The two main goals of our wellness services are to help people stay fully engaged in their life, while remaining injury free. When helping people rehabilitate from injuries such as low back pain, we often hear them say “I wish someone had taught me how to move like this before I was injured.” Teaching clients how their bodies work, how to move in a way that minimizes the chance of injury, and how to stay fit are the tools we use to help them stay fully engaged in life, while avoiding injury.
There are two aspects to our wellness services: fitness training and prevention training.
Fitness training involves developing a customized exercise program based on your specific goals, and tailored to your specific physical needs.
Prevention training is geared toward teaching you how to move in your environment in a way that will minimize the risk of injuring yourself. This includes teaching you proper posture and body mechanics for your particular lifestyle. Examples include teaching you how to set up your home computer work station for optimal ergonomics, and teaching you how to bend correctly while working in the garden.
The general idea is that it is much better to work with us to learn how to be fit and prevent injury BEFORE you get injured.
Below are examples of some of the wellness programs offered. Every program is custom built to your specific needs.
Osteoporosis Program
Osteoporosis can cause decreased physical independence and diminished quality of life due to fractures caused by decreased bone mineral density. Clinical research suggest that strength training can increase bone mineral density, improve balance, and decrease frequency of falls.
A program will be designed, tailored to your specific needs, to help prevent or slow the progression of bone loss, improve flexibility and posture, and decrease the risk of falling.
For clients whom have already been diagnosed with osteoporosis, programs are carefully designed to include only those exercises appropriate for improving posture, flexibility and strength, while exercises that increase the risk of spinal fracture are carefully avoided. It is vitally important to work with a provider that understands this distinction.
Balance and Gait Training
Older adults frequently limit activity if they begin to feel unstable on their feet, greatly reducing their quality of life. If your primary concern is an increased risk of falling, we will complete a thorough examination, using standardized tests, to assess your risk for falls, balance, strength, flexibility, and endurance. Based on the results of these tests, we design a program that meets your specific needs and goals. This may include a strength and flexibility program, and specific balance training to focus on strategies to improve balance and safe ambulation in the community.
Posture Re-education and Spinal Stabilization Program
Poor sitting and standing posture, and poor lifting mechanics are often cited as predisposing factors for spine pain. Both sitting at a desk all day, and regularly performing manual labor with poor mechanics, frequently lead to weak and inappropriately stretched and/or tight spinal musculature. Additionally, poor posture and mechanics can have detrimental affects on the joints and intervertebral discs of your spine.
We will help you understand and learn correct posture, and teach you correct mechanics for your specific work or recreational activity. This includes spinal stabilization or core training, which strengthens your spinal muscles, helps you learn correct mechanics and improved postures, and teaches you how to control your spine during all activity. Spinal injuries and chronic spine pain are frequently a result of poor active control and position of the spine.