Sciatica

What is Sciatica?

Sciatica is usually used to describe pain that travels along the path of the sciatic nerve.  This nerve comes from your lower back, travels through your hips and buttocks and down each leg.  IT is a common term used for lumbar radiculopathy, which refers to abnormal sensory and motor functioning in the leg commonly a result of instability in the lower back. 

Symptoms

When the sciatic nerve gets irritated upon its exit from the spine it can result in abnormal sensory responses like numbness, tingling, burning, achy or sharp shooting pain.  You can also experience abnormal motor output like weakness, fatigue, spasms, or tension in your leg/legs.  Typically it only affects one side of your body. 

Causes

This injury can affect people of any fitness level or age. The causes are multifaceted but usually relate back to the inability to control your core during movement. We will teach you how to engage the glutes during walking, stairs and exercise to ensure a stable core and help to resolve and prevent sciatic nerve pain.

Treatment

Through retraining of proper movement patterns we are able to increase the stability of the lumbar spine and prevent further irritation of the nerves. We address safe exercise, postural assessment and reeducation, as well, as good body mechanics.  Over time we look for the symptoms in the legs to centralize to the low back and then fully dissipate. Our main goal is to teach you why this is happening, teach you how to recover and prevent it moving forward.

Plantar Fasciitis

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We are seeing an increase in patients with plantar fasciitis due to the prolonged periods of inactivity during COVID19- followed by a return to previous levels of walking, running and hiking.

Plantar fascia is a thick ligament that runs from the heel to the toes and supports the arch of the foot, allowing for shock absorption.

Pain along the bottom of the heel is most commonly caused by a strain of the plantar fascia.  This is why it is commonly referred to as plantar fasciitis (ie. inflammation of the plantar fascia). Due to its strategic location and function, the heel is vulnerable to damage, injury and pain. Approximately 2 million Americans suffer from arch or heel pain each year in the U.S. alone.

What does it feel like?

Plantar fasciitis typically causes a stabbing pain in the bottom of your foot near the heel. The pain is usually worse with the first few steps after waking, although it can also be increased by long periods of standing or when you first get up after sitting. The pain is usually worse after exercise, not during it.

Swelling, inflammation and stiffness are symptoms that may be associated with this type of heel pain. 

Physical Therapy can help by:

-strengthening the foot to help support the fascia
-increasing the mobility of the ankle joint to decrease stress on the fascia
-stretch the calf to allow a more normal walking pattern
-guide you in picking the appropriate footwear to prevent further aggravation

We will also provide a home exercise program to assist in healing and prevent future injury.

Functional Mobility

It’s important to be able to get around and complete your daily tasks, but this can be exponentially harder when you have pain or weakness.

Simple things like walking, getting up from a chair, moving around in bed and negotiating the stairs should be easy to complete.

Finding deficits in functional mobility is one of the ways we develop goals and guide treatment in physical therapy.

These deficits typically start as a minor inconvenience that develops into a major issue. We always hope things will resolve themselves, but if it persists for more than a few weeks it is important to be proactive and get an assessment from a licensed PT.

A Physical Therapist can:
-perform manual techniques that help to improve your joint’s range of motion
-show you the best way to strengthen your muscles to improve your movement
-develop your ability to balance and prevent falls

If you have further questions about physical therapy please give us a call at any one of our locations.

We can also assist you in determining your insurance coverage for PT and what documentation you may need from your primary care doctor.

Hey Moms, will you be honest?

Do you…

• Only go to playgrounds with your kids if there’s a bathroom nearby?

• Pass on your favorite workout classes because you’re worried about leakage?

• Miss out on family time because you’re in the bathroom again?

If you answered yes to these questions, you are not alone.

We know so many mothers out there who are dealing with urinary incontinence. The strain that pregnancy and childbirth put on your bladder and pelvic muscles can have lasting and often embarrassing effects. In fact, urinary incontinence affects an estimated 18-20 million women in the United States alone. Common symptoms of urinary incontinence include strong urges to urinate, inability to control urination, and going to the bathroom frequently.

If you’re going to the bathroom more than 7 times per day, you may be experiencing urinary incontinence.

The good news is that there is safe, effective, fast treatment available. The BTL EMSELLA is a non-invasive treatment for stress urinary incontinence that is as simple as sitting on a chair. Using High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic Technology to stimulate the pelvic floor muscles, the device creates powerful contractions that work to strengthen pelvic floor muscles.

Each session with the BTL EMSELLA delivers contractions that are equal to 12,000 Kegels.

Hingham Physical Therapy brought the BTL EMSELLA to the South Shore because we believe that mothers deserve to live full, active lives.

You deserve to live in the moment. You deserve to be in the picture.

Hingham Physical Therapy Owners Julie and Kris introduce The New Kegel Throne to the South Shore

Physical therapists, Julie Wyper and Kris San Antonio, invested in the BTL EMSELLA for Hingham Physical Therapy because they knew it would provide life-changing treatment for so many of their patients. BTL EMSELLA is a highly effective treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) which causes urine to leak out of the bladder during normal activities. “We’ve heard from so many of our patients that they wanted an easier way to treat incontinence, so when we researched the EMSELLA, we knew it was the answer.”

“People don’t talk about incontinence, but it is so much more common than you think. Millions of women and men are dealing with this, but only half of them seek treatment. We want to change that. We want people to know that incontinence is not normal, and you don’t have to accept it,” said Wyper. “Also, I want people to understand that women AND men suffer from incontinence. It’s not just an older person’s problem. Incontinence doesn’t care how old you are,” added San Antonio.

Treatments using the BTL EMSELLA chair are fast and easy. During the treatment, the patient simply sits on the chair. The EMSELLA machine delivers non-invasive electromagnetic stimulation of the pelvic floor muscles- the equivalent of 12,000 kegels in just 30 minutes. “One of our patients’ favorite things about the EMSELLA is that it is non-invasive. You don’t have to undress, you just walk in for your treatment and then walk back out to live your life,” said Wyper. EMSELLA patients report seeing positive results after the first treatment, though usually 2 to 6 treatments are recommended to fully retrain the pelvic muscles. Women, men, and athletes are finding relief from urinary leakage after treatment by the EMSELLA.

“Look, if EMSELLA is good enough for the Real Housewives, it’s good enough for the South Shore, right?! All joking aside, we are passionate about helping people live full and happy lives. EMSELLA allows men and women to enjoy exercise and even everyday activities without worrying about leakage,” said San Antonio.

You can learn more about BTL EMSELLA and Hingham Physical Therapy by contacting us for your complimentary consultation at 781-740-4900.

Hingham Physical Therapy is conveniently located just off Route 3A on the South Shore on 184 Lincoln Street, Unit C, Hingham, MA 02043.