The Coronavirus is turning our daily routines on their heads! From a physical therapist’s perspective this change comes with an increased risk for injuries, pain flare ups, and limitations in performing our tasks.
Some people are working from home in a new chair, this affords different stress mainly on their low backs. My advice to them is to not sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time, get up and move around.
Some people are more sedentary because their gym is closed and they don’t have access to needed equipment. For these people, I recommend that they get out and walk. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 5 days a week. Our heart is our most important muscle!
For the mom that is having to wrangle her kids and pick them up more frequently, make sure to use proper lifting and bending mechanics. Make sure that you are not putting your child on the same hip every time, rotate frequently.
For the DIY home improvement guru (or so you thought) my best advice is to pace your activity. Don’t try to paint your entire house in 1 day, this often leads to soreness and pain or injury.
Finally the person who has been dealing with pain on their own and does not want to take pain meds, get injections, or surgery. Now is an ideal time to reach out to a physical therapist to get started on the road to living with less pain and a more active lifestyle. Everyone can afford 30 minutes of their time to hop on a virtual physical therapy visit! I call this a discovery visit.
During this visit you will discover if PT can help you with the pain or limitation you are having. You will get your questions answered. I will tell you what is going on, and give you suggestions on things that you can do now to start getting relief. If you are appropriate for PT care, we can talk about developing a plan to help you reach your goals.
Don’t stay in pain now! Make sure that once we are released from social distancing that your body can get right back into the swing of an active summer. This 30 minute visit is only $25. There is no commitment from you besides signing a consent form to allow us to talk about your concerns. If you are interested you can text or call me at 501-529-2010. You can also visit my website at www.pinnacledpt.com/contact-1 and fill out the form. That way I can start to hear your story to see if I can help. I look forward to making sure the people in my community are staying healthy and pain free during this time of challenge!