Since March 2020 the United States and the rest of the world have been dealing with the coronavirus and COVID-19. We have all been dealing with staying at home, working remotely, having our kids at home for virtual school, wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding social gatherings, missing seeing family and friends in person, and trying to deal with the same everyday stresses. Businesses have closed. Many people have lost their jobs. Some have lost loved ones to COVID-19. Others are dealing with long-term effects of having had COVID-19. One thing we shouldn't have to deal with on top of all the above stresses, is musculoskeletal pain. The way most of our lives have changed in the last year has meant decreased physical activity. Many of us have been unable to go to gyms regularly, meet with running, hiking, or cycling groups, go to our yoga studios, and because we've been on lockdown or just staying at home we are walking and moving much less than ideal. This decreased movement can lead to lower back pain, knee pain, tension headaches, achy shoulders, and neck pain. Many people have been unable to get their regular massages or acupuncture, see their osteopath or chiropractor as usual, haven't been able to do Pilates, yoga, or see their personal trainer weekly, and this is exacerbating their pain symptoms. But this doesn't mean you have to live in pain until COVID-19 is gone and life is back to normal. You can do online live Posture Alignment Therapy over Zoom from the comfort and safety of your home! I've been seeing clients 100% online since March 2019 and have helped hundreds of people improve their posture and eliminate their pain using Zoom video therapy. Virtual or video therapy works the exact same as in-person in-clinic therapy. It's a one-on-one hour long appointment where we discuss your pain, evaluate your posture, perform functional tests and gait analysis, and walk you through personalized e-cises. I've been doing video therapy with clients for over 15 years so I'm very experienced in doing therapy this way, but clients who are brand new to this idea have been blown away with how effective and easy it is. I just email you a Zoom link which you click at your appointment time and that's it. After your appointment I email your ecise menu to you which includes pictures, descriptions, and videos of all your therapy exercises. You don't have to live in pain another day. Contact me today for your free 30-minute posture evaluation on Zoom. Luckily vaccines are being distributed and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully soon we can start getting back to eating at restaurants and bars, reopening our businesses, traveling, and most importantly seeing friends and family again. In the mean time, get and stay pain free with Zoom video therapy.
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Oregon Exercise Therapy has moved to a new clinic location. We are still in downtown Portland, but now in the Terminal Sales Building at 1220 SW Morrison St. Ste 1115, Portland, OR 97205. My new office includes 270 degree views of downtown Portland, Mount Hood, and the West Hills. While I no longer have free parking at my building (bummer), there is lots of street parking, close by garages (like Smart Park at SW 10th and Morrison St.), and the Max and Streetcar super close.
The Egoscue Posture Therapy software called ePete which has been used by Egoscue therapists around the world for almost 2 decades has undergone a major update and is all new. ePete 2.0 is best-in-class modern technology now used by Egoscue Clinics and Egoscue Institute certified Posture Alignment Therapists around the world including Oregon Exercise Therapy. ePete 2.0 allows your Egoscue therapist to create highly sophisticated personalized ecise menus designed to restore your posture and eliminate your pain allowing you to live a pain free and active life.
Your Egoscue menus created with ePete 2.0 are viewable on the new Egoscue client iPhone and Android/Google apps. Learn more about the Egoscue client apps here. Egoscue has recently updated their proprietary posture alignment therapy software called ePete. With the update of ePete, there has also been an update of the client mobile phone apps used to view your personalized Egoscue menus created by Oregon Exercise Therapy. Download your Egoscue iPhone app or Egoscue Android/Google app today. Cats and Dogs is a wonderful ecise that I highly recommend everyone do daily. Cats and Dogs reminds our pelvis and spine to flex and extend and it unlocks our body from the constant flexion many of us spend our days in. Cats and Dogs also restores symmetry and balance to our bodies by reminding both hips, shoulders, and sides of our back to do the same thing. Many of us are one-side dominate which creates rotation and/or elevation of our hips or shoulders, and cats and dogs can help restore balance. I recommend doing at least 10 cats and dogs every morning and evening, but feel free to do them anytime you want.
Related articles/videos:
Swimmer's posture How posture affects lung capacity Neck curvature and car accidents Cats and Dogs I was interviewed for an article about upper back strength by mapmyrun and provided three simple exercises to improve posture and upper back strength and function which will allow you to run more efficiently and help prevent injury. Check out the entire article and try the exercises today and notice how it impacts your running. Have you ever dealt with pain from bunions, hammer toes, plantar fasciitis, or Achilles tendonitis?
Do your feet get tired or sore by the end of the day? Are you dealing with corns, calluses, blisters, or ingrown toenails? Do you have balance issues, feel unstable, or frequently sprain your ankles? These are all very common side effects that come from losing good foot posture and function which can be caused by not-ideal footwear and the loss of foot/toe strength and mobility. Walking is almost as essential for human health as drinking water and eating food is. The human body is designed to walk and walking helps maintain our physical, mental, and emotional health. Every movement a baby makes from birth to 1-year-old is to help prepare for walking. Walking is essential to for brain development, immune response, digestion, and circulation. Walking has been shown to lift our mood, boost creativity, increase metabolism, improve sleep, boost brain power, decrease pain, and decrease stress. Walking, like other exercise, can add up to seven years to our life and is considered a miracle drug because it helps prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, and many other problems.
Laughter is good for our health. Since today is April Fools Day, I thought an April Fools Day Newsletter would get a good laugh or at least an interesting reaction from all my wonderful clients. I hope everyone figured out the newsletter was a joke and didn't think I had lost my mind! If you didn't receive the newsletter, here are some highlights with commentary below each article: NOTE: April Fools Day Newsletter is all fake and contains false information! Read for enjoyment; don't follow this advise; keep doing what you're doing. :) Nothing could be further from the truth, as real research shows us that good posture has many benefits and slouching has none.
This is part 2 of Understanding Human Psychology and Chronic Pain. Part 1, talked about the 4 classes of experiences and how engaging in less class 3 and 4 experiences and more 1 and 2 experiences will have a very positive impact on our health.
Part 2 is going to explain how everything we do in life is driven by the 6 Human Needs and how we can choose positive or negative ways to meet these needs which will determine whether they are an empowering or destructive force in our lives and on our physical health. After introducing the 6 human needs we will examine how these needs play into chronic pain and whether people are able to become pain free again. |
About Matt WhiteheadI'm an Egoscue Institute certified Postural Alignment Specialist (PAS) and Advanced Exercise Therapist (AET), certified personal trainer, PatchFitness performer, FiveFingers wearer, trail runner, mountain biker, dad, music lover, environmentalist, and wanna-be slam dunk champion. I will be providing you with the latest posture exercises to help you live, play, and be pain free. Archives
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