Healing, Function, Recovery, Health
Please follow the instructions and information from Dr. Greg Synnestvedt PT, DPT, as he walks you through how a Telehealth session at WWS Physical Therapy & Vestibular Rehabilitation, WWSPT, would work.
Contact WWS Physical Therapy & Vestibular Rehabilitation, WWSPT, through email or phone 215-489-3234
Spine Health tells us that “A healthy cervical spine has a natural ‘lordotic curve’, which gently curves forward from the base of the skull and then back into the top of the chest/upper back. But, when your head drifts forward in poor posture, you may experience the following:
Dr. Cassie Zanolini, PT, DPT, of WWS Physical Therapy & Vestibular Rehabilitation, Doylestown, PA, demonstrates effective Cervical Spine & Posture exercises in video one:
In video two, Cassie Zanolini, PT, DPT, of WWS Physical Therapy & Vestibular Rehabilitation, Doylestown, PA, demonstrates a Lumbar Extension Program:
Information resource Spine – Health
For questions, Contact WWS Physical Therapy & Vestibular Rehabilitation, Doylestown, PA. or call 215.489-3234 to discuss our Treatments.
At one time or another, we have all had a song that gets stuck in our head. Did you know that your favorite type of music or your favorite song could help you move better? For patients with Parkinson’s disease, this is absolutely the case. Try playing or singing your favorite upbeat song or pick a tune that makes you want to tap your feet – whether it be Frankie Valley, your favorite 90s boy band, or Baby Shark. Try it and see how you feel!
You use music when you dance, sing and sometimes just to help get you through your day. Research has discovered the benefits of listening to music such as improvement in mood and motivation, movement, rhythm, and clarity of speech. Music also requires the use of many senses including hearing, speech, memory, and movement. All of these are important to keep you moving and keep your brain active.
For patients with Parkinson’s disease, movements can oftentimes become smaller; walking can become a shuffle or feel like your stuck; your ability to speak can become less clear or not as loud as it used to be. Music can provide the same benefits of motivation and mood to all individuals but can also help with how fast or how big your movements can be for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Music can also help bring back that boom in your voice.
Music can act as both an internal and external hint for improving movement. External cues, such as listening to a metronome or your favorite song, are considered things outside of the individual to help encourage bigger or specific movements. There is also internal cueing, such as singing out loud or in your head, that individuals are able to do themselves to help with similar movements. Both external and internal cueing can help produce a rhythm that can increase how big you step or how fast you walk and can sometimes help with how consistently you move a certain way.
Recent research has shown that singing out loud or in your head can provide just as much benefit as listening to music. Muscles required for daily speech are the same muscle required for singing. Singing out loud can benefit volume or loudness and clarity of speech. It assists with breathing patterns beneficial for speech as well. With the holiday season quickly approaching, bring in the holiday spirit with a carol or holiday classic and sing it loud for all to hear. Everyone might just join you!
For those with Parkinson’s disease, exercise has been shown to help improve daily mobility, ease and speed of functional activities that may be feeling small or slower than they used to, and quality of life. Therapy is beneficial to help promote exercise and large amplitude movement, or movement that requires exaggerated size or intensity. This can help improve balance, walking, and daily functional activities. Incorporating personal interests, such as music, can help create the best environment to help with treatment, motivation, and intensity and will drive you to continue with your daily exercises.
Pick a song that moves you, and find out how big you can move!
Evidence shows that early physical therapy has been shown to be cost effective at treating low back pain, ultimately saving patients out of pocket expenses and allowing them to avoid narcotics and invasive procedures that may be unnecessary. A 2015 study showed that individuals who had advanced imaging before physical therapy were more likely to undergo surgery, receive injections or visit the hospital emergency room. Those individuals also spent an average of $4,000 more on their care.
Substantially more literature and research support what Physical Therapists have been saying for years — “Get to us Early and Get Moving!”
For more information on treating low back pain with Physical Therapy please read our article in the February/ March issue of the Bucks County Women’s Journal, schedule an appointment with WWSPT, or visit Move Forward PT for more information!
Many times when patients come into the office and they have vertigo or dizziness they ask about the medications they are taking. It is not uncommon to look at the side effect list and see dizziness as one of the first or second symptoms listed. In general, the “dizziness “symptom means more of lightheadedness rather than true vertigo where there are actual visual spinning and a postural abnormality. If the actual symptom is lightheadedness then we do need to consider the medications the patient is using for hypertension or cholesterol. Though if there is true vertigo it is not likely their medication causing it.
Medication is prescribed for a variety of vestibular diagnoses and can be helpful in different ways. Medications are commonly prescribed for patients with vertigo, or BPPV, the most common one being meclizine, which is helpful in an acute crisis but chronic use of these type medicines are counterproductive to the central nervous system’s recovery process. These type vestibular suppressant medications also have the added risk of producing drowsiness, cognitive deficits and difficulty driving along with the possibility of increased falls in the elderly. The can also affect reaction time for activities like driving. With events of BPPV, vestibular suppressants are recommended for only short-term management of severe vomiting or nausea.
During an acute vestibular crisis, diagnosed as Labyrinthitis or Neuronitis, patient’s symptoms are caused by a virus that settles in the inner ear. Vestibular nerve studies have shown that corticosteroids are the best choice to treat the impairments associated with this type of viral event especially when hearing loss is a symptom. These have been shown to have better benefits than antiviral meds medications.
In patients with Meniere’s disease, diuretics have been shown to decrease the frequency and severity of vertigo attacks. A combination of medication and reducing dietary sodium can help control the symptoms.
In Vestibular migraine events, medications are helpful in reducing symptoms, especially while patients are undergoing vestibular rehab. These medications include antidepressants, SSRI’s, Beta blockers or Calcium channel blockers. It is important to work with your primary care physician or neurologist to find the right medication that works for your symptoms.
Medications can be useful in the management of certain vestibular disorders however they are not always indicated or necessary for the optimal recovery of function. Careful consideration should be given to the patient’s diagnosis and where they are in the course of a vestibular event.
