Telehealth

Tips to Decrease Your Fall Risk at Home

As everyone is stuck inside more often these days, it is important to take a look at your home environment to decrease your risk of having a fall. Falls in the elderly population can lead to serious injury and should be avoided at all cost. Multiple factors place a person at an increased risk for falls. These factors include advanced age, poor vision, muscle weakness, poor balance, fear of falling, and home and environmental hazards. There are many steps that you can take to prevent falls. Here are just a few:

  1. Keep rooms in your home free of clutter to prevent tripping.
  2. Walk in shoes that have a good grip. Avoid wearing socks to decrease your risk of slipping.
  3. Keep your home well-lit to avoid tripping on objects that are hard to see.
  4. Make sure that all rugs in the home, as well as the bathtub and shower floor are nonslip.
  5. Stay active to improve strength, balance, and flexibility.

If you have a history of falls, are fearful of falling, or feel that you have problems with walking, balance, or decreased strength, a telehealth appointment with one of our physical therapists may be right for you. This will allow the therapist to identify possible hazards in your home in addition to providing you with appropriate strength and balance exercises.

Written by Dr. David Reymann

How to Create an Ideal Home Work Space

As many people are working from home these days, it is important to think about your home work space.  If your work space is not ideal, you could develop neck, shoulder, and back pain. Therefore, check out these tips below on how to create a home work space to prevent pain and injury:

  1. When sitting at your work space, your feet should be flat on the ground. You should be sitting all the way back in your chair so that your lower back is supported by the chair’s backrest and your knees should be about level with your hips.
  2. Your computer screen should be level with your eyes, and about an arm’s length away from your face.
  3. Your elbows should be supported by your chair’s armrests or on the surface in front of you, and your wrists should be straight as they are typing.
  4. While sitting at your work space, it is important to remember to keep your shoulders back and your head looking straight ahead (rather than down at a screen).
  5. You should perform 15-20 backwards shoulder rolls and/or 10 shoulder blade squeezes every 30 minutes to an hour as a reminder to keep your shoulders down as you work. If you feel your shoulders rising, it might be a good time to take a quick lap around the house to help your body relax.

If you have questions about your work space set-up or exercises you can perform to improve your posture, reach out to us to set up a physical therapy evaluation! We would love to help you set up your home office. During a telehealth video visit, we will be able to see your home work space to evaluate your set-up real time! To schedule, give us a call at 443-524-0442 or visit our website at www.hpt.machtmedicalgroup.com.  Written By: Dr. Chloe Smith
Staff Physical Therapist at Harbor Physical Therapy

Telehealth PT- Can I Eventually Return to In-Person Physical Therapy at HPT??

Of course! During COVID-19,  Harbor Physical Therapy is offering telehealth physical therapy for the safety of patients and staff. We are committed to providing our patients with the best possible care during this time through telehealth physical therapy in the safety of your home. However, once the risk of exposure has decreased, you can transition safely back to your in-person treatment sessions at Harbor Physical Therapy.

Telehealth- What Equipment Do I Need for my Physical Therapy Session?

While absolutely no equipment is required for a telehealth PT session, some pieces of equipment that the PT might ask for you to grab during the session are: a tennis ball (lacrosse ball or other type of firm ball), a theraband from your home exercise program, a towel roll, a broomstick, a pillow, and/or canned goods (great for adding weight to an exercise). The therapist will typically let you know before your appointment time if any equipment is necessary. If the therapist has something else planned or requires more equipment, he/she will contact you prior to your first appointment, or will discuss it with you during your appointment time. Some patients also find it helpful to have a water bottle or a cup of water close by for easy access during their appointment time!

Written by: Dr. Chloe Smith
Staff Physical Therapist at HPT

Telehealth- Where in my House Should I do my Telehealth Physical Therapy Session?

You can perform these telehealth sessions in any part of your home. Your physical therapist can adapt your session to the space available. During a typical telehealth session, the patient will perform exercises in a variety of positions, including laying on their back/stomach/side, sitting in a chair or at the edge of a bed, and standing. Therefore, an area large enough for the patient to change positions is ideal. If the patient has the capability to use a camera phone, a laptop, or other portable technology, the patient is able to move to different places around the house during the session as necessary to complete the exercises. As always, please let your PT know if you feel uncomfortable performing an exercise or feel you do not have space adequate for performing the exercise, as there are other variations of the exercise you can try instead. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible during your session!

Written by: Dr. Chloe Smith
Staff Physical Therapist at HPT

Who can Benefit from Telehealth Physical Therapy?

A lot of people who are used to being seen in-person for PT sessions may be wondering, will telehealth PT still benefit me? The answer is YES!

Reasons that patients come to PT vary widely. Regardless of your diagnosis, whether you suffer from aches and pains, a specific injury or surgery, a neurological condition, or general deconditioning to name a few, there is more often than not an exercise component to your treatment. Exercise is key to improving strength, flexibility, range of motion, and endurance.

The great thing is that patients can easily be instructed on how to do their exercises through video. Even if you do not have any exercise equipment at home, your physical therapist will be able to adapt your exercise program to your specific needs and home environment.

You may still be asking yourself, what about the hands-on treatment I receive during my sessions? Don’t worry! Your PT can provide you with self-manual techniques that you can use to work on your tight muscles or stiff joints.

While the amount of time until we will be able to see you again in-person is uncertain, one thing that you can be certain of is that you don’t want to regress on all the progress you may have already made in PT. If you have never had PT before, you can easily start now from the comfort of your own home regardless of your condition. Our PTs will be able to assess you and provide you with the best treatment plan possible!

If you would like to schedule an appointment, go to www.hpt.machtmedicalgroup.com and click the book now button or call us at 443-524-0442.

Written by: Dr. David Reymann
Staff Physical Therapist at HPT