AzOPT It is estimated that almost half of the U.S. population will experience low back pain at some point in their lifetime. Low back pain can decrease our ability to participate in recreational sports and everyday activities, such as dressing and getting out of bed. Back pain can be acute (short duration, less than 4…
Tag: 2 Your Health
Features, July 2023
2 Your Health: Understanding Symptoms—the Victim and the Culprit
AzOPT Understanding the symptoms we experience can be frustrating and confusing. They tend to limit and bother the life in which we need and hope to participate in. It is, however, underappreciated how truly interconnected is each tissue and region of the body. This is not to say that your big toe pain is causing…
Features, June 2023
2 Your Health: Ask the Therapist: Do I Really Need Physical Therapy Before Replacement Surgery?
AzOPT “My surgeon is going to remove all the arthritis from my bone-on-bone knee and replace it so I am pain free! What’s the point of physical therapy before surgery?” True—during most replacement surgeries, patients often have great success removing the arthritis and replacing the joints. However, one of the most critical pieces of joint…
Features, May 2023
2 Your Health: Ask the Therapist: Is an MRI Necessary for My Low Back Pain?
Alex Bocchi, PT, DPT, AzOPT Goodyear Physical Therapist Low back pain is something most of us will experience at some point throughout our lives. Some of us recover within days while others may have ongoing pain for years. A licensed physical therapist evaluates the root cause of your low back pain to identify how, why,…
Features, March 2023
2 Your Health: Choose Physical Therapy First
Arizona Orthopedic Physical Therapy Physical therapy (PT) is the best first-line option for most injuries, symptoms, and conditions you face. From head to toe, a licensed physical therapist is able to treat pain or limitations and help you return to the activities you need and love—pain free! We also know the best course of action…
Features, November 2022
2 Your Health: 2 Reasons You May Be Experiencing Unexplained Pain
AzOPT Physical Therapy We often hear the question, “What caused this?” when chatting with patients about their unexplained pain. Unless there was a specific moment or injury that preceded the symptoms, the reality is we are often unable to truly pinpoint the exact cause. When symptoms randomly or slowly develop, our best option is to…
Features, February 2020
2 Your Health: Spinal Decompression through Position and Breathing
Jim Mulroy, PT Did you know that you can use deep diaphragmatic breathing to decompress your spine to help relieve pain? We all live with some form of spinal compression caused by gravity, ground reaction forces, ligaments, and muscular contractions. When a person stands upright, the lumbar spine can compress up to 55% of our…
Features, February 2020
2 Your Health: Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
Marc M. Soloman, MD The lower (lumbar) spine is made up of five vertebrae (bones) bodies in the lower back and is the physical center of the body. These bones are the largest and strongest since they support and carry the weight of the muscles and bones above it. A normal, healthy spine has lumbar…
Features, August 2019
2 Your Health: Common types of dizziness and vertigo
Tyler Guymon, AZOPT Buckeye clinic manager and doctor of physical therapy If you have ever woken up one day experiencing symptoms of dizziness and vertigo without knowing why, you are not alone. While many cases of dizziness and vertigo can be traced to a specific incident, many times, patients can’t recall the moment these symptoms…
Features, April 2019
2 Your Health: Breathe better for better health
Jim Mulroy, PT, MPT, AZOPT Glendale Physical Therapist The average person breathes 21,000 times a day, 12-20 times per minute and ventilates six-ten liters of air per minute. The primary breathing muscle in our body is the diaphragm. Good diaphragmatic breathing uses less secondary breathing muscles which lessen the chance of developing neck, head and…