health Archives

10Feb 2023 by Patrick Donovan

3 Home Health Tests For Posture

Health content

Today, we're sharing 3 home tests you can do for to gague and improve your posture. Ultimate Spine and Shoulder Posture Test The Dowel Overhead Test measures an overlooked aspect of health - your posture. By taking this measurement, you can improve flexibility and reduce restrictions in your arms and spine for a lifetime of upright posture. Get started today with improving your posture, but measure your baseline first! The Easiest At-Home Posture Test This test is a part of every physical exam I do for osteoporosis. So why not get started with it at home? Measure the fingerbreadths to the closest whole value. It could kickstart your motivation to expand your chest muscles, improve lung capacity, and decrease your risk for vertebral compression fracture. Your goal is 4 fingerbreadths,…

02Jan 2023 by Patrick Donovan

2 Tips For Hip and Osteoarthritis

Health content

#1 Tip For Osteoarthritis Treatment Preservation of your hip capsule is the MOST important factor in an effective hip arthritis treatment. If you have pain with walking, difficulty with flexibility, or trouble getting off the toilet - it could be your hip capsule tightness that is limiting you. You can't move what you can't access. If it's not strength, not muscle flexibility, it could be a tight hip joint capsule that's limiting your success. Do I Have Hip Arthritis? Hip arthritis pain is really only one thing - annoying. It annoys your daily walking, and your Zumba class, and can even annoy your sleep. The first step in treatment is making sure your symptoms align with the proper diagnosis. Check out this video to see if you meet the following…

31May 2022 by Patrick Donovan

Baseline Measures of Health | Heather Lane PT – Physical Therapist in Denver, CO

Health content

What's your baseline activity level? Are you getting 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week? How about the two days of multiple segment strength training? A quarter of adults and eight percent of older adults achieve the recommended dose of exercise per week. Well, if not, you're not alone. Only a quarter of adults and eight percent of older adults achieve the recommended dose of exercise per week. Today we are going to hone in not just on overall fitness or activity level, but the importance of baseline measures. We're going to look at one test: the 30-second sit-to-stand test. Sit to Stand Test This test captures important information on: Lower body strength, Static balance, Quad endurance, Spinal posture, Hip strength, And joint motion. This test is commonly used…

25Apr 2022 by Patrick Donovan

How to Build Physical Resilience

Health content

Physical resilience is our ability to bounce back following a negative health stressor. Whether it's stress-related or a physical injury, building a reservoir of resilience allows room for setbacks in life. Health stressors come in many different shapes and sizes. They could be the emotional toll of taking care of your spouse, they could be an acute injury or even cancer treatment. These setbacks are unavoidable and often unpredictable. So how do we physically bounce back from events we can't even prepare for? We become a rubber band. The strongest most, flexible rubber band we can. A rubber band encapsulates our collective strength flexibility endurance and overall fitness the more we can pull our bodies safely in each direction, the less likely we are to encounter a pulled hamstring, back…

04Apr 2022 by Patrick Donovan

The Lifespan of Health

Health content, Prevention

We all have been raised by hearing the most famous proverb, "Health is Wealth". This proverb indicates that nothing is more important than good health, but as we grow up, a significant deterioration can be noticed in our health. The branch of physical health and sciences did amazing wonders in the sciences and paved new ways for people to enjoy a long healthy life as much as possible. Physical therapy is also a part of this phenomenon that is leading wonders to people's lives. This branch of wonders constitutes therapists who provide services to individuals and make efforts to restore, develop and maintain the utmost movement and functional ability for the whole Span of life as the active movement is an integral component of good health. Physical Therapy brings an…

31Aug 2018 by Patrick Donovan

Pools offer both fitness, relief for older adults

Exercise, Health content, Uncategorized

While drinking plenty of water is critical to life, health and healing, simply submerging your body in water (i.e., a pool) opens up opportunities for relief and fitness for those who otherwise may have difficulty exercising. This is especially important for aging adults and those with chronic conditions, said Denver physical therapist Patrick Donovan. “When our bodies are submerged in water, such as in a pool, we become lighter,” said Dr. Donovan, owner of Heather Lane Physical Therapy in Denver. “This lightness, coupled with the natural resistance water places on movement, makes water exercise ideal for people who deal with issues related to strength, balance, sore joints, pain, and even chronic conditions like arthritis and osteoporosis.” The buoyancy of waist-deep water can support about half our body weight, while neck-deep…

12Jul 2018 by Patrick Donovan

To Be Hydrated Or Dehydrated? That Is The Question.

Health content, knowledge, Prevention

The Hydration Issue We often underestimate the important role of hydration in our daily lives. As infants, water comprises 75% of our body weight. This percentage reduces to 55% in the elderly population. No matter your age, water is essential for cellular homeostasis and life. During my time in Haiti, I learned that not enough water in your system causes it to run poorly. Dehydration contributed to a wide number of multi-system conditions – GI issues, cardiac complications, hypotension, bladder and kidney infections. These are less common in our civilized society, however chronic mild dehydration remains an underlying contributing factor for older adults. Maintaining hydration is the easiest way to flush out unwanted bacteria and keep your system running smoothly. Keep an Eye On Dehydration Symptoms Your body naturally wants…

28Feb 2018 by Patrick Donovan

Start the Conversation About Chronic Disease Management

Health content, knowledge, Prevention

Start the Conversation About Your Medication Management “Freedom of choice” is a typical value in the US. So when my health care provider prescribes me a chronic disease medication for, say, high blood pressure, do I yield the rest of my life to a medication? No! This article is about the difficult conversation, asking your health care provider “How can I get off this medication?” The Gameplan The majority of you ingest iron naturally through foods you eat – spinach, bread, lentils, dark chocolate, etc. As you grow older your body may become less adept at absorbing iron – (1) an iron deficiency develops. So in a routine check-up your health care provider (2) prescribes a supplemental iron medication. In addition to the iron supplement, for the following months you…