One of the best things about hiking is that almost anyone can participate in it, be it friends or families with children. It is not necessary to be an experienced hiker or hike even before. The only factor that matters is to know about the most common hiking injuries before setting out to hike.

Indeed, the first thought that comes to mind while reading about hiking injuries is how to prevent hiking injuries. Injuries are, unfortunately, the certainty of hiking. Accordingly, it is important not just to be aware of the prevention but also how you can treat hiking injuries. It is like trying everything but failing to prevent everything that happens in life. There always remain certain risks and some luck factoring in the hiking equation.

It is better to have at least two people in the hiking group who know some basic first aid while exploring outdoors. Nonetheless, here are some of the most common hiking injuries you should know beforehand. Likewise, it is also important to know how to mitigate those accidental injuries. You may need physical therapy support to rebuild your fitness in major cases.

1. Blisters

You may already have a blister at any point in your life. Blisters are quite an unavoidable part of your hiking journey. It occurs due to friction and accumulates fluid. This further swells up the irritated skin layers and results in discomfort.

Usually, blisters are considered to be minor injuries. However, if you leave them untreated or treat them improperly, this may steer infection. In order to avoid blisters, you may take precautions by wearing socks with fitted shoes appropriate for the hiking terrain and weather conditions. Also, it would be best to try to keep your feet dry.

Nonetheless, if you get blisters, apply a band-aid or an athletic tape to prevent it.

2. Sunburn

Sunburn is one of the most common hiking injuries encountered by hikers. It is better to apply sunscreen before exposing yourself to the sun. Also, wear UV-ray-protected sunglasses and clothes made of UPF-rated fabrics to prevent sunburn.

3. Sprained or Twisted Ankle

Another potential risk of hiking is getting a twisted or sprained ankle. You are more prone to encounter this, especially if the surface of your trail is slippery, uneven, rocky, or due to other hidden barriers.

Proper footwear can give protection to this type of hiking injury. However, if the extent of the injury is severe, you need to seek help for physical therapy.

4. Knee Pain/Joint Inflammation

Hikers who have imbalanced or weak leg muscles, prior injuries, or incorrect knee caps can suffer from knee pain and joint inflammation during the trail.

It is especially while hiking downhill that your knees are under a lot of stress which may inflict knee pain. In such a case, wear a knee brace or put Kinesis tape as a first aid to get external support. Also, take the help of physical therapy in Austin, TX, to avoid future discomfort.

How To Find Physical Therapy Near Me

Whether it is summer or spring, or any bright day of the year you want to hit the hiking trails, remember that accidents can happen on the journey. This is an unfortunate event that can happen to anyone, even if a person has the most experience and is well-prepared for hiking. It is very important to know how to save yourself from a hiking injury.

For minor injuries like blisters, you can put on a band-aid. However, contact Austin Physical Therapy Specialists if you experience a fracture or any other orthopedic injury. Physical therapy in Austin, Texas, understands how to treat accidental injuries. The therapy specialists acknowledge that accidents and injuries can happen unexpectedly. So, they provide hands-on treatment with their individualized therapeutic intervention plan to stimulate movement in the body.

Those who advocate for laser therapy believe it is one of the most effective relieving pain. It has a wide range of possible applications. Also, many patients turn to it as a therapy option rather than going the pharmaceutical route or having surgical procedures done. Find Physical therapy in Austin, Texas

How does it work?

The affected body region is treated with a laser instrument while the therapist performs the process known as laser therapy. This gadget generates infrared radiation that can penetrate your skin, causing a reaction and promoting tissue regeneration.

What Advantages Does the Use of Laser Treatments Bring to the Management of Pain?

Dealing with discomfort can be an upsetting, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous endeavor. For instance, choosing to back surgery as a pain relief option exposes patients to the possibility of surgical complications. Before consenting to have surgery performed, medical professionals strongly advise attempting less invasive treatments first, such as low-level laser therapy.

Medications for discomfort come with their complications, which you must also consider. Medical professionals generally prescribe pain medication, such as acetaminophen or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines.

However, these medications frequently cause unpleasant side effects or offer little relief from the treated condition. A physician may prescribe opioids, which carry a significant risk of overuse, for patients experiencing more severe pain. Patients who do not feel at ease taking prescribed pharmaceuticals but are looking for an effective method to relieve pain or inflammation may wish to consider low-level laser therapy.

Benefits

Many medical professionals have already implemented laser therapy in clinical settings and report seeing clear therapeutic benefits for their patients as a result.

• Reduces swelling and pain with no adverse effects on the body:

Studies have shown that using lasers in treatment poses little to no risk. The risk of side effects is low and relatively insignificant. Because of this, there is no risk of burns, nor is there any potential for health problems in the long run.

• Effective for both short-term and long-term conditions:

It is in everyone’s best interest to begin the treatment as soon as possible so the patient can make a speedier recovery. The healing process can start earlier when inflammation is brought under control sooner rather than later. Laser therapy may be able to alleviate the persistent pain and inflammation that are associated with chronic conditions in patients who have those conditions.

• The treatment is adaptable and one can personalize it:

Laser therapy is a highly adaptable form of treatment that you can modify by the particular requirements of each patient.

• During treatment, patients report positive feelings:

Patients who receive deep tissue laser therapy say they enjoy the experience and report feeling a soothing warmth during the procedure. The laser penetrates the tissues therapeutically and feels like it does so. At the same time, it boosts the body’s regenerative capabilities, reducing inflammation and discomfort.

• Brief periods of medical attention:

Laser therapy is non-invasive. So there is no discomfort during treatment. Also, it only takes around five to ten minutes to finish. There is a possibility of seeing benefits immediately. But how long it takes depends on the patient. After the treatment, you will still be sensitive to its effects for the next 18 to 24 hours. After three to five sessions, one should begin to see long-lasting effects.

Getting laser therapy will help you immensely. Therapy specialists from austin-pt.com can help ease your condition. Consult them for expert advice.

You will be able to return to your regular activities and enjoy a more active and healthier lifestyle with the assistance of an exercise conditioning program after an injury or surgery. You will also be able to return to sports and other recreational activities with the support of a well-structured conditioning program that you follow. Austin physical therapy can guide you.

It is a comprehensive program for conditioning that includes a wide variety of different activities. You must carry out the program under your physician’s supervision. So you can be confident that it will be both successful and safe for you. Talk to your primary care physician or physical therapist about the exercises that will effectively help you achieve your rehabilitation objectives.

Consistency:

Maintaining a consistent level of strength in the muscles that support your lower leg, foot, and ankle will assist in maintaining the stability of your ankle joint. Maintaining the strength of these muscles helps alleviate pain in the foot and ankle and avoid subsequent injury.

Restoring range of motion and preventing injuries both require flexibility:

Stretching the muscles that you strengthen is a vital part of this process. After a strength training session, you should perform light stretching to reduce muscle pain and maintain muscle length and flexibility.

Muscle Groups Targeted:

In this conditioning program, the muscle groups of the lower leg and the tendons and ligaments that control foot mobility are the workout’s primary focus.

Some workouts you can do are:

• Ankle Pumps:

It is best to avoid movements to the side of an injury when possible to prevent further stress on the injured area. An ankle pump is one of the most effective exercises for treating foot and ankle injuries. Maintain the position of pointing your toes upward as if you were about to touch your shin for approximately thirty seconds, and then release the position. You should repeat this move five times before moving on to the next ankle. Following that, point your foot down until you feel a stretch in the calf muscles of your lower leg. Maintain the position for three seconds, after which you will repeat the exercise with the other ankle.

• Stretching One’s Calf:

Position yourself so that you are facing a wall. With your palms facing the wall, press your hands against it, and place one leg behind the other. You should bend the knee of the leg one step forward until you feel a stretch in the leg behind you. After you have held the position for approximately thirty seconds, release it and move on to the next leg.

• Exercises That Build Strength:

You should begin performing these exercises as soon as the pain you are experiencing as a result of your injury begins to lessen or as directed by your physical therapist.

You should now have a resistance band wrapped around your forefoot with both ends in your hands. While keeping your other leg bent, gradually move the foot further away from you. Maintain the position till the count of thirty, and then release. Perform this movement five times with each of your legs. This workout consists of plantar flexion with resistance.

• Exercises for Proprioception After Sustaining an Ankle Sprain:

These exercises are beneficial for preventing further injury as well as improving balance. If you feel pain in the injured foot and ankle, you should stop doing this exercise immediately and seek medical attention. Consult therapy specialists soon.

To begin, raise both arms to the side while standing on one leg. Maintain the position for as long as you possibly can, and then you can let go and relax. You should aim to complete the exercise five times with each of your legs. After that, perform another set of exercises, but this time with your arms by your sides instead of in front of you. Finish off with one final repetition while keeping your eyes closed.

Foot and Ankle Exercises for Injury Recovery can get serious if not treated soon. Seek consultancy from austin-pt.com, as they are the experts.

Approach to education focuses on how each patient processes pain

For patients that are looking for back pain treatment in Austin, new scientific research suggests that patient education is vital.

Low back pain is still one of the most common painful conditions in the world, and although most people who have it will eventually improve, some go on to deal with long-term issues. Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a term used to describe any condition in which an individual experiences pain for more than three months, and it is a major problem. There are many strategies used to address CLBP, and one of these is called neuroscience education. This type of educational strategy focuses on how and why each patient is experiencing pain, with the goal of decreasing the amount of pain they have and improving their overall attitudes. Neuroscience education has been found to be helping individuals cope with pain, and one way it is used is to better prepare patients that are about to have surgery. Many patients have certain fears and misconceptions about surgical procedures, and this education can help to correct them. To evaluate this type of strategy, a study called a case report was conducted on a 30-year-old woman.

Woman had been dealing with CLBP for four years

The patient studied in this case report was a healthy 30-year-old female professional dancer that had a four-year history of CLBP. She had been treated with various interventions from a physical therapist and underwent several MRIs of her spine. Her most recent MRI showed that she had a herniated disc in her lower spine, and believed that her pain was the result of the continuous stress placed on her back when dancing. The patient’s neurosurgeon told her that surgery was likely the best option due to her long history of ongoing pain, her high level of performance, and the results of her most recent MRI.

Neuroscience education delivered in a 30-minute one-on-one session

A detailed assessment showed that the patient had moderate CLBP, left leg pain and high levels of fear associated with physical activity and work, as well as limited knowledge of pain and various beliefs regarding her surgery. The neuroscience education was delivered to the subject during one 30-minute one-on-one session with a researcher. The session included open-ended questions for the patient to answer, as well as drawings and other educational tools on how the nervous system works and how pain is processed. The goal of this session was to reduce the woman’s anxiety and promote positive expectations and beliefs from surgery. A number of physical measurements were taken of the patient before and after the neuroscience education session, including four functional MRIs (fMRIs). Three fMRIs were taken before and one after the session, and their purpose was to identify certain areas of the brain that were activated during certain tasks to develop a more in-depth understanding of the woman’s reactions and beliefs on pain.

Patient experiences several positive changes after neuroscience education

Results from the physical evaluation and fMRIs generally revealed that the patient experienced several positive changes following the neuroscience education session. In particular, her scores for back disability and pain catastrophizing (the tendency to believe pain is far worse than it actually is) both decreased to a notable degree, and she was able to raise her leg more easily than before. She also showed improved beliefs and attitudes regarding her upcoming surgery, as she reported feeling more prepared and less fearful about the procedure than prior to the neuroscience education. Finally, the fMRI scan taken after the education session revealed that the patient appeared to be in less discomfort than she was during the first scan. These findings show that just one 30-minute session of neuroscience education can actually affect the mindset and physical abilities of a patient preparing for surgery. Since the case report was only performed on a single patient, this is anecdotal and further research must be performed on a larger group of subjects in order to confirm these outcomes. Nonetheless, patients with CLBP scheduled for back surgery should consider neuroscience education from a physical therapist to better prepare them for what to expect after the procedure.

-As reported in the September ’15 issue of Physical Therapy Theory and Practice

If you would like more information about how we can help, please visit our contact page or give us a call at (512) 371-7273

Everyday lots of people search for physical therapy in Austin Texas or physical therapy in Austin TX (“physical therapy in Austin TX”) but which physical therapy clinic is the is the best for you?

The first and the most important thing is if they accept your insurance or you have to pay cash which you can always negotiate and ask them if they have a cash plan!!!

Then you need to find what plan they offer which is easy to look at their website or call them for example not all physical therapy in town they offer class IV laser or dry needling or Pelvic floor physical therapy so it is better to be sure the therapy plan is match with what you are looking for.

You can look at their website under services like  : http://austin-pt.com/services/

The third  is how far they are from you and how convenient their hours of working is for you for example in Austin Physical Therapy specialists we have late hours (9 am- 7 Pm) which is good for people that are looking for after working hours.

Also be sure you download all paperwork before going there and fill them out which will save you a lot of time and they can schedule you much faster. you can find our paper work to download at patient center http://austin-pt.com/patcenter/

Also you can find more educational information and videos on the same page as well. also you can find more information at facebook too like https://www.facebook.com/Austin-Physical-Therapy-Specialists-128693560638122/ and learn from other people experience.

Having advanced equipment like laser or heated therapy pool can be good if you need them but be sure to check those on the website or call the facility, we have both of them in Austin Physical therapy specialists.

Call us at 512-371-7273 or see us at 7801 N LAMAR BLVD #B174