Regular exercise can improve your cholesterol levels, lowering your LDL cholesterol and increasing your HDL cholesterol for improved heart health. Cholesterol is a lipid that circulates within our blood. While HDL cholesterol helps in the transport of lipids to the liver for disposal, LDL cholesterol can build up in the wall of our arteries and negatively affect our heart health. Research has shown that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise can increase good HDL cholesterol, high-intensity aerobic exercise can lower LDL and triglyceride levels, and moderate-intensity resistance workouts are effective in lowering cholesterol.

Tennis elbow is one of the most common elbow injuries that results from overuse of the muscles of your arm and forearm. It occurs in the tendons that attach your muscles to the rounded projection of bone on the outside of the elbow, causing radiating pain from the outside of the elbow to the forearm and wrist. Tennis elbow normally develops gradually over weeks and months due to repetitive use of the wrist, hand, arm, and elbow over time. Physical therapy is an effective treatment for tennis elbow, helping patients build muscle strength, regain function in the elbow and forearm, and manage pain.

Spinal stenosis is a degenerative condition of the spine that involves narrowing of the openings within the vertebrae of the spinal column that results in too much pressure on the spinal cord and nerves, causing pain and weakness in the low back. Spinal stenosis can develop after the age of 50 due to the effect of aging and osteoarthritic wear and tear on the spine and spinal vertebrae. Physical therapy provides an effective treatment for spinal stenosis, helping patients regain function, mobility, and strength in their low back and relieving compression of the spinal nerves.

Chronic pain affects up to 28% of American adults each year and is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care. Chronic pain develops when the nerves that communicate pain to the brain become hypersensitive, causing the brain to perceive that area of the body as a potential threat and therefore painful beyond the normal healing timeframe. Exercise is an effective way to manage chronic pain by building muscle strength, reducing pain sensitivity, and improving mobility through targeted strengthening, low-impact aerobic exercise, stretching, and aquatic therapy.

Regular exercise is an essential component of healthy aging, helping seniors maintain independence and improve their physical and mental health. Exercise has numerous benefits for older adults, including improving muscle strength, building bone density, enhancing mobility and balance, and slowing age-related cognitive decline. Experts recommend that older adults engage in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise 150 minutes a week, strength train twice a week, and engage in weekly balance and flexibility training.

Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Sarah demonstrates several stretches and exercises you can do to improve your posture. Good posture refers to proper alignment of the body in both static and dynamic positions, holding the body against gravity with the least strain and tension on your muscles, joints, and ligaments. Proper posture keeps your bones and joints in optimal alignment and decreases wear and tear on them. Physical therapy can help you improve your posture through targeted stretching, strengthening, manual therapy, and posture training.

Knee bursitis involves inflammation of one or more bursae of the knee joint, causing pain, swelling, and limited mobility in the knee. Bursae are fluid-filled sacs that serve as cushions to reduce friction between bone and skin or bone and tendon. Knee bursitis can develop from a direct blow to the knee or from repetitive stress movements or pressure on the knee over time. Physical therapy for knee bursitis can help reduce pain, swelling, and stiffness in the knee and restore mobility in the knee through targeted therapeutic exercise and manual therapy.

On the blog, Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Bobby demonstrates exercises to relieve acute low back pain. Low back pain is the most common condition treated by physical therapists, affecting 30% of Americans each year. Low back pain can involve dull, burning, throbbing, sharp, or shooting pain in the lumbar spine and through the buttocks and leg. Physical therapy is the first line of treatment for low back pain. A physical therapist can improve and restore mobility in the low back as well as reduce low back pain without expensive surgery or pain medications.

Elbow bursitis involves inflammation of the tip of the elbow due to irritation of the olecranon bursa, leading to pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited range of motion at the elbow. Elbow bursitis can develop after a direct hit to the elbow during a sport or most commonly from prolonged pressure on and repetitive use of the elbow. A physical therapist can help reduce elbow bursitis-associated pain, swelling, and stiffness, speed recovery and restore movement and range of motion in the elbow and upper extremity.

Check out our infographic on physical therapy for piriformis syndrome! Piriformis syndrome develops due to tightening of the piriformis muscle, which can irritate and compress the sciatic nerve and cause pain through the buttocks, low back, and back of the leg. Physical therapy can isolate the true origin of the piriformis syndrome pain, help relieve pain, and restore normal movement and range of motion in the affected area through stretching, manual therapy, and targeted strengthening.

Check out our infographic on physical therapy for a sports hernia. A sports hernia is a soft tissue injury that occurs in the groin, pelvis, or lower abdomen involving a strain or tear in a muscle, tendon, or ligament deep in the abdominal wall. Physical therapists play a critical role in helping an athlete recover from and return to sport safely after a sports hernia through an active rehabilitation program focused on strengthening the hip and abdominal muscles.

Total shoulder replacement surgery involves removing the damaged ball and socket of the shoulder joint and replacing it with a functional metal joint to eliminate pain and restore function to the shoulder. Nearly 70,000 Americans undergo shoulder replacement surgery each year. Physical therapy after a total shoulder replacement is critical to regaining full function, strength, mobility, and range of motion in the shoulder joint. The physical therapist not only helps the patient manage pain and swelling post-surgery but also guides the patient through a progressive shoulder and scapular strengthening program for optimal recovery.

Before returning to sprinting after a sports injury, it is essential to progressively regain strength, agility, and speed under the guidance of a qualified sports physical therapist. To prepare for a return to sprinting, a physical therapist begins with isometric and eccentric strength training followed by plyometric and agility training before progressing to a sprint training program. Returning to sprinting is an objective in the later stages of rehabilitation for lower extremity injuries. It is critical that athletes achieve interval sprinting at top speed in the controlled, predictable environment of the physical therapy clinic before engaging in competition and returning to sport. 

Cervicogenic headaches are caused by musculoskeletal dysfunction in the neck that refers pain to the head through the nervous system. Cervicogenic headaches commonly affect one side of the head and can result from a traumatic injury to the cervical spine and neck muscles such as whiplash or due to muscle tension or strain from forward head posture. Physical therapy can reduce pain and address the underlying cause of cervicogenic headaches for sustainable headache management.

A rebounder is a mini trampoline that uses bounce and movement to improve balance, posture, core strength, and endurance. Rebounder therapy involves exercises performed on the trampoline and can be used to treat sports injuries, shoulder and ankle injuries, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease. In the video below, Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist Bobby explains how the rebounder is used at our clinic and demonstrates several exercises you can perform with the rebounder during physical therapy.

Stress causes a cascade of physical responses in the body, triggering the fight or flight response. While acute stress can be beneficial to react to a stressful situation, chronic stress can have far-reaching negative effects on your physical and mental health, impacting your nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, immune, and gastrointestinal systems. Once the stress cycle has been activated, it is essential to move through the stress response and complete the stress cycle to prevent chronic stress. One of the best ways to complete the stress cycle and bring your body back to a calm state is exercise.

Check out our infographic on physical therapy for osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in which cartilage around joints breaks down, causing pain and inflammation. Physical therapy offers a safe and effective treatment option for those with osteoarthritis, helping patients manage pain, improve function and mobility, and slow the progression of the disease.

Exercise is a critical component of osteoporosis management. Osteoporosis is a condition that causes bones to become thin, brittle, and more susceptible to fractures. Exercise places beneficial stress on bones, causing them to thicken and grow stronger in response. Experts recommend combining weight-bearing exercise and strength training for optimal management of osteoporosis through exercise. A physical therapist cans guide osteoporosis patients through a customized, safe, and effective exercise program to combat osteoporosis.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition characterized by pain and tenderness throughout the body and extreme fatigue. It is considered a condition that causes central nervous system hypersensitivity and affects nearly five million Americans, the majority of whom are women. Physical therapy is a safe, non-pharmacological method to manage symptoms, reduce pain, improve function and quality of life, and help desensitize the chronic pain response of the nervous system using progressive therapeutic exercise, aquatic therapy, and manual therapy.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that impairs movement, coordination, and cognitive function over time. Physical therapy can help a patient with Parkinson’s disease combat movement dysfunction and impaired balance and coordination in a fun and effective way using therapeutic boxing within a comprehensive treatment program. Therapeutic boxing requires full-body movement, combining upper-body punching sequences with lower-body footwork to build strength, counter muscle rigidity, and improve hand-eye coordination, balance, posture, and agility.