Blog

5 Steps to Improve Physical Activity Throughout Your Work Day

Many of the patients we meet at our physical therapy office hold desk jobs, yet it can be challenging to find the time to be active in sedentary settings. Unfortunately, a lot of people come to discover that their sedentary jobs have a negative impact on their health and ability to execute their jobs.

Do you need advice on how to enhance your physical activity? Check out these practical suggestions from our hardworking team of physical therapists!

1. Addressing prior injuries. If you’re in discomfort, it’s challenging to concentrate and feel at ease at work. And even though we are aware that sitting for more than 7 to 8 hours a day is linked to health issues, the concept of boosting your physical activity can occasionally feel like a great challenge. You can identify and treat underlying health issues by speaking with a physical therapist. Our therapists don’t simply try to cover up the discomfort; they also utilize evidence-based, non-invasive approaches that help your body recover itself. Physical therapists may help you improve your posture, core strength, and other aspects of your health so you can operate more effectively both at work and outside of it. They can also give expert advice on ergonomic changes for your business.
2. Use a pedometer. According to research, using a basic pedometer (you can get incredibly cheap models online and in sporting goods stores) can help you walk more each day. Such factual information can motivate you and encourage you to move more regularly than you might otherwise. You might even think about persuading a few coworkers to join the “pedometer club” and start a friendly competition to determine who can walk the most throughout an average workday or workweek!
3. Use the workplace as a gym! Create strategies for moving more on and around your workspace. Can you park a little further away from the structure? Give a 10-minute walk around the school or neighborhood during your lunch break? lieu of using the elevator, use the stairs? Instead of sending an email or text, why not take a walk down the hall and talk to your coworker or employee?
4. Drink plenty of water. Drinking plenty of water while working has several advantages, including maintaining the health of your tissues and joints, increasing focus, reducing headaches, and, yes, increasing the frequency with which you need to leave your desk to use the restroom.
5. Perform quick workouts throughout the day. Stop what you’re doing at least once every hour and take a few minutes to perform some basic stretches or exercises. These can be completed in your office’s solitude or even in public (hey, maybe you’ll motivate your coworkers!). Ask a physical therapist to create a customized program for you that will take into account your unique demands and work requirements.

To find out more contact our Foothill Ranch Physical Therapy , Placentia Physical Therapy, Mission Viejo Physical Therapy, or Lake Forest Physical Therapy locations.

A Physical Therapist’s Role in Chronic Pain Relief

In the United States alone, there are more than 100 million people who suffer from chronic pain. Therefore, if you have chronic pain, you are not alone.

Standard painkillers have so many undesirable side effects that you can’t rely on them to completely treat your pain, leaving you to wonder whether you’re just doomed to suffer from it.

Fortunately, there is another approach that might work. Chronic pain has been demonstrated to be effectively treated by physical therapy. You might be able to drastically lessen your discomfort with the appropriate treatment strategy.

How can a physical therapist assist in easing my chronic pain?

1. TENS, Ice Therapy, Heat Therapy
   Physical therapists can manage your current discomfort using a range of strategies at their disposal. To assist reduce inflammation and lessen some of the pain you’re experiencing, they can utilize techniques like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), hot and cold therapies, and more. Additionally, these treatments can enhance your body’s capacity for healing.
2. Safe Movements
   Most people are not completely conscious of how they move during daily activities. You can be causing your chronic pain by bending over, lifting, walking, running, sitting, or moving in some other way. Your pain can be considerably reduced by learning how to fix the problems with your movements. Your physical therapist will examine you during your initial visit and monitor how you perform various movements, such as walking, to look for any potential issues. Once they have identified the problem areas, they can show you how to fix them to prevent unintentionally making your chronic pain worse.
3. Flexibility Improvement
   Enhancing your flexibility might also aid with pain relief. When you have an injury, it is typical for your body to try to compensate for the discomfort in some way. This can result in undesirable movement patterns that you might not even be aware of. The way your body adjusts to the injury may be helpful at first, but over time it will cause damage to other sections of your body. You are probably going through this type of situation if you feel particularly constrained or locked up in some way. Your body can be slowly relaxed through physical therapy, allowing you to resume healthy movement. Your physical therapist will collaborate with you to reduce the stress on your body so that it can move properly and to strengthen the muscles around the joint so that you can continue to use the proper motion patterns.
4. Strength Training
   Your physical therapist could give you some exercises to strengthen your muscles and soft tissues depending on your condition. Given that exercise can be difficult in and of itself, especially initially, it may seem weird that medical research advises getting stronger when you are in pain. But there are valid reasons to make an effort to fortify you. Pressure on nerves in your joints, such as your spine, knees, hips, elbows, or other joints, is frequently the source of persistent pain. Strengthening the muscles around those joints will improve their ability to support you, relieving some of the pressure on your nerves.

What should I know about chronic pain?

Some people experience chronic pain in the absence of any prior injury or visible signs of physical harm, such as a sprained back or a significant infection, or there may be a continuing cause of pain, such as arthritis, cancer, or an ear infection. Elderly people with persistent pain often have these conditions.

Headache, low back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain, neurogenic pain (pain brought on by damage to the peripheral nerves or the central nervous system itself), and psychogenic pain are some of the common complaints associated with chronic pain (pain not due to past disease or injury or any visible sign of damage inside or outside the nervous system).

A person could have two or more chronic pain syndromes that coexist. These ailments can include vulvodynia, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, interstitial cystitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. If these illnesses have a common cause, it remains unknown.

Find relief from your ongoing pain today

We want you to know that if you’re dealing with chronic pain, we’re here to support you. Our physical therapy staff can create a customized treatment plan to help you manage your pain and enhance your quality of life. Do not hesitate to get in touch with OC Sports and Rehab right away to arrange a consultation!

See How Physical Therapy Helps You Recover From Surgery Faster

Our team of Physical Therapists helps thousands of patients recover from surgery each year.

We are convinced that working with a physical therapist can expedite your recovery and allow you to return to your active lifestyle whether you are having a knee replacement, back surgery, or another operation.

Can physical therapy help me recover from surgery faster?

Your optimal post-surgical strategy will depend on your individual needs, according to advice from a qualified physical therapist. You should book a physical therapy appointment as soon as you are aware of the date of your operation.

Before developing a special rehab program, a therapist would probably perform a thorough physical assessment.

Both before and after your operation, physical therapy can help you regain as much strength, endurance, flexibility, and a better range of motion as you can.

In fact, both pre-surgical and post-surgical rehabilitation have been scientifically demonstrated to have advantages, according to the American Physical Therapy Association. Physical therapists can teach you exercises you can do at home or use a range of manual therapies on you.

In addition, a therapist might utilize electrical stimulation, heat, or ice. To ensure that you are ready for surgery and can recover quickly and completely, you should get started as soon as you can.

Are you wondering why physical therapy is so crucial during the recovery period from surgery? We hope to stimulate your curiosity for three reasons.

1. Make recuperation faster.
Our bodies are extremely strong and capable of self-healing. Physical therapists can provide non-invasive, drug-free services and practices that can work with the body to cure itself rather than just masking symptoms.

Your physical therapy team can assist you in staying on track during your recovery period so you can swiftly regain and enhance your strength, balance, range of motion, endurance, and overall function by decreasing discomfort and lowering the chance of problems.

2. Avert difficulties.
Any surgical procedure carries some degree of risk for problems, such as postoperative bleeding, infections, restricted range of motion, and hardware failure. Working with a physical therapist may assist in lowering your risk of complications, which lowers stress, saves money, and safeguards both your short-term and long-term health.

For instance, physical therapists are qualified to instruct you on how to walk and carry out daily activities safely. Your physical therapist can instruct you on how to adhere to these limits and advance or adjust them appropriately over time if your surgeon advises that you follow specific precautions or activity restrictions for a while after your procedure.

To further safeguard your recovering tissues and assist you in securely moving around, physical therapists can also recommend and fit adapted devices like walkers and braces.

As a supportive intermediary between you and your surgeon, your physical therapist can also inform him or her of your requirements and progress. This will enable speedier communication amongst all of your medical team’s key players in the event that any issues develop.

3. Control and lessen discomfort.
A physical therapist can give you exercises to do, perform manual interventions like massages on you, and use non-invasive techniques to treat your pain in a way that may even lessen your need for painkillers like opioids.

While various physical therapy procedures help decrease inflammation, edema, and stiffness, many of the techniques we use directly affect the central nervous system to help modify pain signals that are transmitted to your brain.

Of all, discomfort is common and expected after some procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, and by taking your painkillers as directed, you can take part in physical therapy to the fullest extent possible. Therefore, it’s crucial to discuss your alternatives for pain medications with your doctor and to never stop or start taking any medicine without doing so first.

Nevertheless, research demonstrates that physical therapy is a secure substitute for or helpful addition to efficient pain treatment in the post-surgical window. So make sure to ask your doctor for a referral to a physical therapist as well!

To find out more contact our Foothill Ranch Physical Therapy , Placentia Physical Therapy, or Lake Forest Physical Therapy locations.

What Are the Benefits of the Graston Technique?

Numerous soft tissues in our body shield important organs and muscles. But when we get hurt, our soft tissues get destroyed, which has a negative impact on how we use our various bodily parts. The Graston Technique is a fantastic treatment to think about using to address this problem. The Graston Technique sometimes referred to as soft-tissue instrument-assisted mobilization, uses a variety of gentle skin-massaging devices to gently massage the skin. This allows the practitioner to locate any restriction points and break up any existing scar tissue. A physical therapist in Selden can provide you with the care you need if you want to benefit from what the Graston Technique has to offer.

What Conditions Does the Graston Technique Treat?

• Achilles tendonitis / other ankle injuries
• Plantar fasciitis / other foot pain
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Rotator Cuff Syndrome
• Shin splints
• Scar tissue
• Tennis elbow
• Fibromyalgia
• Lumbar Strain

Along with other medical ailments, soft tissue issues are treatable using the Graston Technique. The Graston Technique can lessen chronic pain and shorten the amount of time you need to recuperate in addition to treating pain in the afflicted body regions. Your pain can be relieved by trained physical therapists who are skilled in their field, and the Graston Technique is an excellent method for healing soft tissue. Your injuries will be rehabbed by our skilled staff at OC Sports and Rehab in our Lake Forest, Foothill Ranch, and Placentia locations until you are totally recovered.

Hip and Knee Pain Relief with Physical Therapy

Hip and knee discomfort can have so many different root causes, including obesity, sports injuries, aging, and repetitive motion disorders. Regardless of the origin of your hip and/or knee discomfort, you must find a strategy to control it if you experience it frequently. To lessen their agony, many people use drugs like anti-inflammatories. Finding alternative methods of pain relief can be helpful, as these drugs do have possible adverse effects. You may find the answer you’re looking for in physical therapy.

Physical Therapy for Hip and Knee Pain

You should go by your doctor’s instructions if they call for you to take painkillers daily for your hip and/or knee pain. Asking about alternatives like physical therapy, however, cannot hurt. Your pain can be reduced or eliminated by working with a physical therapist in a number of methods, such as:

• Find out what is causing your hip and knee pain. You may be dealing with hip and knee discomfort for one or many causes. A physical therapist can look at how you move to assist them to find problems like bad posture, bad walking habits, or bad movement patterns at work that are causing you discomfort. Physical therapists can advise you on how to address these types of problems after they have been identified.
• Exercises for building strength. Loss of muscular strength can have a substantial impact on hip and knee pain since your joints are put under additional stress as your muscles get weaker. Physical therapy focuses on targeted exercises that are made to target different muscles and build them up so they can better support your joints.
• Exercises to increase flexibility and range of motion. Loss of mobility and flexibility brought on by hip and knee discomfort can frequently result in increased strain on your joints and further pain. Physical therapists can guide you through exercises to increase your range of motion and flexibility, enabling you to move your limbs and joints to the fullest extent possible given your physical makeup and the situation.
• Ice and heat therapy. You can use heat to increase your mobility and lessen your pain so that you can move around more freely. Additionally, you can use ice to alleviate knee and/or hip discomfort and inflammation.
• Ultrasound treatment. Physical therapists utilize ultrasound to apply heat deeper into your soft tissues and relieve pain. Your daily pain may be lessened as a result of the heat’s ability to promote healing and enhance circulation.

How Reduces Daily Pain During Physical Therapy?

When you are receiving therapy from the physical therapist and experiencing pain alleviation, what happens when you come home? Long-term injury healing is one of your physical therapist’s main objectives. Your condition will gradually improve as a result of the numerous workouts and therapies they employ with you, resulting in less pain on a regular basis. You should feel less pain in your hips and knees as your body becomes stronger and more flexible.

Schedule an Appointment with a Physical Therapist

To make an appointment with a physical therapist for your hip and knee discomfort, text or call us at 949.716.5050. We are ready to help you right away!

How to Stay Active During the Day

One of the most important things you can do to preserve your greatest long-term health is to be active. But many of us these days live relatively sedentary lives and have 9 to 5 jobs. However, it’s not always simple to incorporate exercise and even modest activity into your daily schedule.

You could find it challenging to get the daily exercise you require due to a hectic schedule or a medical issue. Here are five simple strategies to remain active. These are also recommended by our physical therapy staff because they have all been successful in our clinic.

1. Find justifications for taking breaks at work.

If you work at a desk, you probably already realize how crucial it is to stand up and move around every so often. By no means are we suggesting that you take a day off from work, but it’s still crucial to exercise whenever you can!

During lunch breaks, you can stroll up and down the stairs or around the outside of your office. You may even perform basic stretches and exercises at your workstation. Even if you don’t have an outside job, you can still add periodic stretching and walking breaks to your regular schedule. If it’s possible, you can also hold conference calls while moving about the office or building.

2. Get a dog to motivate you to spend more time outside.

As much of a responsibility as dogs are, your health and wellness are just as important. Getting a pet, particularly a dog, will increase your level of general activity. If you have a pet dog or cat to play with, you’re more likely to like moving. Daily walks and time spent outside with your pet are great ways to acquire moderate exercise that is both enjoyable and beneficial. Additionally, having a pet may lessen loneliness, melancholy, and anxiety!

3. Strive to eat at home more often.

This can add up to a lot of activity when you factor in grocery shopping, pushing a cart, and cleaning up after a meal.

In addition to resulting in healthier food, cooking at home is a simple way to keep active and burn a few additional calories. More calories are used while standing up, moving around the kitchen, and chopping and mixing food than when you eat out.

4. Go for a walk!

You probably already know that one of the simplest ways to increase your physical activity is to go for a walk. However, do you take advantage of all the possibilities you have to walk? Instead of always using the elevators or remaining seated for extended periods of time, do you climb and descend the stairs in your house or apartment? Are you deciding to leave more space between you and the storefronts?

Even picking up the mail from the car window each day and walking to the end of the drive can make a difference.

There are some guidelines to remember that will motivate you to walk more.

Select Comfy Shoes — You won’t be as likely to walk long distances if your feet hurt from ill-fitting shoes. You might get assistance choosing the ideal shoes from a physical therapist.

Count Your Steps – A pedometer is a simple device that counts your steps. It’s a fun method to monitor your walking distance.

When you don’t feel like walking, walking with a companion will keep you accountable and keep you motivated.

5. Pay a visit to the PT!

One of OC Sports and Rehab’s expert physical therapists can create an exercise program that will increase your general strength, flexibility, and endurance. Physical therapy can have a variety of advantages, from improving athletic performance to enhancing daily tasks with increased ease and endurance.

Physical therapy can help treat chronic illnesses like arthritis and repair long-term injuries that never fully recovered. Physical therapy can make you feel more energized and help you stay active, even if your health is generally strong. Your activity level can be greatly increased by making a few small changes in your daily routine. Your health and general well-being can be enhanced by making these adjustments in addition to seeing a physical therapist.

How Physical Therapy Can Help Manage Chronic Pain

Chronic pain affects an estimated 100 million Americans each year. As the country’s population ages, these figures are expected to rise. Chronic pain is more than an annoyance; it can have a negative impact on one’s quality of life, including the inability to complete everyday duties or hold a job.

Chronic pain treatment methods are also evolving. Until recently, doctors would frequently prescribe pain drugs, but the opioid epidemic has substantially reduced this practice.

Physical therapy, massage, over-the-counter pain medicines, and acupuncture are all considered as alternative treatments. The end outcome is not only intended to relieve pain, but also to assist patients in regaining movement and enjoying life again.

The Benefits of Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is one of the few treatments for chronic pain that does more than just relieve or control discomfort. Treatment can assist the patient understand why he or she is experiencing a certain sensation in the first place, as well as strengthen relevant muscle groups to enhance endurance and range of motion. Here’s what to anticipate if your doctor has suggested physical therapy for persistent pain.

Physical Therapy as a Treatment for Chronic Pain

A physical therapist attempts to understand why certain muscle groups or tissues are weak or tight in order to address the source of chronic pain. Exercises are aimed to alleviate discomfort and improve mobility and ability to function on a daily basis by reducing stress exerted on these areas.

Treatment regimens vary depending on your situation and condition, however, they may include the following.

Excercise 

Exercises serve to strengthen muscles and joints while also improving mobility and breaking up the brain’s messages that any movement in the area causes pain. As a result, exercise for chronic pain aids in the retraining of your ideas.

Your treatment strategy may involve the following, depending on the afflicted location and issue:

• Low-impact aerobic exercises that raise your heart rate without putting extra strain on your joints.
• Resistance bands or your own weight are commonly used in strengthening workouts. It’s likely that your core will be involved.
• Exercises that target the area of your body where you’re in discomfort.
• Warm-ups and cool-downs can both benefit from stretching.

Passive Therapy

To reduce pain and enhance motion, several more passive forms of physical therapy can be used:

• Muscle knots and trigger points are treated by dry needling.
• To reduce inflammation and pain, use heat and cold.
• Improve blood flow with massage
• Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) is a program that explains why pain happens the way it does.
• How to move without hurting yourself, including walking, lifting, sitting, and jogging techniques.

To find out more contact our Foothill Ranch Physical Therapy , Placentia Physical Therapy, or Lake Forest Physical Therapy locations.

What to Expect During Broken Arm Recovery

A broken arm can occur as a result of a fall, an athletic injury, or a variety of other mishaps. To allow the arm to heal, it is frequently immobilized with a splint, brace, or cast.

When the fracture does not break the skin or the bone is fractured into pieces, surgery may be required. As a result, treatment varies depending on the type of damage.

Recovery Timeline in General

Broken arm recovery for a fractured arm usually heals in six weeks. However, a variety of circumstances, including the sort of break and where it happened, can affect recovery time. Additional injuries to the wrist and elbow usually require a longer recovery time than injuries to other parts of the upper or forearm.

While immobility is expected during recovery, physical therapy may be prescribed to assist restore functioning by strengthening the joint’s muscles and improving movement.

What to Anticipate

If you have a broken arm, you may need surgery to stabilize the fracture at first. Reduction may be required to reassemble the arm. Regardless of therapy, patients may have significant pain and edema as a result of the damage.

You may be given a prescription pain reliever and taught to elevate your arm to reduce swelling during this period. A fixation device, such as plates, screws, or wires, may be used to maintain the bones in place while the damage heals. At this point, keep an eye on the swelling to see if it goes down or if an infection develops. You should be prepared for the next steps of the recovery process from the beginning.

The Importance of Physical Therapy

Physical therapy can help lessen and control potential stiffness in your arm, hand, and shoulder caused by wearing a cast or sling as your injury heals. Once the arm is no longer immobilized, physical treatment is generally continued to enhance muscle strength and joint flexibility.

Expect to practice hand or shoulder workouts while recovering from a broken arm, depending on where the accident occurred. Therapy will progress to full arm motion exercises once the cast, sling, or brace is removed. This period of therapy may continue a few months, especially if you had surgery.

Physical therapy can treat subacute discomfort and possible weakness that affects how you lift and handle items in addition to motion. Many individuals report decreased muscle and bone mass after a broken arm, which affects how the joint or muscles in the damaged area function. Physical therapy helps you regain movement and a sense of normalcy in the long run.

Give us a call 949.716.5050 and talk to one of our trained and experienced Physical Therapists to learn how to recover as quickly as possible.

How to Prevent Smartphone Overuse Injuries and Pains

Overuse injuries are commonly linked to sports and the workplace. However, current technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, frequently need repetitive motions that might put the body under stress.

On average, users spend up to five hours per day on their mobile devices. As a result, there has been an increase in the amount of overuse injuries as a result of smartphone use.

Here’s what you should do if you get sore after writing work emails or surfing through social media.

Overuse Injuries Caused by Smartphones

• Text Neck
  Few individuals use their smartphone or tablet at eye level, preferring to stare down for hours on end. Poor posture, neck pain, and back strain can all be caused by this motion. If you continue to keep this position, you may develop neck spasms and tension headaches in addition to short-term neck stiffness. Take breaks to stretch out your neck and use its entire range of motion to avoid these problems.
• Swiper Thumbs
  Properly known as Quervain’s tenosynovitis, this condition causes inflammation of the tendons along the rear of your thumb. The injury arises from repeatedly moving your thumb up and down, common when swiping your phone screen.
• Texting Thumb
  More teens are developing this condition, likely due to texting and playing video games that involve short, “twitching” movements. Texting or gamer’s thumb causes inflammation of the tendon associated with the adjacent long flexor muscle. Initially, you may notice a burning sensation and later have to manage chronic pain or nerve damage with injections or pain medication. Take regular breaks when using your phone or playing a video game. Also get in the habit of stretching your fingers and wrists to avoid another issue called “texting claw”. This stiff sensation causes your hand to resemble a claw and can eventually lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Selfie Elbow
  Overextending your arm while grasping your phone causes this overuse injury. The elbow is locked or rigid, the arm is fully extended, and the wrist is twisted, putting your body in an uncomfortable position. In addition, your phone adds weight to the equation, increasing the strain. Tendonitis develops when the tendons from your hand to your elbow become inflamed. When shooting shots with your elbow bent, keep your phone closer to you to avoid harm.

How to Avoid These Pains and Injuries

Because smartphones and tablets are such a big part of our lives, it’s a good idea to:

• Reduce how much time you spend on your phone.
• Switch hands so one side of your body isn’t overworked.
• Take breaks to extend your wrists, hands, arms, and neck if you’re using your smartphone for work.
• Change positions every 30 minutes, making careful to stand up.
• Maintain proper form by relaxing your shoulders and keeping your elbows close to your body.
• Use an anti-inflammatory medicine or a wrist and hand brace to help with the pain.

If the pain persists, speak with your doctor, who may refer you to a physical therapist or suggest imaging to determine the source of the problem. If treatment fails to provide the desired results, surgery to remove nerve pressure may be required.

Manage issues affecting the elbow, wrist, and hand with the help of the physical therapy professionals at our Foothill Ranch Physical Therapy or Lake Forest Physical Therapy locations. Contact us today to learn more about our services.

What Causes Pinched Nerves and How to Treat Them

Soreness can be caused by aging or poor posture, but it’s also possible that a pinched nerve is at blame. Compression of muscles, tendons, bones, or cartilage can cause pain, numbness, tingling, or weakening when surrounding tissues press down on one or more nerves.

A pinched nerve might often be a sign of something else going on in the body. Based on the location of pain and numbness, a herniated disc or carpal tunnel syndrome, for example.

In weeks or months, a combination of rest and physical therapy can usually treat and lessen the adverse symptoms of a pinched nerve. A pinched nerve, if left untreated, can cause more significant injury, contribute to persistent pain, and necessitate surgery for relief.

What Are the Symptoms of a Pinched Nerve?

The nerve or nerve root can be compressed by a variety of tissues. This illness can affect any part of the body, but it is most frequent in the neck and back. Pain, on the other hand, does not always occur where the tissues are compressing the nerve:

• A spinal disc may press against a nerve root, causing discomfort to radiate down the leg.
• The sense of a stiff neck or numbness in the shoulders and arms might be caused by a pinched nerve in the cervical spine.
• The back, hips, and leg can all be affected by a pinched nerve in the lumbar region.
• A pinched thoracic nerve can cause chest pain

A pinched nerve could also be a sign of another problem with the ligaments, muscles, joints, or bones, such as:

• Rheumatoid arthritis inflammation
• Bone spurs on the discs of the spine
• Obesity puts strain on specific nerves due to additional weight.
• Body changes caused by pregnancy
• Nerve damage caused by diabetes

Pinched nerves can also occur as a result of:

• A sports injury, especially one caused by poor form, repetitive strain, or the use of worn-out equipment that is no longer supportive.
• A work-related repetitive motion injury caused by typing or using a vibrating tool.
• When an inflammatory tendon compresses the median nerve as it travels down the arm, it is known as carpal tunnel syndrome.

If the compressed nerve or source of inflammation is not addressed, irreversible nerve injury and chronic pain may result. The nerve’s protective barrier begins to deteriorate, or fluid accumulates in the area, increasing pressure and contributing to scarring.

Treatment for Pinched Nerves

To lessen the consequences of a pinched nerve and avoid recurrence, you should do the following:

• Concentrate on your form and posture.
• Avoid sitting in the same position for long periods of time.
• Incorporate strength and flexibility training into your workout.
• If you’re doing a repetitive chore, take a break.
• Make an effort to maintain a healthy weight.
• To make a more ergonomic work environment, look for support gadgets.

In addition to these suggestions, your Physical Therapist may advise you to:

• Physical Therapy treatment relieves pressure on the nerve by targeting the muscles in the afflicted area.
• Nerve pain and inflammation can be treated with NSAIDs and other medicines.
• If physical therapy and pain medicines do not work, surgery may be required. This can help to relieve the pressure on the nerve, reducing the amount of discomfort you’re experiencing.

Call or text us at 949.716.5050 to learn more about Physical Therapy options and how they can help treat a pinched nerve.