Why Not?

What does it take to become a physical therapist?

Do you really want to know the answer to that?  Well, generally, it takes about 6 years of college work, 4 years of undergraduate, and 3 years of graduate work to obtain a DPT (doctor of physical therapy).  I know what you are thinking, “Oh that takes too long, too much work…I don’t want to go through that long process…”  But if it is the career choice of your dreams and you are passionate about it, than ask yourself…Why not?

Would it be easier if you could get your degree at a university near you?  I’m here to help. 

Bennett/Steller University is located in Snohomish, Washington.  It is the closest Physical Training school to the big 3-6-0.  (Whatcom County).  Bennett Steller University has one mission, and that is to develop a community of individuals from all walks of life and diverse aspirations that have a common desire to contribute to the health and well-being of themselves and others.  Does it sound like the perfect place for you to get an education?  Sign up today and learn more at http://www.collegesurfing.com/ce/bennett-stellar-university.

Would you rather not deal with the hassle of driving to school everyday and back? Another option is to do it online.  Allalliedhealthschools.com recommends an online service through Boston University where you can earn a doctorate in physical therapy from your at home computer.  Now you can keep an eye on your children, or whoever, while working on earning your diploma at home. 

Sounds simple?  Well, unfortunately, I can not sit here and tell you that it is all fun and games and one of the easiest things you will ever have to endure.  It is a hard, grueling program that very few people make out alive.  You have to have an absolute desire to complete a program like this.  So before you start, put some deep consideration into what you are about to do.  Be sure you know that you will be devoting part of your life to this.  It most definitely is not something you can go into thinking everything will fall into place.  You are going to have to work hard!

And now that I have scared you off a bit.  Let me bring you back and give you some advantages to earning and physical therapy degree.  Hopefully, this should bring your breath back.  First and foremost, I think the one thing everyone likes to hear, is that, you earn a LOT of money.  An average amount per patient for about 1 hour ranges from about $150-200.  Feeling a little better?  Another advantage is that you get to meet a lot of new, interesting people that could possibly brighten up your day and bring a smile to your face, which you could possibly need after 10-12 years of college.  :)

I hope this helps answer some of your questions and hopefully will make your decision a little easier on whether you think physical therapy is the career choice for you.  Good Luck!

 Sources:

http://www.allalliedhealthschools.com/

http://www.collegesurfing.com/ce/bennett-stellar-university.

Photos:

http://perfumeposse.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/diploma.jpg

http://www.illustrationsof.com/images/clipart

 

What is the best way to prevent an injury?

 

Don’t want to go through that long process of physical therapy?  Then do what is best for your body so that therapy is out of the question.  So you may ask…what is the best way to prevent an injury?

People often over think the very simple answer to this question.  What is something that generations of school children been told? Eat your fruit and vegetables, and you can’t go wrong.  Broccoli, carrots, potatoes, green beans, apples, oranges, bananas… If you’re not a big fruit fan or a veggie vacume, then try some healthy oat bars or wholegrain cereal.  http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_some_healthy_foods

 Don’t want to deal with the harsh hassle of eating vegetables.  Go with carrots, they are easy to pack and perfect to add with that delicious dip if the taste is too bland for you.  The crunchy texture and sweet taste of carrots is popular among both adults and children, so where can you go wrong?  Carrots and dip are also perfect for an hor’duerve to bring to a party.  It’s simple and everyone will love it.  Here are some simple recipes that involve carrots:

Carrot Salad
4 Servings

• 1 lb large carrots, scraped and cut in quarters lengthwise
• 1 pinch each, salt and sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 tsp each ground cumin and parsley
• wine vinegar, salt, and hot red pepper to taste
• a few coriander seed

Cook the carrots with salt, sugar, and garlic for 15 minutes. Drain and cover with vinegar, a little more salt, and hot red pepper to taste. Perfume with cumin. Decorate with parsley and little coriander.

Tasty Carrots
4 Servings

• 1 lb carrots, sliced into 1-inch pieces
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place carrots and garlic in a large saucepan or microwave dish. Add a little water and cook until just done, about 6 minutes. Add olive oil and seasonings, stir to coat. Remove cover and cook until all liquid is evaporated and carrots are nicely glazed. Add seasonings.

http://www.foodasfood.com/carrots-recipes/

   Carrots are so simple and so tasty, you won’t have to feel like you are on a strict diet that involves you to eat vegetables all the time.  Carrots also have the ingrediants you need to conserve your energy so you can stay active at all cost.  It is healthy and it will make your bones stronger which will make the possibility of getting an injury decrease.  It could save you a lifetime of possible injuries and therapy.  It is the best thing for you to maintain a healthy body!

Now go eat your carrots!!!!!

Sources:

http://www.foodasfood.com/carrots-recipes/

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_some_healthy_foods

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/NU99999

Photos:

http://www.wmin.ac.uk/sih/images/FruitVeg.jpg

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_some_healthy_foods

 

The Determined Athlete

What makes a good athlete?

Determination, perseverance, tenaciousness and gosh-darn stubbornness.  It takes a person with a lot of want and need to struggle an injury and get back to being healthy again to finish out a season of their favorite sport or to even walk without using a cane or someones shoulder for support. 

As you can see in the photo above, a cartoon shows an athletes need for MORE.  You can see how tired he is, grunged up, has ripped clothing, and looks exhausted, but he still is reaching and sprawling for that last leg, that last ounce of energy.  If it means winning a world title or even the self-satisfaction of victory, the determined athlete will do whatever it takes, even if it means amost killing themself to get the job done.  Like I’ve said, it is determination that defines a great athlete.

That’s when you suddenly get injured, and its almost like life itself has come to an end.  Sports has been apart of your life for so long, in the days of your boys and girls club basketball, and early saturday morning soccer games, what would life be like without it?  So you observe your limited possibilities, but unfortunately, some don’t really allow you to recover faster than you wish or in time for the state championship game. 

Professional athletes of all kinds get injured all the time, and how do you think they continue playing for their team?  They too attend physical therapy, when needed, to improve their injuries so they can continue getting paid the big bucks.  They have a contract to maintain and if they get injured seriously, that can’t be helped, they run the risk of no longer being apart of the team. 

Physical therapy can help with you too.  It may take a while, but it is the fastest, healthiest way to get your body to the strongest it can be.  You want it done right, so you don’t have to face the possibility of getting injured again.  It may take countless hours of stretches and therapeutic exercises and extra drops of sweat, but hey, who said the road to recovery was easy?  It sometimes is not, but how harmless can it be and what is the worst that can happen. 

If you find yourself injured, give it a try!  It can only help you build yourself up so you can be that athlete you were born to be.

Sources:

gtalumni.org/news/ttopics/fall99/letters.html

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos080.htm

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/athlete

Photos:

gtalumni.org/news/ttopics/fall99/letters.html

Dreams of the injured…fading away!

 

 

 

 

This is a standard way of stretching the lower back.  Pulling the left arm towards the opposite direction helps stretch the lower disc of your back.  Holding that position for a number of minutes assures the quality of which you are stretching.  After so many minutes, you turn on your other side and do the same with the other arm, this is so you can assure you are stretching both lower discs of your lower back.  Having personal experience of straining the lower back, I have had to do this stretch many times.  It takes first-hand experience, for someone to know the real reason behind as to why physical therapy helps as much as it does. 

Physical therapists provide help for their patients by working with disabling conditions such as low-back, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries and cerebral palsy.  They restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness and health.

Physical therapy is only for injured athletes.  Many others, especially those older that 55 attend for certain reasons.  As you get older, a group of conditions occur involoving joints of the body, called arthritis.  Arthritis is the leading cause to disability for those older than a certain age.  Many also go to physical therapy to recover from a surgery of some kind.  They do a variety of stretches to build up that area of which they had surgery on.  As you can see, there are many reasons as to why people attend physical therapy. 

The most common reason as to why people go to physical therapy is to get healed quicker so they can finish out a sports season and heal faster and healthier while also moving on with their life without pain and enjoying the life they were meant to live.  It can be hurtful to many, especially the elderly, when it comes to that time where you cant really climb stairs anymore or walk around as much as you could before.  It just reminds you of how old you’re getting and some don’t really like to be reminded of that.  It is a sentimental subject for all and so most people like to fix that and attend physical therapy so that time comes later that expected.  Imagine your only 5 or 6 years old and your grandma or grandpa can’t pick you up and swing you in their arms.  It saddens you, but just think how sad they must be that they can’t lift their grandchild and hold them tight in their arms.  It is times like those finally pushes those over the edge and why physical therapy sounds so appealing. 

Sources:

http://images.google.com/imgres?

imgurl=http://www.sfsu.edu/~bulletin/noindex/0304/programs/pg431_physical_therapy.

http://www.ptjournal.org/

Photos:

www.sfsu.edu/…/0304/programs/physicat.htm

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Injured? How physical therapy can help.

Imagine yourself, it’s late in the season and you’re playing in a big, important game.  The other player hits a slow curve ball over the net and you slowly find yourself sliding across the dusty gym floor.  Your arm sprawled, reaching as far as it possibly can, you manage to get a finger tip on it.  You’re proud at the effort you just put into that amazing dive, your coaches and teammates are clapping and cheering for joy.  You get up fast and suddenly stop as your face shows the pain you’re in.  You grab your lower back and freeze!

What do you do?  It is in the middle of a game…you’re scared to show pain, as you are a strong, fearless athlete, pain doesn’t faze you one bit.  Or so it does!  First things first, don’t panic! Its going to be alright. 

It turns out you may have pulled a muscle in your lower back and it just hurts to much to play.  You go to your school physical therapist, expecting him to just tell you to ice it and occasionally put heat on.  He surprises you with telling you that you should go see a physical therapist and see what they say. 

Physical therapy can help with a number of things.  It is a health care profession that helps people prevent injuries and strengthen when needed.  They help by doing a number of stretches that help build muscles and make them healthier. 

http://toutesdirectionspourlafrance.blogspot.com/2008/05/physical-therapy.html

http://www.zarathoustra.org/2008/health/the-best-physical-therapy-for-herniated-disc-t5-t6/

 Tension collecting in the lower back area can be uncomfortable, even painful.  Lower back stretches can release this tension when done properly.  Do these easy step exercises to stretch your lower back slowly and carefully for best results. 

Chair stretch 1

Step 1: Sit in a chair with your back straight and both feet firmly planted on the floor in front of you.

Step 2:Lengthen your spine, seated as tall and straight as possible.

Step 3:Bring your chest slowly to your knees with your arms on either side of your legs.

Step 4:Rest your chest on your thighs and reach for the floor with your hands.

Step 5:Walk your hands along the floor further away from you.

Step 6:Hold for five to ten breaths.

Step 7:Bring your hands back up to your knees slowly.

Step 8:Arch your back slowly as you come back to a straight seated position.

Chair stretch 2: Sit down in a chair.

Step 1:Plant your feet firmly on the floor in front of you.

Step 2:Hold the seat of the chair with your left hand.

Step 3: Turn your body toward the left to look backward over your shoulder.

Step 4: Hold the stretch for 5 to 10 breaths.

Step 5: Slowly release the pose and face forward.

Step 6: Repeat 3 times on each side.

Floor stretch:

Step 1:Sit on the floor with your knees bent.

Step 2:Bring the soles of your feet together in front of you, with your legs pushed flat to the floor.

Step 3: Lean your chest forward slowly and walk your hands out in front of you with your arms

straight.

Step 4: Hold this position for five breaths.

Introduction

In my blog titled Sports and Fitness, I will be here to inform, inspire and challenge my readers.  I will be talking about how to stay fit and stay as healthy as you possibly can.  If you are curious about injuries I have the information you need to prevent it and what you need to do to make it better.  If you are a committed athlete and you just recently got injured.  You will be able to find all the tips you need to get healthy again right here on this website. 

 I have your best interest at hand and will do whatever it takes to keep you in the loop on sports and fitness.  I, personally, am a sports finatic and I like to stay updated on the latest trends on health and fitness.  I would only think you too, want to stay healthy so you can remain that number player that you are for your team. 

This blog has to offer many tips on things you may not find anywhere else, such as, how to recover from long runs and conserve energy, also being provided will be sports updates and athlete injuries.  You may also find helpful tips on how to stretch your lower back and bring it to be healthy once again.  I can only hope you enjoy and learn a lot from reading this blog. 

So, if you like what you see, and/or have some questions, come back! Comments are greatly appreciated.

Photo:

www.gallerym.com/work.cfm?ID=60