Check out our February 2024 Newsletter, highlighting: the importance of balance training to prevent falls in older adults, addressing ski-related MCL injuries with physical therapy, hamstring injury treatment, and physical therapy for Lisfranc injury.

Maintaining and improving balance is critical as you age to prevent falls. Aging can contribute to visual, vestibular, and muscular weakness issues that can negatively impact your ability to maintain balance and lead to a fall. Each year, nearly 25% of older adults fall. Physical therapists can play a critical role in preventing falls and improving balance, function, and strength in older adults through a personalized fall prevention balance training program. A balance training program for older adults has been shown to reduce the risk of falls by 23% and enhance older adults’ independence and mobility.

Check out our August 2023 Newsletter, highlighting physical therapy for rotator cuff tears, best exercise to address ankle stiffness, physical therapy for vertigo, and aquatic therapy balance training.

Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapy assistant and aquatic therapist Sue demonstrates several exercises you can do to improve your balance through exercising in our warm water therapeutic pool. Improving balance and stability is a key goal of aquatic therapy. Aquatic therapy utilizes the physical properties of water to help patients heal and regain strength, balance, and function without placing unnecessary pressure on healing joints in a safe environment.

Vertigo can dramatically affect your quality of life and ability to perform daily activities. Vertigo involves a false sense of motion, a sensation in which the individual feels that they or their environment is spinning even when sitting or standing still. Physical therapy can reduce and eliminate the symptoms of vertigo, assess and treat the underlying cause of vertigo, retrain the brain to adapt to vestibular dysfunctions and help individuals regain balance and coordination safely.

Check out our July 2023 Newsletter, highlighting improving your golf swing with the Golf Forever tool, dynamic balance training, physical therapy for foot drop, and physical therapy management for scoliosis.

Regular exercise is an essential component of healthy aging, helping seniors maintain independence and improve their physical and mental health. Exercise has numerous benefits for older adults, including improving muscle strength, building bone density, enhancing mobility and balance, and slowing age-related cognitive decline. Experts recommend that older adults engage in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise 150 minutes a week, strength train twice a week, and engage in weekly balance and flexibility training.

Return to work and return to sport programs share the same goal: that the worker and athlete can safely return to work or athletic competition and can meet the demands of the job or sport with sufficient strength, power, and endurance. Physical therapists play a key role in helping injured workers and athletes recover from injury and prepare for a successful return to the job or sports field through a gradual, progressive RTW or RTS training program and objective testing. Rehabilitation for return to work (RTW) and return to sport (RTS) is customized to the patient’s specific needs, duties, and necessary skills to ensure the patient can succeed upon their return to work or sport.

Check out our infographic on the health benefits of exercise! Exercise is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle. Consistent exercise not only can prevent diseases like diabetes or cardiovascular disease but can also help you manage these chronic conditions and maintain function, endurance, and mobility. It is recommended to engage in at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week, or 30 minutes a day, and strength train at least two times per week.

Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Jen guides a senior patient through three balance training exercises. Maintaining and improving balance is critical as you age as good balance allows you to maintain a stable, upright position when standing, walking, and sitting and avoid injury from a fall. Physical therapists can help you improve your balance as you age and prevent falls through a customized exercise and balance training program.

On the blog, physical therapist Jen demonstrates several exercises to improve your balance. Balance is critical to your daily life, allowing you to walk, climb up and downstairs, and prevent falls. Good balance allows you to maintain a stable, upright position when standing, walking and sitting. Improving your balance has many benefits including increased body awareness, joint stability, coordination, posture, and athletic performance as well as reduced risk of injury and falling. Physical therapy can help you improve your balance safely and address underlying issues causing your balance problems.

A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that can cause physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. It can happen during sports, due to a fall, or a car or work accident. Physical therapists use evidence-based treatment and a rehabilitation treatment plan customized to the specific needs of the patient to help them recuperate safely and return to activity. Receiving timely, well-monitored treatment for a concussion is critical to achieving full recovery.

Your “core” is the foundation that keeps the body stable. It is a complex series of muscles extending beyond the abdominals to the entire trunk of the body. A strong core stabilizes your spine, allowing you to balance and dynamically change your movement. Physical therapists work with all patients to improve functional core stability to help prevent injury, maintain optimal alignment and posture, and avoid excessive stress on your joints.