness not only because of the weather but many people are not on a formal training plan at this time. Thus, the winter is the perfect time to do “prehab”, an exercise program to improve your running and prevent […]
