Robert Babb, MBA, PT, Physical Therapy

Doom the Rheum!

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic, sometimes disabling disease that includes joint pain, muscle shortening, swelling in the joints, and a host of other symptoms that can limit your activity.

The American Physical Therapy Association research (June 2011, JAPTA) reports that individuals who attend a Physical Training program that includes cardiovascular exercise, education, and self-management strategies will help! Improvement in the cardiovascular conditioning can lead to better quality of life and in many...promote participation of recreational and sport activities.

So, if your off your tennis game cause of those achy joints, give a Physical Therapy professional a call to see how they can help you get back on your game!

Wanna Lose Weight for arthritis? Supersize your expectations!!

The American Physical Therapy Association reports study this month (JAPT, Jun, 2011) that researched Physical Activity with individuals with Arthritis.

http://ptjournal.apta.org/content/91/6/843.full.pdf+html

Conclusions are as expected, including:

* Diet alone can help lose weight

* Exercise alone can help lose weight

* Combo diet & exercise PRODUCED THE MOST BENEFICIAL results in managing joint pain.

So, supersize your personal ideals of weight loss with taking a deep look at the food on your plate and the exercise intensity, duration, and frequency.

When you decide to lose weight, mentally order your own personal combo of expectations!

The Physical Therapy & Wellness Institute has a 6 week wellness programs and medically based fitness programs directed and supervised by Physical Therapist. Joint conservative programs will get you back to your normal life by vacation this summer!

Ouch! Joint pain adversity creates Opportunity.

As a businessman and Physical Therapist, I often ask folks to look at joint pain as an opportunity. Here is what I mean.



In business, there is always opportunity in the face of adversity. As an example, GE suffered from a slump in sales during the early 70s until the roll out of the microwave oven. Chrysler Auto almost went belly up in the 80s, bailed out by the government and energized with new leadership, became the textbook example of how to seek opportunity in the face of adversity.

In Physical Therapy, we challenge assumptions. To say its joint pain "because I'm just getting old" diminishes your opportunity to maintain an active, independent, and pain-free lifestyle.

Guess What? Your joint pain is your bodies communication system screaming "Opportunity". Your brain teaches right from wrong, informing your brain of movements to avoid. Perfect time to do a self S.W.O.T of your joint!

For example, a man recently in our clinic with plantar fasciitis:


Strength: His other foot! All other joints in good shape right now!
Weakness: He can't walk without immobilization of my left foot.
Opportunity: Insurance covers a doctor appointment and Physical Therapy
Threat: If I ignored, vulnerable knee, surgically repaired years ago, will act up (again!).


He went to the doctor last night, took much anticipated x-ray, learned more about his specific foot (also with heel spur, tendonitis, and mile OA), and starting active PT us.


Next week, he returns to running! He took advantage of the opportunity to see a specialist after assuming for the last 6 months he could work through it. Self S.W.O.T created his opportunity, and now he is on the road to recovery.


Robert Babb, PT, MBA

Broad Street ReRunners High

Broad Street ReRun 2011 is over, and a whole buncha people ran through the wet streets of Lansdale and Upper Gwynedd last Saturday, May 14th, hooting and hollering, doing it the Broad Street way.

Special Thanks to the hundreds of kids, parents, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, grandmoms, granddads, police, fire, ambulance, and all others who took a few hours out of their Saturday Morning to contribute to this worthy cause.

Look for winners, information for next years run, and pre-register now to save!

www.broadstreetrerun.com

See you next year on the Broad Street, Lansdale/Upper Gwynedd!

Call out for Volunteers!

The Broad Street ReRun is in need of Volunteers!

Set up, clean up, Table loaders, Water handouts, and a whole lot more. Consider emailing us today (wkfiles@comcast.net) to volunteer your time to this awesome cause. See http://www.broadstreetrerun.com or www.ptwinstitute.com for more information.

Upper Gwynedd's Broad Street ReRun is for Champions!

Mellissa Heinz is a 21 year-old student and champion swimmer from St. Francis College in Pennsylvania with a zest for fitness and sports. What separates her from others is just some defect in her genes, limiting her clotting factor in her blood. Taking care of herself is more than just exercise, but its exercise and protection, prevention, and a little common sense.

" Living with a bleeding disorder has certainly not slowed me down, and I want to show others that it doesn't have to slow them down either", states Mellissa. Mellissa should know too, just finishing her college swim carreer this past spring as back to back division one Northeast Conference Swim champs! Since swimming is behind her, she now takes on a new challenge, starting with the 5 mile Broad Street ReRun, in Upper Gwynedd and Lansdale, on May 14th this year.

Consider joining Mellissa and over 1000 other runners by running this great event in support of those in the Delaware Valley who manage bleeding disorders day in and day out.

See http://www.broadstreetrerun.com/ for more information.

Robert Babb, PT, MBA