Parkinson’s disease is a multifaceted neurodegenerative disease that impairs movement, coordination, and cognitive function over time. Physical therapy-led exercise is a critical component of managing Parkinson’s disease, helping to manage symptoms, and even slowing progression of the disease. Therapeutic boxing is a unique targeted exercise therapy, requiring full-body movement, combining upper-body punching sequences with lower-body footwork to build strength, counter rigidity, and improve hand-eye coordination, balance, posture, and agility. Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Bobby demonstrates therapeutic boxing with a Parkinson’s patient on the blog!

Hamstring injuries are common in activities that involve high-speed running, jumping, kicking, or explosive lower extremity movements combined with rapid changes in direction. A hamstring injury involves a strain or tear of one of the three hamstring muscles, causing pain, swelling, and difficulty walking and running. Physical therapy plays a critical role in helping athletes recover after a hamstring injury, return to sport safely, and regain function, mobility, and strength in the hamstring muscle complex through a targeted therapeutic exercise, functional training, and return to sport program.

Check out our December Newsletter, highlighting managing diabetes through targeted exercise, hip stabilization exercises, slowing Alzheimer's disease progression with physical therapy, and our winter donation drive with Dorothy Day House of Youngstown.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease in the elderly associated with dementia, memory loss, severe cognitive impairments, and eventually physical limitations. Alzheimer’s disease develops due to microscopic changes that take place in the brain that damages brain cells and nerves and leads to the physical and cognitive symptoms of the condition. Physical therapy can slow Alzheimer’s disease progression and help individuals maintain physical and cognitive function as much as possible through a targeted exercise program.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that involves inflammation of the synovial lining of joints, causing swelling, pain, stiffness, and eventual erosion of the affected joints over time. Physical therapy plays a key role in helping patients with RA maintain muscle strength, flexibility, and joint range of motion as well as prevent long-term disabilities through a targeted exercise program. Physical therapy works together with medical drug treatments to improve the quality of life, optimize overall fitness and cardiovascular health, and maintain the ability to perform daily activities in those with rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoporosis is a bone disease characterized by low bone mineral density, decreased bone strength, and changes in bone structure that causes thin, brittle bones and an increased risk of bone fractures. Physical therapy plays a critical role in managing osteoporosis, helping those with osteoporosis maintain and build bone density through a customized therapeutic exercise program. Research has shown that aerobic and resistance exercise effectively stimulate bone osteogenesis in osteoporosis patients, improving bone density and reducing fall risk.

The month of September is Healthy Aging Month, a month to promote ways individuals can stay healthy as they age. One of the best ways to support healthy aging is regular exercise under the guidance of a physical therapist. Physical therapists are experts in movement and exercise prescription, creating customized exercise programs to maintain and improve older adults’ balance, strength, and coordination and prevent falls.

An ankle sprain is a common injury that occurs when the foot twists or turns beyond its normal range of movement, causing the ankle’s ligaments to overstretch or tear. Ankle sprains account for up to 40% of lower extremity sports injuries and 15% of all sports injuries in the United States. Physical therapy is the first line of treatment for ankle sprains, effectively restoring mobility, strength, and function in the injured ankle, preventing re-injury, and ensuring a safe return to sport through a targeted exercise and manual therapy rehabilitation program.

Swimmer’s knee is caused by repetitive strain on the knee ligaments, particularly the MCL, when performing the breaststroke. Pain in the MCL develops due to the repetitive flexion-extension, adduction, and external rotation of the knee against the water when completing the breaststroke. When doing the breaststroke, 70% of the propulsion of the stroke comes from the legs and knees, placing significant stress on the knees. Physical therapy can alleviate swimmer’s knee pain and restore movement and function in the knee safely through a targeted therapeutic exercise and manual therapy rehabilitation program.

Check out our infographic on physical therapy for cervicogenic headaches! Cervicogenic headaches are caused by musculoskeletal dysfunction in the bony structures or soft tissue of the neck that refer pain to the head through the nervous system, commonly affecting one side of the head. Physical therapy is the gold standard of treatment for cervicogenic headaches, helping to reduce the severity and frequency of headaches by targeted strengthening and manual therapy of the deep muscles of the neck and upper back.

Foot drop is a symptom of an underlying neurological, muscular, or anatomical problem involving an inability to lift the front of your foot due to an impairment in the muscle in the front of your shin, the anterior tibialis. Foot drop presents as an individual dragging the foot and toes on the ground when walking or bending the knees to lift the foot higher above ground to avoid dragging. Physical therapy can help address foot drop and improve functional mobility and gait pattern through a targeted therapeutic and strengthening exercise program.

A sports hernia is an injury that happens when there is a weakening or tear in the muscles, tendons, or ligaments of the lower abdominal and groin area, causing acute pain and limited movement. A sports hernia typically occurs in sports that require repetitive twisting, turning, or abrupt changes in direction. Physical therapy can help athletes manage and recover from a sports hernia safely, addressing underlying muscular imbalances that contributed to injury through targeted exercise, core strengthening, and manual therapy.

Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Bobby demonstrates the variety of ways we utilize the Golf Forever Swing Training Tool in our clinic to improve your golf swing. The golf swing is one of the most dynamic motions in sports, requiring coordinated loading and the generation of power and force throughout the kinetic chain. Physical therapy can help golfers improve their golf swing by enhancing agility and power for longer drives, improving mobility and flexibility in the hips and shoulders and dynamic balance, and enhancing core strength and neuromuscular control for a powerful, controlled, and accurate golf swing.

Scoliosis is a condition that affects the normal shape of the spine, altering a person’s back alignment and posture and causing a lateral “s” or “c”-shaped curve in the spine. The abnormal curvature of the spine can place stress on the surrounding muscles and joints, causing loss of strength and flexibility in the spinal and back muscles over time. Physical therapy is an effective, non-invasive treatment method to manage scoliosis, stabilize the scoliosis curve, improve postural alignment, enhance neuromuscular control and muscular strength, and improve overall function in individuals with scoliosis.

Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, played on a tennis-like court using a softball-sized, hard-plastic ball and a wooden racket to serve and volley the ball back and forth. While fairly easy to pick up, pickleball requires fast movements of the upper and lower body, sudden pivots and cuts, and side-to-side shuffling, which can contribute to injury. Physical therapy can help pickleball players not only recover from an on-court injury, but also prepare for a successful pickleball season through targeted strength and conditioning.

Exercise rehabilitation under the supervision of a physical therapist can help multiple sclerosis patients conserve and regain functional abilities, manage symptoms, and improve quality of life. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease that affects the central nervous system and can lead to physical and cognitive impairments. Research suggests that targeted exercise rehabilitation may be the single most effective non-pharmacological symptomatic treatment for multiple sclerosis. A structured rehabilitation program can improve mobility, muscle strength, aerobic capacity, and quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients.

Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Sarah demonstrates three exercises you can do to address shin splint pain. Shin splints are a common athletic injury that develops due to repetitive stress placed on the tibia, causing the surrounding muscles to strain and develop microtears where they connect to the shin bone. Physical therapists can help athletes with shin splints recover pain-free movement, return to sport safely, and prevent future reinjury through a targeted exercise rehabilitation program.

Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease characterized by low bone density, thin, brittle bones, decreased bone strength, and changes in bone structure that increase the risk of a bone fracture. Physical therapy can play a crucial role in managing osteoporosis and helping you maintain and build bone density through a customized therapeutic exercise program. Exercise places beneficial stress on your bones by directly loading the bone and increasing muscle mass, which places mechanical stress on the skeleton and strengthens your bones.

Physical therapy can help those with hip osteoarthritis manage arthritic pain and regain function, strength, and mobility in the hip through therapeutic exercise and manual therapy. Osteoarthritis of the hip causes the protective cartilage lining the bones of the hip joint to progressively break down, causing the bones to rub against each other and leading to intense pain and inflammation within the hip joint.

Check out our May 2023 Newsletter, highlighting punching out Parkinson's with therapeutic boxing, spring donation drive thank you, physical therapy for sciatica, and three exercises for plantar fasciitis.