The season of autumn brings spectacular fall foliage. However, once the vibrant beauty of the colorful leaves fades, we are left with the job of raking and bagging enormous amounts of leaves. Weekly leaf raking can take a toll on your body, particularly if you are engaging in incorrect biomechanics that strain your back, neck, and shoulders. Check out our tips to help you avoid injury when raking this fall!

Is it Fact or Fiction? Our latest blog debunks the 10 most common myths about knee pain. Knee pain is one of the most common orthopedic conditions that lead patients to seek physical therapy. Physical therapy provides a safe, non-invasive, and effective way to reduce knee pain, improve mobility and strength, and restore function to the knee.

Check out our 10 tips to prevent injury during cheerleading. Cheerleading involves intense gymnastics tumbling, partner stunts, lifts, and tosses. The physical demands of cheerleading contribute to injuries to the ankle, wrist, shoulder, knee, back, neck, and head. Physical therapists can help cheerleaders not only safely heal from an injury sustained during cheerleading, but also help prevent injury through a targeted conditioning and strengthening program.

Football is a high-contact sport with one of the highest sport injury rates. Common football injuries include concussions, ACL tears, ankle sprains, turf toe, shoulder dislocation, rotator cuff tears, and hamstring strains. Physical therapy provides effective treatment for football-related injuries, helping the athlete to safely recover and return to sport when fully healed. Physical therapists help athletes regain strength, function, and range of motion through a targeted therapeutic exercise and strengthening program while managing pain and minimizing the risk of future injury.

September is #PainAwarenessMonth. While pain is an important survival mechanism to protect an injured area of the body, chronic pain is persistent pain that lasts beyond the normal healing process. Chronic pain develops when the nerves that communicate pain to the brain become hypersensitive, causing the brain to perceive that area of the body as a potential threat and therefore painful. Physical therapy offers safe and effective treatment for chronic pain, reducing pain and improving mobility, strength, and function.

Check out our September 2021 Newsletter which highlights Mangiarelli Rehabilitation’s commercial on 21 WFMJ, 2020 PTA Kent State Clinical Instructor of the Year awarded to our physical therapist, Jen, 8 tips for back-to-school ergonomics, and exercises to stabilize the shoulder.

Physical therapy is a safe and effective alternative to manage pain and reduce the use of opioids. Over the last two decades, opioid prescription rates have quadrupled. Opioids pose a significant risk with serious side effects like depression, addiction, and possible overdose. In 2016, the CDC recommended physical therapy and prescribed exercise as a safe alternative to managing long-term pain and preventing opioid use and addiction.

Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist, Sarah, demonstrates three exercises you can do to stabilize and strengthen your shoulder. The shoulder is a complex joint that allows for a significant amount of mobility and is stabilized by the surrounding shoulder musculature on and around the shoulder blade. Shoulder instability involves increased laxity of the shoulder joint in which the joint can “slip” in and out of the socket. A physical therapist can address shoulder instability and increase shoulder strength and stability through an exercise program that targets the rotator cuff muscles, scapular muscles, and lower and upper back muscles.

Check out our latest infographic with 8 Tips for Back-to-School Ergonomics! Carrying a school backpack can have significant biomechanical, physiological, and discomfort impacts on the wearer and can contribute to neck, back, and shoulder pain. Learn how to address body mechanics, posture, and the proper use of school-related equipment to protect students’ necks, shoulders, and backs from pain or injury with our back-to-school ergonomics tips!

Volleyball is a dynamic sport that requires a high level of repetitive overhead motion and dynamic power and control, placing a great deal of stress on the shoulders, knees, and ankles. The most common volleyball-related injuries include ankle sprains, patellar tendinitis, ACL injuries, and rotator cuff tendinitis. A physical therapist can treat each of these injuries and help the athlete regain strength, range of motion, and mobility in the injured area for a safe return to sport. Physical therapists also help volleyball players prepare for a successful volleyball season and prevent injury through a comprehensive training program.

Check out our tips to minimize your risk of ACL injury! Preventing ACL injury saves an athlete from physical trauma, an interrupted sports season, and intensive rehabilitation. ACL injuries are most common in sports that involve pivoting, landing, and sudden changes in direction. Sports medicine physical therapists can design ACL injury prevention programs for athletes that include strengthening exercises, balance and agility drills, and jumping and landing technique training

Check out our 8 tips to prevent cross-country injuries! Cross country is an outdoor endurance sport that involves running along a trail of natural terrain. The repetitive impact of running on irregular natural terrain can heighten the risk of injury in cross-country runners. Following a training regimen that incorporates cross-training and targeted strengthening plays a crucial role in preventing cross country injuries during the season. A physical therapist can not only effectively treat any injuries that occur, but also help cross country runners prepare for a successful season through a customized exercise program.

Biceps tendinitis is a common cause of shoulder pain that occurs when the biceps tendon becomes irritated and inflamed due to repetitive overhead movements. Biceps tendinitis is associated with sharp pain in the front of the shoulder. Physical therapy offers effective treatment for biceps tendinitis to manage pain and restore range of motion, strength, and mobility to the shoulder joint. Check out our infographic to learn more!

Check out our August newsletter which highlights physical therapy treatment for sacroiliac joint dysfunction, how to relieve osteoarthritic knee pain with physical therapy, osteoporosis physical therapy management, and five benefits of physical therapy after a stroke.

Physical therapy can treat postpartum bladder problems, such as urinary incontinence, by restoring pelvic floor muscle function after pregnancy and childbirth. Between 30 to 40% of women experience some degree of urinary incontinence postpartum, often silently suffering through stress incontinence in which urine may leak without your control when pressure is applied to the bladder when laughing, coughing, or exercising. Women can find relief from postpartum bladder issues by working with a skilled physical therapist.

Physical therapy is the first-line treatment for herniated discs. A herniated disc occurs when the outer ring of the intervertebral disc of the spine is torn, allowing the gelatin-like core to leak which irritates and compresses nearby nerves. This can cause radiating pain, weakness, numbness, and loss of sensation in the back, leg, neck, and shoulder. Physical therapists help those with a herniated disc relieve pain and restore function through strengthening exercises, manual therapy, and posture training.

Gymnastics is an incredibly demanding sport that requires extreme strength, power, flexibility, and mobility of the entire body. Due to the extraordinary physical demands, high impact forces on the body, and rigorous training schedule of the sport, acute and overuse injuries can occur, most commonly in the ankle, knee, wrist, elbow, and low back. Physical therapists work closely with gymnasts to restore function, mobility, strength, and flexibility after an injury, ensure a safe return to sport, and prevent recurrent injuries.

A hip labral tear involves the hip labrum separating or pulling away from the hip socket. Hip labral tears can result from direct trauma to the hip joint but are most common due to repetitive stress on the hip, such as in soccer, hockey, and long-distance running. Physical therapy plays an important role in addressing hip labral tear symptoms and maximizing the hip’s strength and mobility through manual therapy, therapeutic exercise, and progressive strengthening program. 

Sacroiliac joint dysfunction involves pain and altered function in the sacroiliac joints of the pelvis and is often associated with low back pain. The sacroiliac joint absorbs shock placed on the lower body to reduce pressure felt in the lower spine. Physical therapy is an essential component of sacroiliac joint dysfunction rehabilitation, reducing pain and restoring normal pelvic symmetry through therapeutic exercise and manual therapy.

Knee pain is one of the most common orthopedic conditions that physical therapists treat and a frequent cause of chronic pain. Knee pain can restrict movement, limit muscle control in the affected leg, and reduce the strength and function of the muscles that support the knee. Physical therapists can effectively treat and address all types of knee pain, easing pain and restoring movement and function. On the blog, Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Bobby Mangiarelli demonstrates physical therapy exercises to relieve osteoarthritis knee pain.