Check out our December 2020 Newsletter highlighting diabetes management with physical therapy, our Thanksgiving Food Bank partnership, a chronic pain infographic, and 8 tips for safe lifting this holiday season.

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. Diabetes is a condition in which the body either does not produce enough insulin or does not respond normally to insulin, causing glucose levels in the blood to become too high. In the United States, 34.2 million Americans (1 in 10) have diabetes and 88 million American adults (1 in 3) have pre-diabetes. Physical therapists can help reduce diabetic symptoms and guide diabetic patients through a personalized exercise program, which lowers blood sugar levels and improves mobility.

Chronic pain affects 100 million Americans and dramatically impacts an individual’s quality of life and physical function. Chronic pain is pain that persists for more than three months. After an injury heals, the body continues to send pain signals to the brain, resulting in chronic pain in the affected area. Physical therapy is one of the best methods to treat chronic pain for long-term pain management and improved quality of life without the need for medication. Check out our latest chronic pain infographic to learn more!

In celebration of National Physical Therapy Month, we are highlighting 10 benefits of physical therapy in our latest infographic. Physical therapy offers patients personalized medical care specific to their needs, helps patients reduce pain and avoid opioids, recover from a stroke, and treat sports injuries. Learn how physical therapy helps manage age-related health issues, neuromuscular conditions, and women’s health conditions on the blog!

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition that involves generalized chronic musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and tender-to-touch areas of the body. Physical therapy is a safe method to decrease pain and symptoms as well as improve fitness and quality of life. Physical therapists create an individualized treatment plan based on the patient’s symptoms and condition. Learn more about physical therapy treatment on the blog!

Neck pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal issues in the United States with 35% of the population experiencing chronic neck pain. Whether you are experiencing mechanical neck pain, a pinched nerve, or whiplash, physical therapy can help. Physical therapy is the most effective treatment for neck pain and includes manual therapy, dry needling, neck stretching and strengthening exercises, and posture improvement.

Knee pain is one of the most common orthopedic conditions that bring patients into physical therapy and the second most common cause of chronic pain in the United States. Knee pain is felt behind and around the kneecap, often during activities that place stress on the knee such as stair climbing, squatting, running, or walking while carrying a heavy load. Physical therapists are experts of the musculoskeletal system and are qualified to assess and treat knee pain, injuries, and conditions to reduce pain and restore function.

Low back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek physical therapy. At any given time, 25% of Americans report having experienced low back pain in the last three months. Physical therapy is a non-surgical, non-invasive treatment option for low back pain. A physical therapist can help improve and restore mobility and reduce your low back pain without the high costs of imaging scans, surgery, and medications. Staying active is an important aspect of successfully addressing your back pain. 

Arthritis is a chronic pain condition that involves swelling and tenderness in one or more joints. It is the leading cause of disability for American adults, affecting 54 million adults each year. Aquatic therapy is a safe, low-impact physical therapy option that allows a patient to exercise and build aerobic capacity with reduced pain. Aquatic therapy at the Mangiarelli Rehabilitation clinic heated pool involves specific exercises and aerobics performed in heated water.

Chronic pain is a condition that can dramatically affect and limit an individual’s activities, physical function, work, and daily life. For too long, chronic pain was treated with pharmacological methods and prescriptions for opioids became pervasive. In 2016, the CDC recommended that the preferred treatment for chronic pain is non-pharmacological methods, particularly physical therapy and exercise interventions. Physical therapy is an effective treatment for chronic pain, using exercise therapy, manual therapy, aquatic therapy, and dry needling to manage and reduce pain.

Paula Mangiarelli is a physical therapist and owner and director of Mangiarelli Rehabilitation. She specializes in industrial, injured worker rehabilitation and chronic pain. She is certified in dry needling. Paula started Mangiarelli Rehabilitation because she wanted to have a clinic where a therapist could provide specialized care. Her focus for Mangiarelli Rehabilitation is excellence as well as compassion. Her vision is that each patient who comes to the clinic feels they have received the best care available and a clinic that has multiple therapists who specialize and in doing so, provide patients with a number of options for care.

Dry needling, or intramuscular manual therapy, is a physical therapy treatment that treats acute and chronic pain. It is a valid manual therapy technique that can speed up the recovery process, improve a patient’s ability to move with decreased pain, and enhance healing after an injury. It is used to increase range of motion that is limited due to muscle tightness. It involves the physical therapist pushing thin filiform sterile needles through the skin of the patient into trigger points to stimulate the tissue.

Nearly 80% of working Americans experience symptoms of back pain at some point in their lives. Early intervention for musculoskeletal pain like back pain has been shown to decrease health costs and improve recovery outcomes for the patient. Physical therapy not only will decrease medical costs for a patient with back pain, but also help restore movement and teach the patient how to minimize and manage pain in the future.