Nancy Whelan, PT

Amateur or professional athletes who play tennis or baseball often need the help of physical therapists because of shoulder injuries. Often the shoulder injury is characterized by pain and weakness in the shoulder girdle, difficulty lifting the arm out to the side, and difficulty sleeping on that shoulder.   Continuing to use the arm may present more pain and cause the patient to react by starting to hunch his/her shoulders forward as if in a fetal position. This can aggravate the pain and a bad cycle can begin if the shoulder isn't properly treated by a physical therapist. Injections by orthopedists...

Abdominal strengthening You’ve associated it with lying on your back and doing the dreaded crunches! When I have seen people do this in the gym, often they strain their necks once their abdominal is fatigued and their form goes out the window. If their hands are behind their head, they are pulling their necks forward, rather than contracting their abdomens. If you have back problems, lying on your back doing crunches might not be the safest way to build up those core muscles.  Core strengthening is essential to good posture, strength in any kind of arm or leg swing while participating in...

"Every day, each of us makes a multitude of choices that will impact the quality of our lives. Some of these choices are minor and will only affect the next few minutes, hours or days, while others will completely change the direction of our lives. Some choices are easy to make, some are more difficult. Some will lead us straight to success, while others will bring us face-to–face with failure. …But what’s imperative for each of us to know is that, no matter how large or small, easy or difficult, each choice that we make, individually or collectively, alters the direction of our lives.”...

Do you notice when you squat to pick something up or get up from a low chair your knees creak or grind?  Or maybe when you go down stairs, one of your knees feels like buckling? Our knees take a lot of abuse from years of carrying our weight. For every 1 pound, we're putting 4 pounds of pressure on our knees. For example, 20 pounds of excess weight is equal to 80 pounds of pressure on our knees. Inversely, for every pound lost, we ease 4 pounds of pressure on our knees.  There are many factors that affect the weight bearing forces on the...

Did you know garlic is one of the most powerful antibiotics on the planet? Today, researchers are finding that garlic is the strongest health enhancing food we can consume on a daily basis, without other side effects, other than smelling like garlic. One of garlic's most potent healthy benefits includes its ability to improve the body's immune cell activity. In other words, the antioxidants produced from eating garlic will help strengthen the immune system, which helps fight off colds, viruses, and even CANCER. Yes, the big ?C?!!! Research has shown that this wonderfully tasty bulb can retard cancer cells as...

Did you know that up to 60% of the human body is made up of water?  The brain is composed of 70% water; the lungs are nearly 90% water; and, 83% of our blood is actually water.  Therefore, one can draw the conclusion that water is important for our health.   How may glasses of water have you had today? One? Two? Maybe even three? One glass of water is 8 full ounces, and the recommended daily intake is 8 glasses for women and up to 13 glasses for men. However, modification of these recommendations may be necessary depending on...

Did you know surgery is no more effective than physical therapy and medical management for osteoarthritis of the knee? (The New England Journal of Medicine found this to be the case in a report published in Sept. 2008)  When it comes to relieving the pain and stiffness of moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee, research shows that physical therapy combined with comprehensive medical management is just as effective as surgery. Learning the right set of exercises designed by a physical therapist can be one of the best protections from injury and surgery. When seeking physical therapy services, it's important...

Elbow pain keeping you from participating in your everyday routine or even leisure activities? Research has shown that over 3% of the general population suffers from some type of elbow pain. The most common elbow pathology is tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis, which is an inflammation of the extensor tendons of the wrist and fingers. Tennis elbow is considered to be an over use syndrome that causes pain on the lateral (outside) part of the elbow.  More often than not, patients suffering from this syndrome are not tennis players, but are over using their arm with some kind of continuous activity....

A recent study published in the European Heart Journal cited 8.5 hours as the average time most working Americans sit each day!  Over that period of time, we start to slouch. This affects the low back because we are sitting in the reverse of the natural curve of our back. It affects our neck because we are encouraging the dreaded dowager's hump.  Most back pain issues come from ligament and muscle strain or weakness.  Sitting properly at a desk or when we are driving, stretching to break up prolonged sitting in one position and strengthening of core and back muscles...

My son plays ice hockey.  It is amazing to me how many of his friends are injured from improper stretching before the game. A lot is done to condition and strengthen the athlete but stretching correctly is overlooked. Often times, I think there is a belief that kids are young and healthy so shortcuts are taken. Stretching any muscle works best after you have warmed up.  Warming up prepares the body and mind for exercise and can prevent injuries.  The term "warm up" describes light aerobic activities that are different from stretching and important to do before stretching. Often, it is the...