Month: September 2010

Clinical Question – Tendinitis

What is Tendinitis?

Tendinitis is an inflammation of a tendon.  This is most often caused by overuse.  Common areas that develop tendinitis are at the elbow, back of the ankle, knee, and shoulder.  Symptoms of tendinitis are tenderness to touch over the tendon, pain with movement, decrease range of motion, decrease strength, and swelling of the tendon.  Physical Therapy is beneficial for patients with tendinitis because it decreases symptoms and strengthens/stretches the injured area to prevent re-injury.

Clinical Questions – Frequency of Therapy

How often do I have to come to physical therapy to get better?

Depending on what diagnosis brings you to physical therapy, the physical therapist will determine the appropriate frequency per week.  Typically, post-operative patient require 3 times a week initially and gradually progress to 1-2 times a week.  As you continue to improve, the therapist will decrease the frequency of your treatment to progress you to independent exercise.

Clinical Question – Sitting Posture

Will strengthening my stomach muscles help me with my sitting posture at work?

Yes, by strengthening your core muscles it will allow you to maintain an ideal sitting posture for a longer duration.  Having weak core muscles will cause you to sit with a more forward flexed posture and you will not be able to sustain good posture throughout your workday.

Clinical Question- Ultrasound

What is Ultrasound?

Ultrasound is used during physical therapy when a patient presents with pain, soreness, or tightness of a specific body part.  It uses high frequency sound waves that travel to muscle and tissue and warm up the targeted areas by increasing blood flow.  The majority of the time, ultrasound is used in conjunction with massage techniques to further decrease muscle tightness and pain in the treated area.

Clinical Question – Postoperative

After orthopedic surgery, how long will it take me to feel “back to normal?”

There are many factors that go into healing and everyone heals at a different rate.  Typically, it takes about a year to feel “back to normal.”  After receiving surgery to one of your extremities and completing physical therapy, patients usually report continued swelling at the end of the day.  After surgery, patients report that swelling is the last symptom to decrease.  With any orthopedic surgery, patients will usually gain approximately 80-95% of their original function and strength.  However, this all depends on the success of surgery, if a revision was performed, and the overall outcome of physical therapy.

Office Question – Directions to our office

Where is Harbor Physical Therapy located?

The main entrance for Harbor Physical Therapy is located at 575 South Charles Street (look for the gray awning).  Once inside, take the elevators to floor 2. Our suites are found directly off the elevator on the left.  Please note that these directions are only for the main entrance of the building and do not apply if you are coming through the parking garage entrance.

To enter through the parking garage entrance, Harbor Physical Therapy is located in the Harbor Court garage at 10 East Lee Street.  Parking is attached to the office building and is covered (great for those rainy days!).  It is best to park on Level 3 since the Harbor Court Office Building entrance is located off that floor (please note, Level 3 of the parking garage is the same as Level 2 within the office building).

Of course you can always call us if you get lost or confused – our phone number is 443-524-0442.  For more detailed information on bus, train/subway and car directions, go to http://www.machtmedicalgroup.com/directions/.