Have you been to the gym working out on the elliptical, happened to look at the person next you and noticed brightly colored tape wrapped around their shoulder? Or maybe you watched the olympic bobsledding a few years back and noticed black tape on this athlete’s calf? A few years ago, when I had achilles […]
Important Update: No RX Required for Physical Therapy in Illinois
Until recently, Illinois and Texas were the only states that still required a person to obtain a doctor’s prescription for physical therapy. In August 2018, the State of Illinois passed a new law stating that physical therapists now have direct access. You can read the exact law here. What does “direct access’ mean? It […]
Active Summer? Here are Some Tips to Keep you Safe
Summer in Chicago is finally here! Do you have any big plans? As you’re going about your outdoor activities this summer, don’t forget to be mindful of your body to keep it performing at it’s best. Here are a few “common sense” tips that are worth repeating, as it’s easy to get caught up in […]
How to Start Practicing Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness and meditation is a very popular concept these days. But do you really know what it is? How to do it? Or how it can benefit you? Let me tell you a little bit about my own experience with mindfulness and meditation. When I began studying IMT (Integrative Manual Therapy) 20 years ago, I […]
Tips for Avoiding Back Pain and Other Injuries at Work
When you went to college, they probably didn’t teach you how to sit all day and not get back pain or carpal tunnel. When you started your career, you probably did not learn how to use your body to avoid injury. During your new employee orientation, they probably didn’t mention injury prevention. In our society, […]
What is at the Core of Many Pain Problems?
Different people might suffer from different kinds of pain, yet the core of their problems is often the same. Take these four people, for example: Kirk had shoulder pain while doing some of his exercises. Gail had had 2 metatarsal fractures in the same foot in a year’s time. Lisa had jaw pain for the […]
Meet Our Acupuncturist, David Derdiger
Acupuncture and other Chinese medicine techniques are a wonderful adjunct to Physical Therapy or as a stand alone treatment to promote healing, improve health and get people back to doing the things they love to do. So, when I received an email from David Derdiger, an Acupuncturist/Chinese medicine practitioner requesting to rent a room, […]
The 3 Best Exercises to Eliminate Back Pain
To recover from or prevent back pain, you need to have a strong core. Your core consists of your abdominals, back, and hips. In this video, we’ll walk you through three core stabilization exercises to improve and maintain your core and back strength.
Personalized Physical Therapy: Using Both Traditional and Non-Traditional Methods for Pain Relief and Healing
Physical therapists (PTs) are movement experts who understand all the individual components of movement, such as which joints move and what muscles work during any phase of any activity, e.g., walking, running, lifting, etc. When you take a step, PTs know the muscles that are working and how much mobility you need in every joint […]
What Kind of Runner are You — a Glider or a Gazelle?
A few years back I saw a YouTube video by Todd Kenyon, PhD from www.TTBIKEFIT.com. He was comparing the two primary running styles of elite ironman triathletes. He called the 2 running styles, gazelles and gliders.
How to Lift Properly to Avoid Back Pain and Injury
Did you know that low back pain and sciatica is the #1 reason people go to see their doctors? Low back pain or sciatica (pain, numbness, or tingling down the back of the leg) can be caused by many things including spinal stenosis, arthritis, a herniated lumbar disc, or a sacroiliac dysfunction. Often these conditions […]
Doctors Now Recommend Physical Therapy as an Option Over Opioids
I’d like to share a story about a patient named Gail. Gail had severe low back pain lasting a week that began after doing an intense core exercise class. She was evaluated and received manual therapy and extensive body mechanic instruction, as to prevent further injury to her back. This instruction included how to get […]
Patient Spotlight – Raj Ponna of Mount Prospect
How did you get involved in running, triathlon and cyclocross? Growing up in India, I was never physically active even falling behind in regular kid’s play. In 2008, I surpassed 180 pounds, so I made a resolution to lose weight. I started with a 1 minute jog to walk ratio on the treadmill then some […]
What the Heck is PT?
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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, […]
