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Whether you are a weekend warrior, active in sports every day, or just a gym aficionado, injuries happen. When they do, it’s crucial to see a physical therapist in Casper, WY. Typical symptoms of injuries can include swelling, numbness, aches, and pain; you also might not be able to put weight on the area. It’s usually a good idea to seek treatment sooner rather than later so your injury doesn’t have long-lasting impact—particularly with student athletes.
Let’s take a look at some of the common sports injuries and whether physical therapy might be needed.

Torn ACL

The ACL is the ligament that connects the leg bone to the knee. This is a common injury that requires surgery in many instances. If possible, however, surgery can be avoided through physical therapy. If you do end up needing surgery, you will likely have physical therapy afterward to help you get your mobility back.
This injury commonly occurs when a person moves quickly in another direction or gets a blow to the side of the knee, causing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to tear. Pain and loss of range of motion follow.
Read ACL Injury Prevention Tips and Exercises: Stay Off the Sidelines! for the best exercises you can do to prevent yourself from injuring your ACL.

Rotator Cuff Injury

Shoulder injuries are not uncommon, particularly when continuous weight or stress causes the head of the shoulder joint to become loose. The rotator cuff is what holds the shoulder together and dictates how the shoulder moves.
If your shoulder is causing pain, you should see a doctor right away to determine how bad the injury. As with ACL repair, sometimes physical therapy is enough but surgery might be required for a full repair.

Pulled Muscle

This can happen from sports or gym activities—or even just working around the house. If a muscle gets pulled, it no longer feels flexible. It probably also hurts. This is a common injury when people don’t warm up enough before engaging in vigorous activity. Usually, rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) can help this type of injury, along with anti-inflammatories. If it doesn’t get better, however, you should call your doctor.

Hip Flexor Strain

Once again, lack of proper stretching before engaging in activities can cause hip flexor strains. If you have a hip flexor injury, you might have pain, bruising or swelling in the area. Resting and icing the injury can help, as well as pain medication. But if the injury does not resolve itself with good home care, you might want to investigate physical therapy to help with healing and to prevent recurrence of the injury.
Don’t let sports injuries keep you out of the game for any longer than absolutely necessary. North Platte is your go-to local physical therapist in Casper, WY to provide the physical therapy that will get you feeling better. Our expert staff is respected throughout the Wyoming and Nebraska areas for providing superior and customized physical therapy services. We can handle any of your physical therapy needs—including your back pain. Fill out our contact form to get started and to find a location near you.

From adults to children, almost three-quarters of all Americans use some sort of mobile device. While these devices have made advancements both for productivity and convenience, there is a downside: Text neck. This new medical issue has risen from the number of people using devices by looking down instead of maintaining good posture. If you are a frequent user of a mobile device, be sure to learn what text neck is, top ways to avoid worsening a condition, and how working with a premier, local physical therapist in Cheyenne can help.

What is Text Neck?

If you watched Jerry Maguire in the 1990s, you may remember the funny quote, “do you know that the human head weighs eight pounds?” On average, a human head can weigh anywhere from eight to over 10 pounds. When frequently looking down for hours and hours each day, this causes stress on the neck. Worse, as you continue this use over time, it can actually change the spine. Why? Depending on how far down you look at a mobile device, the angle creates added weight and added stress. From here, a person can experience:

• Headaches
• Stiffness
• Pain throughout the neck and back
• Change in spine
• Inflammation

Tips to Improve

Even if you have been using mobile devices for years, it is never too late to start making improvements to avoid or alleviate text neck. One of the main things you can do is to hold your phone up higher and review things at eye level. If you are spending a lot of time on your device, be sure to take breaks. Look away, move your neck around, stretch, and be sure you maintain good posture. When you follow the guide to good posture, you will feel better in the long-term. If you feel pain, be sure to stretch, use hot or cold treatments, and speak with a physical therapist on how to improve the quality.

Working with a Physical Therapist

It is best to work with a physical therapist as soon as possible to avoid long-term effects of text neck. When you work with a team of experts, they will help you learn good habits to develop and how you can sustain them in the long-term. Not only can they help you alleviate symptoms for text neck, but also help you improve your posture, too. A physical therapy office’s spine care services can cover a variety of treatments including assistance with lower back and neck pain caused by text neck, poor posture, and many other issues. When the spine in healthy, you will feel much better!

Make sure you make the proper changes to your mobile device routine and see one of the physical therapists at North Platte Physical Therapy. Our team excels in spinal care, as well as a variety of other areas, to promote a healthy lifestyle. Through a series of exercises and treatments, we’ll teach you proper posture techniques that you can use to avoid damage from long-term mobile device use. Contact us today to schedule your appointment!

A sore back can strike out of nowhere. You reach up to your kitchen cabinet to grab a glass and suddenly you feel a stab of pain. Or you are picking up your toddler to get her out of harm’s way and that evening you realize your back is aching. Although lying around on a heating pad might seem like the best thing to do, the truth is that physical exercise and physical therapy can be the best way to alleviate pain. Your Casper physical therapist can advise you on a program to help with your back pain.

Recommended Exercises for Those Who Have Back Pain

Aerobic activities such as running, walking, or using a machine such as the elliptical or bicycle can help to decrease back pain. As long as it doesn’t hurt your back more while you are doing it, moving your body can be a good thing. This is an area your physical therapist can help you with as well.
Activities to Avoid When You Have Back Pain
Activities that should be avoided will often depend on the reason for your back pain. For example, if you have back pain that is related to a disc, it is probably best to avoid exercising first thing in the morning. That is when back pain tends to be the worst. Wait at least 45 minutes before attempting anything that involves twisting or bending at the waist.

What Your Physical Therapist Can Do for Your Back Pain

You can certainly look online and find out what type of exercises you should be doing for your back pain, but the truth is that most people don’t stick to it—so they don’t get the relief they are looking for. When you go to physical therapy, the time is set for you to work on healing your body. There are no distractions at your appointment and you can focus.
Your physical therapist can also help you make sure the exercises are being performed properly. If you are doing something wrong, you can make your back pain even worse.
You can also learn things from your physical therapist. After all, your physical therapy appointments won’t continue forever, but your therapist can arm you with the knowledge you’ll need to incorporate the movements into your routine regularly in the future.
Millions of Americans have chronic back pain, as this article from WebMD.com discusses in Causes of Back Pain. If you are one of them, don’t wait to seek treatment.
When you have been suffering from chronic back pain, it can impact every aspect of your life. North Platte is your go-to local physical therapist in Casper, WY to provide the physical therapy that will get you feeling better. Our expert staff is respected throughout the Wyoming and Nebraska areas for providing superior and customized physical therapy services. We can handle any of your physical therapy needs—including your back pain. Fill out our contact form to get started and to find a location near you.

There is nothing like pain in your neck to be a, well—real pain in the neck. People have neck pain for many different reasons, from sitting at the computer for hours a day to neck injuries that occurred in an automobile accident. Neck pain is common, but the good news is that you don’t need to live with it. Casper physical therapy can help you get the relief you have been seeking. Your physical therapist can also recommend a treatment plan to make sure your neck pain stays away.

Some of the Causes of Neck Pain

People develop neck pain for a lot of different reasons. One of the most common is because muscles in the neck are strained because of overuse. Other reasons include poor posture or worn joints. As people age, osteoarthritis can also come into play. Sometimes nerves are compressed because of back problems, and this leads to neck pain.

Injuries are another common reason for neck pain, particularly those from car accidents. The jolt of being hit can cause your head to move back and forth very quickly, wreaking havoc on your neck.

Whatever the cause, living with neck pain can have a huge impact on your day-to-day life, making it uncomfortable to participate in everyday activities. Sometimes neck pain can also manifest as a headache or cause dizziness.

What You Can Do on Your Own

Whether you decide to self-treat before you see a physical therapist, or if you are already seeing a physical therapist for treatment, there are some things you can do on your own to help ease your neck pain.

First, make sure you stay hydrated. Obviously, this is good for your body no matter what, but keeping yourself hydrated gives the vertebrae in your back what they need to keep your spine in the proper alignment.

Next, make sure you avoid putting your neck into awkward positions. For example, don’t cradle the phone between your ear and shoulder. Don’t lie down on your arms when you are sitting at a desk or table.

You can also try putting ice on the areas that are most painful.

Here are some suggestions for exercises you can do on your own to help get relief from your neck pain.

How Physical Therapy Can Help With Neck Pain

A physical therapist is your best resource when it comes to managing your neck pain. Not only will a physical therapist teach you exercises that can help reduce stiffness in our neck, but they can also show you how to strengthen your neck.

If you are considering physical therapy for your neck pain, here’s what you can expect at your initial visit with us.

When you’ve got neck pain, North Platte is your go-to local physical therapist in Casper, WY to provide the services that will get you feeling better. Our expert staff is respected throughout the Wyoming and Nebraska areas for providing superior and customized physical therapy services. We can handle any of your physical therapy needs—including your neck pain. Fill out our contact form to get started and to find a location near you.

Do you feel like your muscles are tight or stiff? You are not alone. Millions of Americans each year suffer from muscle stiffness for a variety of reasons. It could be something related to your line of work, day-to-day motions, lack of or improper exercise routine, poor posture, aging bed, chairs, or couches, medications, injuries and much more. Luckily for you, you have options to cope. It is best to work with premier Casper physical therapy experts and learn about some of these go-to muscle stiffness tips.

Signs Muscles are Overworked

Repetitive motions, overloading, and more can cause your muscles to be overworked. You may notice a weakness in one area, making it difficult to properly move or carry any weight at all. In some cases, there is a twitch or involuntary movement, too. This can be the case when you are overloading your muscles, and/or not properly fueling your body. Many think you just need to fuel your body for a fuel or workout—when in fact, you need to understand how to fuel your body for better health and more energy.  

Tips to Exercise Properly

On average, it is recommended to get an average of 150 minutes of moderate exercise on a weekly basis. If you aren’t doing this, it’s never too late to start. When you exercise and strength train, it will help you retain lean muscle mass. This is important because the quality can deteriorate over time but can’t be retrieved. If you have a routine, make sure you are exercising properly. First, always incorporate a warm up and cool down. Just a quick five minutes of stretching and getting your heart rate up/down will do. Next, make sure you have proper form. Failure to do so can lead to injury or the weakening of muscles. Last, make sure you have added in strength training into your routine. Not only will this help you be a better athlete but will improve your life.

Ways Physical Therapy Will Help

You may not realize it, but did you know your local physical therapist can help you with your muscle stiffness and weakness issues? They will create a customized plan tailored specifically for you to help strengthen various areas. These exercises might be stretches or motions of your arms, legs, etc., or with resistance training. In addition, you may have a health issue that causes issues with your muscles. Your physical therapist will use the top methods for your condition to help you build your strength. This one-on-one, personal approach is key to your recovery. Physical therapy can help anyone—you do not need to have an injury to see them!

Make sure you understand changes to improve your health and using physical therapy in Douglas, WY. North Platte Physical Therapy will help you with your muscle weakness, stiffness, injuries, and much more. From sports medicine to orthopedics, we offer a variety of services to find your perfect solution. Contact us today to schedule your visit and be on a path to a pain-free life.