Participating in aerobic activities and muscle strengthening exercises are the best ways for seniors to prevent health concerns and remain independent. Experts say older adults should engage in moderate
exercise and strength training each week, however less than one-third meet this recommendation.

Fitness Can Help Seniors:

1. Reduce fall risk and increase the ability to live independently. Older adults who exercise may reduce their risk of falls by more than a third compared to sedentary peers.
2. Maintain strength, healthy joints and muscles. This can reduce and prevent arthritis, joint swelling and pain due to improved body mechanics and decreased pressure on joints.
3. Helps reduce or control blood pressure. High blood pressure is a common concern among older adults. High blood pressure can be controlled with lifestyle changes like physical activity and exercise. Moderate activity, such as brisk walking, can lower high blood pressure.
4. Reduce the risk of colon cancer. Colon cancer is in the top 5 most common cancers in the world. Preventive strategies such as lifestyle modifications with regard to obesity, physical activity, diet and smoking can decrease risk. Physical activity may prevent approximately 15% of colon cancers.
5. Reduce the risk for diabetes. Being active makes your body more sensitive to insulin. Insulin can help manage diabetes as it is the hormone that allows your body to use blood sugar for energy.

Physical Therapy Can Help Seniors:

1. The goal of physical therapy is to help restore and improve functionality, reduce pain and increase mobility for better strength and balance.
2. As people age, they tend to lose flexibility, strength and often their balance. Loss of these functions could lead to a fall with potential for injury. Physical therapy helps improve mobility or provide appropriate activity modifications.
3. Strength training and exercise provided in physical therapy can also help alleviate the symptoms of arthritis. People with arthritis can benefit from physical therapy because it provides exercises to help preserve the strength and use of the joints.

There are several ways one can stay active, including:

1. Go for a brisk walk
2. Work in the garden
3. Mow the lawn
4. Dance
5. Bicycling
6. Attend a fitness class
7. Water aerobics - decreased stress on joints

The most important thing one can do is to keep moving! Find an activity that you enjoy and try to participate in it a few times per week. This will help increase blood flow to areas of healing, decrease stress, improve sleep and increase your endorphins. If it is hard to get started due to pain for physical limitations, physical therapy can help!

Resources:

• The Importance of Physical Therapy for Seniors
  
• Exercise Programs That Promote Senior Fitness
  
• High Blood Pressure and Older Adults
• Effect of exercise on colorectal cancer prevention and treatment
  
• Physical activity is very important for people with diabetes!​

Join the fun this National Scavenger Hunt day and partake in the PT Plus Virtual Scavenger Hunt. It might be the only scavenger hunt you can enjoy without leaving your couch!

How to Play: 

1. Follow all of the clues below to find letters around the PT Plus Website. 
2. Use the letters to form the Scavenger Hunt Keyword.
3. Email the Keyword to lmcgraw@ptplus.com by 12:00pm on Friday, May 27th and you will be entered to win a PT Plus exclusive 20th Anniversary Hat! 

• Letter 10: We can tell you about ourselves all day, but we like to let the results speak for themselves! Find our results page to see the stats, read real patient testimonials, and to find the last letter! 

Good luck and thanks for playing! 

There are between 4 million and 10 million people suffering with fibromyalgia (Fibro) in the US. Some studies say there are 3 million new cases a year. 75-90% are women, usually diagnosed between the ages of 20-50. People with fibromyalgia are twice as likely to be hospitalized, have a lower quality of life, and are 3x more likely to suffer from depression. There are higher death rates from suicide and injury and higher rates of other rheumatic conditions.
 
But what is fibromyalgia? To be exact, we really don’t know. Historically, fibromyalgia has been a diagnosis of exclusion. All other possibilities were ruled out, and if one didn’t fit, you were diagnosed with Fibro. As our understanding improved, we were able to pinpoint some similarities in patients. Typically, sleep was affected, and pain was widespread (all 4 quadrants of the body). In the ‘90’s, we were using a palpation method as part of the diagnosis for Fibro. There were 9 pairs of points throughout the body that were compressed with a finger. If one was painful, that would be positive. To receive the Fibro diagnosis, you would have to test positive in 11 of the 18 points. We don’t use this test anymore and are back to diagnosis by exclusion. Blood tests are performed to rule out other conditions that could lead to Fibro-like symptoms. Pain scores are administered, and history reviewed. There may be some promise for a blood test called the FM/a test, but studies are still ongoing.
 
Common symptoms of Fibromyalgia include widespread pain, brain fog (commonly referred to as FibroFog), fatigue, lethargy, sleep problems, digestive problems, heat intolerance, and feeling depressed. The most prescribed treatment for Fibro is exercise. Unfortunately for many Fibro sufferers, when they exercise, they are often wiped out for several days. Clinically, we find that people with Fibro can do things, but have no reserve, so their ability to recover is poor.
 
So how can PT help with fibromyalgia?  A customized approach is the only way to treat fibromyalgia. Often this is based on the severity of the symptoms. PT is one of the members of a needed team. In order to get better, we need proper nutrition. You can eat something, but that doesn’t mean you absorb it. We find people with Fibro are often deficient or in the low normal range for magnesium. Gut health is paramount to good nutrition so you can absorb the nutrients you need.
 
In order to move, you need to feel better. Typically, we will work with you through various manual techniques to try to reduce your pain symptoms. We have a variety of approaches we can use, including Primal Reflex Release Technique (PRRT), positional release (strain/counterstrain), soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, muscle activation, active release, and trigger point dry needling. As you start feeling better, we get you moving. Exercise starts as specific neuromuscular re-education. We try to retrain how your nervous system interacts with your skeletal system. This improves “functional strength”. As you progress from there, we can move into more traditional exercise, such as hypertrophy strengthening and cardiovascular conditioning. The key is the progression from pain relief to functional strength to traditional strength. In this pathway, we reduce the rebound effect of exercise and allow the body to adapt at it’s on pace to the new demands being placed on it.
 
Resources
Fibromyalgia Prevalence: est. 10 million people in the U.S. (fmaware.org)
Fibromyalgia | Arthritis | CDC

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