Tag: Breathing

SCHROTH THREE DIMENSIONAL SCOLIOSIS THERAPY

The physical therapy goals in the conservative management of scoliosis include halting curve progression and preventing surgery, addressing spinal pain syndromes, managing respiratory dysfunction, improving aesthetics and body image. In addition to Schroth physical therapists employ an array of manual techniques including joint mobilization, myofascial release, soft tissue mobilization, crainosacral therapy, visceral mobilization and neuromuscular stretching techniques.

COVID-19 ROAD TO RECOVERY: IMPROVING LUNG FUNCTION AND MOBILITY VIA TELEHEALTH

After returning home from the hospital and a stint in the ICU from COVID-19, this once energetic man was unable to ambulate without the aid of a walker or take 20 steps without gasping for breath. Instead of seeing patients, his days were filled with home nursing visits, nebulizer treatments and walking exercises that were not improving his overall health. As a friend and colleague I asked myself, what techniques could I, as a physical therapist, utilize to help this patient recover? As it turns out, PT’s can do a lot.

RESOURCES FOR MANAGING STRESS

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety for all of us and now, more than ever, it’s important to take some time to check in with your mind body connection. Your mindset is the most powerful thing that you CAN control during uncertain times, and a healthy perspective will help cleanse negative thinking and strengthen your immune system. Stay safe, be well and we hope that you find these websites and apps helpful. Below is a list of various apps and websites to help mitigate the stress caused by COVID-19 CALM: A free App for Sleep, Meditation and relaxation. Guided meditations, soothing music, mindful movement and stretching videos for better sleep, lower stress and less anxiety HEADSPACE: Meditation has been shown to help people stress less, focus more and even sleep better. Headspace is a free app that proposes to make meditation and mindfulness simple. Their premise is to take ten minutes a day to listen in and clear your mind. MEDITOPIA: Meditopia’s library offers over 1000+ guided meditations on topics including stress, anxiety, acceptance, happiness, motivation, focus, and breath. Free 7 day trial MY POSSIBLE SELF: A mental health app that claims to reduce […]

IN CONVERSATION: BREATH & THE MIND BODY CONNECTION

We at Thrive are so fortune to collaborate with many types of rehabilitation, exercise, and movement specialists in the New York City area.  Pilates has long been one of our staff’s preferred exercise tools, and we dearly love and appreciate the expertise of the staff at Mongoose Bodyworks, a Pilates studio that is neighbor to our clinic here in Soho. Over the years we have found our mutual clients achieve more success in movement, return to activity, and engagement in life when we collaborate, and the conversation below is an edited version of a dialogue between Mongoose Bodyworks owner Halle Clarke and Thrive PT staffer Elizabeth D’Annunzio Shah.   Halle: Hi!  When we decided to have a conversation, we talked about many areas of professional overlap.  There’s lots of crossover between what you and I do! Elizabeth: That’s right.  Ultimately, both PTs and Pilates instructors spend a fair amount of time doing movement analysis.  We’re both trying to enable multi-dimensional, pain free movement. Halle: In the spirit of that crossover, I have some questions for you that I thought might relate to both of our client populations.   Specifically, let’s talk about breathing.  How do you think about breathing as it […]

Campaigning For Healthier Ribs and Better Breathing

With all the media hype about Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton’s walking pneumonia, I felt the need to discuss how breathing, and our ribs, affect certain movements and even our speech! When reported recently that Hillary Clinton was suffering from walking pneumonia, I had many patients asking me what it was, and how it affected the candidate. Walking pneumonia typically occurs as a result of a lung infection from a bacterial microorganism called Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and of all the types of pneumonia one can contract, it is the least worrisome. Quite often, people who have walking pneumonia don’t even realize they have it and feel like they just have a bad cold. They are rarely bedridden and are able to continue their daily activities feeling a bit “under the weather. This conversation brings up the topic of breathing, however, and when we think about the act of breathing, it’s important to note the correlation between our ribs and taking a breath. Healthy rib movement is essential, not only for breathing, but for everyday movements such as lifting your arms overhead, or twisting. When an illness like pneumonia, or bronchitis, causes coughing or shallow breathing, the muscles surrounding our chest get […]