A great day for Margaret Blue!

Friday, April 10, 2009

March 12, 2009 was a proud day for Margaret Blue. She became a member of Marriott's "Quarter Century Club", marking 25 years of service as a chef. Margaret thoroughly enjoyed everyone she came in contact with during her years with Marriott. Despite a debilitating neurogenic problem that causes her to have decreased balance and weakness, this amazing woman has only missed one day of work in 25 years--because of a snowstorm!After a recent injury, Margaret came to our clinic for strengthening and to improve her walking. She has worked closely with her physical therapist, Bruce Edwards & our student from Shennandoah, Brooks Brady. Margaret credits them for helping her become strong enough to walk up to receive her 25 year service award, something she was not sure she would be able to do after her injury.Margaret has a beaming smile for everyone she meets. Her positive attitude is contagious, and the reason she has come so far. Congratulations Margaret, on your achievements!

If you would like to know more about our services, or have a general question regarding rehabilitation services, please call us at 540-316-2680, or click on the button below to submit an email inquiry.

April is Occupational Therapy Month

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY HELPS INDIVIDUALS
LIVE LIFE TO ITS FULLEST

Occupational therapy enables people of all ages live life to its fullest by helping them promote health, prevent—or live better with—injury, illness, or disability. It is a practice deeply rooted in science and is evidence-based, meaning that the plan designed for each individual is supported by data, experience, and “best practices” that have been developed and proven over time.

Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants focus on “doing” whatever occupations or activities are meaningful to the individual. It is occupational therapy’s purpose to get beyond problems to the solutions that assure living life to its fullest. These solutions may be adaptations for how to do a task, changes to the surroundings, or helping individuals to alter their own behaviors.

When working with an occupational therapy practitioner, strategies and modifications are customized for each individual to resolve problems, improve function, and support everyday living activities. The goal is to maximize potential. Through these therapeutic approaches, occupational therapy helps individuals design their lives, develop needed skills, adjust their environments (e,g., home, school, or work) and build health-promoting habits and routines that will allow them to thrive.

By taking the full picture into account—a person’s psychological, physical, emotional, and social makeup as well as their environment—occupational therapy assists clients to do the following:

· Achieve goals
· Function at the highest possible level
· Concentrate on what matters most to them
· Maintain or rebuild their independence
· Participate in daily activities that they need or want to do.

Founded in 1917, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) represents the interests and concerns of more than 140,000 occupational therapists, assistants and students nationwide. The Association educates the public and advances the profession of occupational therapy by providing resources, setting standards including accreditations and serving as an advocate to improve health care. Based in Bethesda, Md., AOTA’s major programs and activities are directed toward promoting the professional development of its members and assuring consumer access to quality services so patients can maximize their individual potential. For more information, go to http://www.aota.org/.


If you feel you or someone you know may benefit from occupational therapy services please call us at (540) 316-2680 to learn more. Or click on the button below to ask a question.

Moving Day!

It has been fun while it lasted but thanks to an invitation from my physical therapist colleague Dr. Eric Robertson, I will now be doing my Physical Therapy related blog authoring at www.npathinktank.com (soon to be ptthinktank.com).  We will also be joined by fellow colleague and blogger Roderick Henderson, PT for what should be topically varied content relevant to our profession from various perspectives.

I hope you will follow and join us at this new virtual water cooler as fellow community members and stakeholders in our future as physical therapists.  I’m looking very forward to what should be an informative, enlightening and occasionally even entertaining venture with my fellow bloggers and colleagues.

Physical Therapists offer help for Incontinence

Urinary incontinence, or the complaint of involuntary leakage of urine, is not just something that happens to older people. This condition can affect men and women of all ages. The National Association for Incontinence estimates that 25 million Americans experience urinary incontinence.

Stress Incontinence is a sudden involuntary loss of urine on effort or exertion. This may occur with activities such as exercising, sneezing, coughing or laughing. Stress incontinence usually results from weakness and lack of support in the muscles of the pelvic floor. Women with stress incontinence often have “under active” pelvic floor muscles. Causes may be pregnancy or childbirth, injury or trauma, surgery in the vagina or rectum, episiotomy (during childbirth), or lack of exercise or use.

Urge Incontinence is the loss of urine that occurs as soon as you get the urge to urinate. Women with urge incontinence often have weak and “over active” pelvic floor muscles.

Mixed Incontinence is involuntary loss of urine associated with urgency and also with exertion, effort, sneezing or coughing. Mixed incontinence can include any combination of the causes of stress and urge incontinence.

Many symptoms of urinary incontinence are caused by pelvic floor muscle weakness and dysfunction. Our specially trained pelvic floor physical therapists are the ideal healthcare providers to help you gain control over your symptoms. Our therapists use their specialized medical training to evaluate your problem and design an individualized treatment program to meet your specific needs.

Physical therapy can:

• Give you control over your bladder and your life


• Save money and embarrassment by allowing less use of pads and undergarments


• Reduce use of medications for incontinence


• Possibly prevent the need for surgery

Physical therapy treatment may include:

• Education on diet and nutrition to avoid food and beverages that may irritate the bladder


• Advice on how to change behaviors that make symptoms worse


• Techniques to increase awareness of the correct use of muscles that control urinary flow


• Exercises to strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor


• Exercises to stretch and strengthen other important muscles to help you gain control


• Techniques to decrease urinary urge and frequency


• Biofeedback to help you re-train your muscles


• Electrical stimulation to improve awareness and strengthen muscles

You should be referred to a pelvic physical therapist if:

• You leak urine during normal daily activities


• You leak urine with sneezing, coughing, or laughing


• You have difficulty starting a urine stream


• You have trouble holding urine when you feel a strong urge to go


• You urinate frequently (more than every 3-4 hours during the day, up more than once to urinate at night)


• You have difficulty getting to the bathroom because of other problems such as pain or balance.
  
  At Fauquier Health Outpatient Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, our pelvic physical therapy team has completed extensive training in pelvic physical therapy through the American Physical Therapy Association. Our therapists use a variety of techniques as well as provide you with education to ensure your needs are addressed. All pelvic floor treatments are conducted confidentially with your therapist in a comfortable, private setting.
  
  If you feel you may benefit from this service and would like to hear more, please call us at 540-316-2680. Or click on the button below to ask a question.
  

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Do you suffer from dizziness?

You are not alone. Did you know that symptoms of dizziness are the third most frequent reason people over the age of 65 seek medical attention? Dizziness is the number one reason people over the age of 70 seek medical attention.

Fifty percent of individuals over the age of 65 who suffer from dizziness will develop a particular form of vertigo that can be alleviated with one simple physical therapy treatment. The most common form of vertigo is Benign Paroxsymal Positioning Vertigo (BPPV).

Symptoms include:

• Sudden onset
• Brief episodes of dizziness, typically lasting less than one minute
• A sense of imbalance or motion sensitivity brought on by changes in head position relative to gravity by activities such as:
  o Lying down
  o Rolling over in bed
  o Bending over
  o Looking up

BPPV is caused by tiny crystals being dislodged in the inner ear causing changes in the movement of lymph fluid, giving you the sensation you are losing your balance.

Fortunately, this problem is easily detected and can be treated with a few different repositioning techniques to move the crystals through the ear canal and “dump” them into an area that no longer causes vertigo. This treatment is usually very successful, with resolution of all symptoms within 1 or 2 therapy sessions.

A Vestibular Rehabilitation course was recently held at Fauquier Hospital and was attended by some of our therapists. They received training in these vestibular techniques and are ready to help alleviate your dizziness. If you feel you may benefit from this service and would like to hear more, please call us at 540-316-2680. Or click on the button below to ask a question.

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Congratulations Andrew!

Outpatient Rehabilitation Services is proud to announce that Andrew Mazur, physical therapist, has received certification from the Aquatic & Rehabilitation Institute. Andrew provides outpatient aquatic physical therapy for adults at our pool in the Fauquier Health Rehabilitation & Nursing Center. Andrew’s patients enjoy the skilled, individualized care he provides that helps them maximize their range of motion, strength & function after an injury, illness or surgery.

We are the only clinic in the area to offer aquatic physical therapy. Our pool is kept at an inviting 92 degrees, optimal for therapeutic exercise.

We also offer aquatic physical therapy for our pediatric patients, provided by Kristine Trimble, our pediatric physical therapist.
If you or someone you know may benefit from aquatic physical therapy, please call us at (540) 316-2680 for further information. We look forward to hearing from you!

Have questions?

Right this way...

We've installed a new directional sign to help clients find their way to our outpatient clinic on the Fauquier Hospital campus. We are located in the Medical Office Building at 253 Veteran's Drive in Warreton, Virginia. Our clinic is on the first floor of the building, to the right of the elevator in the main lobby.