There’s no magic cure for a major injury. But no matter how you feel or what you’re recovering from, you still deserve to experience greater contentment. Consider the following tips to reduce anxiety from a serious injury.

Tips to Stop Post-Injury Anxiety

• Listen to Your Physical Therapist

First and foremost, it is absolutely necessarily that you follow all of the advice of the physical therapist. Your physical therapist is trained to help you recover as best you can from the injury, but even beyond that, if you avoid listening to your physical therapist you increase the likelihood of reinforcing your fear.

That’s because when people suffer from a major injury they often lose hope for a full recovery, and they start to ignore the advice of their PT. This then increases the likelihood that they’ll have setbacks, which in turn reinforces that fear. It’s crucial for your own mental health that you take your physical therapy very seriously, even if you aren’t feeling energized about it. It’s good for your recovery and good for your anxiety.

• Plan Goals

Injury recovery is often about living in the moment and hoping for a better tomorrow. Creating a better today by creating goals that you can do regardless of your injury is extremely valuable. It will help you change the outlook of your present so that you’re better able to recognize that your life didn’t stop when you experienced your injury. It’s amazing how much value that can have towards your recovery.

• See Friends

Studies have shown that social support plays a strong role in confidence and recovery. Those that have friends around them are more likely to experience an upbeat outlook during the recovery process and possibly even recover better. Some people feel shy or want to be alone after an injury, but if you can get yourself to spend time with others you’ll often find that your ability to feel better about your recovery will help.

• Expect Setbacks, Enjoy Results

Both your physical and mental health have their ups and downs. When you’re recovering, you need to prepare yourself for setbacks and never assume you’re out of the woods, while also learning to enjoy and appreciate successes. Make sure that when you suffer from a setback you accept it as the natural course of recovery, but when you’re succeeding in your recovery, make sure that you’re also allowing yourself to be happy. This type of mental preparation is important for overcoming stress.

• Face Your Fears

Finally, when your physical therapist says it’s okay, make sure that you immediately consider facing your fears. Those with anxiety have a tendency to look at the cause of your injury as a fear inducing stimuli, often turning it into a phobia that creates further anxiety whenever you think about it.

As long as your physical therapist approves it (so there is no chance of reinjury), face the fear as soon as you can, and make it a less anxiety producing stimulus as fast as possible. This should help you reduce the likelihood of thinking about the event with as much fear. Always stay safe to avoid injury, however, and consider having someone with you in the event that you find it extremely stressful.

You Can Overcome Your Injury

Injury anxiety is common, but it doesn’t have to be. You’ve already experienced enough by suffering through the injury in the first place. Learn how to calm your anxiety so that you don’t let the injury continue to affect your life.

About the Author: Ryan Rivera has seen the way that injury has affected the health and wellbeing of others. He writes about overcoming anxiety at www.calmclinic.com.

searches done:

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Some types of repetitive strain injury (RSI) include trigger finger, carpal tunnel and tendinitis. MD’s and RSI’s cost employers and the economy billions per year in the form of lost productivity due to time off work and repetitive strain injury claims.

“Musculoskeletal disorders are the country’s most costly category of workplace injuries and illnesses. In addition to spending $20 billion annually on workers’ compensation costs due to RSI’s, the U.S. spends another $100 billion on lost productivity, employee turnover, and other indirect expenses.” (The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research).

Repetitive strain injuries can occur in an array of industries but generally workers who have a repetitive job role such as typists/ shelf stacker’s and people who work on an assembly line are at a greater risk. Repetitive strain injuries are generally found in the hands, wrists and arms but can extend to the shoulders, neck and other areas of the body.

Severe cases of RSI’s often call for drastic action to be taken and invasive surgery may be necessary if symptoms are severe enough. A study claimed that only 23% of employees who underwent surgery to correct their injury returned to their previous profession, therefore employers are taking major steps with the aim of eradicating repetitive strain injuries in the workplace.

A repetitive strain injury such as carpal tunnel is often extremely painful and if left alone could affect your working and home life. At first repetitive strain injuries may only show symptoms when performing a certain task but continued aggravation will cause further damage and the pain could become a permanent chronic condition.

Symptoms for RSI’s include:

• Pain and/or tenderness in muscles and joints.
• Stiffness
• Throbbing
• Tingling and numbness
• Weakness in the affected area
• Cramp

If you believe that you are suffering from a repetitive strain injury it is advisable to visit your local doctor. There are a number of ergonomic products on the market that should aim to alleviate the stress placed on your wrists and hands. Advanced cases of RSI often require further action to be taken and in severe cases invasive surgery is sometimes the only remaining course of action.

Before you get yourself booked in for a date with the surgeon there is another option. Physical therapy is openly available within the health industry and has the added benefit of being non invasive and can help relieve the symptoms of repetitive strain injuries.

As repetitive strain injuries are often a muscular problem physical therapy has a number of different regimes which can be tailored to suit your needs. Treatments such as heat treatments to warm the muscles before use and cooling packs to reduce inflammation of the muscles can often relieve symptoms.

Physical therapy also generally involves gentle lengthening of muscles using stretches. By spending 5-10 minutes each morning stretching the affected area you should see significant results.

searches done:

• physical therapy repetitive stress syndrome

Massage therapists are also required to take annual continuing education courses that update their knowledge and expertise.

Therapeutic massage may be prescribed by a medical doctor or used as adjunct therapy in a health spa or chiropractic office for specific pain or other therapies.

Whether you are new to the massage therapy experience or have been a massage patron for a long time, the time may come when you need to seek a reputable massage therapist.

The first step is to understand your own physical and emotional needs before choosing the best registered massage therapist for your bodywork.

What Benefits do You Require from Massage Therapy?

Often, massage therapists specialize in different areas of bodywork and have experience in areas such as: sports related injuries or training enhancement, emotional and physical stress, general aches and muscular pain, or massage techniques related to medical interventions. After an assessment of what the needs are required from a massage therapist, the search for the best professional to provide therapy is easier and clearer.

Ask the Potential Massage Therapist Questions Related to Your Care

Referrals from friends may be beneficial, but the therapist may not specialize or have experience with your individual therapeutic needs. Often, your physician or chiropractor will provide you with a reputable massage therapist that can provide you with the specialized care that you need.

However, it is important to interview the therapist and find out their location and availability. When searching for a registered massage therapist, ask these helpful questions in an interview. Depending on your therapy needs, ask the therapist some basic questions to ascertain their qualifications with your injury or condition.

• Are they certified or licensed by the state? You may be reimbursed by health insurance for massage therapy is it is prescribed by a physician, but the therapist must be registered.
• Ask them to describe their experience and special focus areas of their practice that relate to your needs.
• How much do they charge and do they give discounts. Massage therapists usually charge hourly rates and vary widely.
• Their location and accessibility is important to meet your needs. Driving a long distance after a massage may be uncomfortable for you and defeat the purpose of the therapy.

Communication and Trust is Important in a Therapeutic Relationship

When you interview or speak with your potential massage therapist, listen and evaluate their communication and listening skills.

Effective massage therapy requires a therapeutic relationship that exists between you and the therapist that creates a stress free environment. It is imperative that the therapist listen to your needs and how you are responding to the massage techniques.

Referrals from Agencies, Massage Schools and Internet Sources

When choosing a therapist from the agencies and internet websites, always seek a registered therapist. Interview each professional and ask the questions needed to ensure your choosing the right person for the job.

Kim Kelley is a freelance writer and currently taking courses to become a physiotherapist. She enjoys guest blogging, as it educates others on the ins and outs of physiotherapy.

Keep reading for 3 of some of the most interesting advances in OT and PT today.

Therapy Basics

An Occupational Therapist specializes in treatment for recovering physical, developmental and cognitive daily skills. The Occupational Therapist performs an initial assessment as each patient’s goals vary. While both the therapist and patient work together, the achieving goal may be improving or maintaining current patient functioning levels of daily skills.

A Physical Therapist implements the same initial assessment, yet concentrates treatment on personalized physical manipulation and exercise while covering a range of musculoskeletal, neurological and cardiopulmonary impairment and improvement.

Technological Advancements Benefit Both Patients and Therapists

One way both practitioners and patients experience improved therapy regimens is through modernized video concepts.  Researchers in the field of Physical and Occupational Rehabilitation have implemented improvements as a direct influence from video game programs. New concepts in Virtual Environmental Therapy and Virtual Rehabilitation Therapy, commonly known as VE and VR Therapy bring clinicians and patients a controlled virtual environment tool for stimulating and focusing on motor skills and cognitive tasks.

This advanced video concept allows therapists a complete program for assessing a person’s level of performance and function in a virtual environment. Not only does the virtual environment increase patient interest, participation and motivation, the new technology allows therapists a resource for treating patients at a distance. Many individuals in highly rural areas benefit without extensive travel to a facility. Studies show most patients perform better in their own environment. This concept decreases the number of people displaced from their homes at an in-patient rehabilitation facility.

Advanced technology is also bringing techniques in the category of iPad and iPod tools. Occupational Therapists implement iPod and iPad applications for a patient’s cognitive retraining regimen. No longer will patients wait for a scheduled appointment time for cognitive exercises when the tool is at the fingertips of the therapist and patient.

Additionally, ultra-sound and electrical stimulation commonly used with rehabilitation has improved with advancement. Although therapy has implemented ultra-sound for many years in treating tissue disorders, researchers are creating a combination ultra-sound and biological treatment for degenerative tendon damage.

The new programs focus on electronically detecting the damaged tissue, introducing biological treatment directly into deteriorating regions and using ultra-sound for breaking up and disintegrating diseased tissue. The combination treatment shows promise for promoting and speeding up healing duration as well.

The end result of technological advancements in this particular health area is that individuals and their families receiving Occupational or Physical Therapy Rehabilitation receive an extensive and detailed service at a much lower cost. The easy access also affords medical professionals an opportunity to assist a larger range of patients due to decreases in traveling time and cost constraints. Overall, the positive state of mind on the patient increases therapeutic improvement levels.

Jennifer M. is a blogger and physical therapy assistant from Philadelphia who keeps her skills current by studying the latest developments in healthcare technology.  In addition to her current profession, she is also studying for a Medical Informatics Degree Online.

searches done:

• advancements in OT tools
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Back pain affects roughly 80% of the population in one way or another at some point during their lifetime. It appears in many forms and has the potential to disrupt your everyday life. Back strain is generally related to nerve and muscular problems, arthritis and degenerative disc disease.

Generally back pain is felt in the lower back and buttocks and although the pain can be severe it is not always  serious. Studies have shown that people who undergo physical therapy shortly after noticing the problem have reduced symptoms and often recover completely.

Work is often the cause of back strains or injuries and because of this thousands of claims for back injury compensation related to back problems are filed against employers yearly.

As most people know back pain can be caused by a number of things, these include but are not limited to:

1. Injuries

This is the single largest cause of back pain. An injury is usually caused by using muscles in your back that you normally would not. An example of this would be lifting a heavy weight or doing the gardening.

Tripping, falling a small distance or even stretching over exuberantly may incur some minor back pain and discomfort. A severe back injury could be the result of a car accident, a direct blow to the back or a high energy fall onto the buttocks. Back Injury compensation is increasing due to the number of accidents that happen in the workplace.

2. Lifting

People who lift/ move objects as part of their job often find themselves developing back problems. The objects do not always need to be heavy as lifting even a small weight numerous times or objects with a non conventional grip/ irregular shape can cause strains on your back.

3. Incorrect Posture

Discomfort and pain in your back especially the lower back may be the consequence of incorrect posture, such as sitting incorrectly at your desk. This is due to your body being unable distribute your weight around adequately and therefore places pressure on the disks and muscles. Changing the way that you are seated will often relieve you of the discomfort within a short period of time.

Most of us have been told that rest is the best remedy for back problems and although this is relatively true, 3 days of bed rest can often make the situation worse. It is advisable that you should remain active without straining or lifting heavy objects. If you feel that your symptoms are too severe or that you are not noticing any improvements, it is generally a good idea to visit your G.P and start thinking about physical therapy.

Physical therapy is a treatment generally offered to people who have developed an injury or have a disablement. It is usually used as a treatment before a more aggressive and even surgical route is taken. It is practiced all over the world and is offered by a majority of sources such as hospitals and fitness and rehabilitation centres.

Physical therapy has been around since 460BC and involved massages and therapeutic rubs. Now as you can imagine as time as progressed so has P.T and treatments such as hydrotherapy involving movement in water are now widely available to those who need it. Physical therapy has been proven to improve mobility, reduce pain and create a better standard of living in a wide variety of scenarios.

As physical therapy has a very wide scope of available treatments It would be impractical to list and explain all of them. The more common types of P.T include:

Passive physical therapy (modalities), this often involves heat and cooling treatments. An example of this would be a heat pad being applied to the affected area to warm the muscles before stretching. An ice pack may also be used to sooth muscles and aid in there recovery after exercise.

Active physical therapy focuses on movements and exercises specific to the area of the body affected. For instance someone who is suffering with lower back pain may work towards building their core muscles.

Core muscles are based in the abdominal region and play a part in supporting the lower back. Active physical therapy would place an emphasis on building these muscles without putting a strain on the lower back which should improve or even eliminate symptoms and discomfort.

Physical therapy is supported by a multitude of studies and articles performed worldwide and although certain strains and pains will often improve on their own, PT actively plays a part in reducing the amount of pain encountered and improves mobility. Continuing with an ongoing physical therapy programme should reduce the chances of the strain reoccurring.

searches done:

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Many a times we consult physical therapist when we feel something wrong physically. In fact physical fitness is most important in life, if we aren’t fit physically then we will not have a good presence of mind and cannot even concentrate on our daily activities or jobs.

Haven’t this happened to you at some point of time in your life? How would you feel if your boss makes you to work for extra hours and you are forced to work even if your fitness is not so good for that day? How would you take it for yourself if you are missing your favorite sport because of fitness issue and remain a spectator when your friends play?
This really doesn’t sound good, so you must have a good assessment of your personal fitness and have to be sure that you will be healthy to avoid Physical therapy treatment in your early age.

In general there are two types of fitness to be assessed, performance related fitness and Health related fitness. The former is related to athletes and latter is mostly related to Aerobic fitness, Flexibility, Body composition etc.

Having a good assessment of your fitness will lower the risk of High blood pressure, diabetes and even low back pain. You may be aware that if you are not fit physically then you will not be eligible for Army or Police training. If you are one of the peoples who do not exercise because of time constraint or who hate exercise and appraise yourself that you are fit, then it’s time to take a simple test to assess your fitness.

Here are the simple steps you need to undergo:

Weight:

Being under weight or over weight of the acceptable limits for your height indicates poor health. Measure your weight on a weighing machine and compare with the standards. If your weight doesn’t match approximately with the standards then you can take appropriate steps to get fit and if they are up to the standards, then congratulations, you can move on to the next step.

BMI:

Determine your BMI with a free online calculators available or you can even do it yourself if you are good mathematically. It’s a reliable assessor of your body fat and fitness. Medically, a good BMI would be something between 20 and 25 and if you are overweight then it would cross 25 which is not a good sign for your fitness.

Heart rate:

Resting heart rate is the good statistic to know how your heart rate is, so find out your heart rate when you wake up early in the morning and if it is below 60 then it indicates a good health, if it isn’t then you may have to undergo some cardio related exercises.

There are other tests which lets you know your aerobic fitness, muscular fitness or even flexibility of your body. You can consult a physical therapist for good suggestion to improve your physical fitness. Alotta therapy is the best one to prefer in order to the best suggestions with the professional therapist involving in your treatment.

Author Info: This guest post was contributed by “Sheryl” a guest blogger from UK. Find out more about her @sherylevan

searches done:

• oveweight physical therapy assistant

Indeed.com

Indeed.com states that the average annual salary of a PTA in California is $100,000. They further state that the average PTA salaries for job postings in California are 11% higher than average PTA salaries for job postings nationwide.

Salary.com

On salary.com, they say that in the state of  California, the salaries vary within different cities which are affected by population to general competitiveness in the market.  Here are some of the salaries in some of the cities:-

• Anaheim-CA – Median salary of $51,865
• Long-Beach-CA - Median salary of $51,865
• Los-Angeles-CA - Median salary of $51,552
• Sacramento-CA - Median salary of $49,934
• San Diego, CA - Median salary of $$49,517

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1. George C Wallace Community College Physical Therapist Assistant

• Location: 1141 Wallace Drive, Dothan, AL  36303-0943
• Telephone: 1-800-543-2426 or (334) 983-3521
• Contact Person:
• Email: hwells@wallace.edu
• CAPTE Accredited
• 

2. Jefferson State Community College Physical Therapist Assistant

• Location: Birmingham, Alabama 35215 (205) 853-1200/(800) 239-5900
• Telephone: (205) 983-5996
• Contact Persons: Leslie Naugher, ACCE/Advisor Vanessa LeBlanc Faculty/Advisor
• Email: lnaugher@jeffstateonline.com, Vleblanc@jeffstateonline.com
• CODA Accredited
• Credits: 70
• PTA Application forms are available on this website and at the Shelby-Hoover Campus – General Studies Building (GSB) Suite 316

3. Wallace State Community College Physical Therapist Assistant

• Location: Hanceville, AL 35077-2000
• Contact Persons: Alina C. Adams, PT, Program Director 256/352-8332
• CAPTE Accredited
• Credits: 72
• For general program information or to schedule an appointment, please contact…Jennifer Dunkle, Health Division Secretary, at 256/352-8411. Office location is Tom Bevill Health Building – 5th Floor – Office 516

searches done:

• pta schools in alabama
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Disability can be likened to the proverbial iceberg: the onlooker can only see the tip, whereas the entity itself contains more hidden aspects of its being than are revealed on the surface. An expression of physical pain or the absence of normal sense experiences, the lack of sensory input or motor output, a missing or dysfunctional limb or structure, and other such reflections of loss are just the surface structure of physical disability.

Yet, these are the major domains that traditionally have been addressed when dealing with physical disability. All of the uniquely combined thoughts and feelings that the individual has gathered during a lifetime of personal experiences shape that individual’s perception of disablement.

The factors that shape individual reactions include the set of values, directions, and prohibitions taken on by the individual. These combine with innate and acquired drives, needs, and experiences to create an individual unique perceptual mode and form an individualized cognitive base. It is through this that the individual has learned to see the self and the surrounding world.

The resultant self-image, whether conscious or unconscious, organizes the stage and creates a set of values and expectations by which one measures oneself and one’s worth. It becomes the compass with which one steers through life and guides relationships, and the framework that structures the goals and foundations of one’s individualized world.

Through this process, a method of coping and functioning emerges – the style of coping through which one recognized the self. Then suddenly, or gradually, depending on the nature and extent of a disablement, the lifelong foundation and structure of that “self” become damaged and weakened by the impact of the disability, oftentimes to the point of total collapse.

The disabling condition as well as the perception of it disrupts the structure that had been so carefully erected. Rules and roles change; relative independence and the ability to perform the essential tasks of living are gone, or perceived as such. The ability to give and take love, care, affection, and support is diminished or lost. Relative financial stability and security may vaporize into thin air.

Intellectually, orthopedic specialists and other healthcare personnel can understand the trauma and may even be sensitive enough to feel some of it. They may associate the patients’ suffering with recollections of some pain or loss experiences they have personally experienced. The physical therapist, for instance, working towards the goal of rehabilitating a client, needs to be cognizant of the possibility that adjustment to the actual physical disability may not be the most difficult adjustment for the patient.

The individual will most likely have a more difficult task adjusting to new perceptions about him or herself and the societal attitudes toward the disability. These factors and the individual’s reactions to the new situation will most likely impact on the overall adjustment, the rehabilitation treatment process, and its outcome.

Ignoring this probability may lead to a serious level of interference with or complication of the therapeutic outcome. An awareness of these issues can prevent or minimize their interference and enable the clinician to mobilize the very same factors in the service of the rehabilitative effort.

Adaptation: A Survival Modality

Living is a constant ongoing adjustment and adaptation process encompassing different operating levels of an organism and its life space. This process is active at the physiologic, physical, psychologic, and social levels. Although there are indeed significant differences among these aspects of functioning, we should keep in mind that they are but part of an entity that functions as an integrated whole. Any separation between levels and parts of an individual’s system is an artificial convenience, because no part within the person is independent of the rest of that individual.

Psychologic adjustment is accordingly part and parcel of overall adjustment in general, rather than a separate independent entity. There are many aspects of the dynamic, interactive, and ongoing process of an individual’s adaptation within the context of total life space. This life space includes, among others

1. the body total with its various genetic, electrochemical, hormonal, and neurologic configurations,
2. innate instinctual drives, as well as conditioned mental mechanisms,
3. sociocultural, spiritual, and ethnic beliefs and value systems as well as socioeconomic realities of the time and place in which a person interacts, and
4. the historic-mythologic, philosophic-ideologic, or even imagined-delusional image that one feels part of and is influenced by.

Lastly, a person’s disability is to a large extent directly related to the way that he or she perceives the condition. The extent of a disability will increase if the focus is on deficiencies rather than assets. Much of such focusing depends on the premorbid makeup of an individual, his or her coping repertoire, and on the cultural perception of the disabling situation.

The interaction of these factors will determine the adjustment to the disablement.

Cedric Loiselle is an experienced writer who enjoys imparting useful information to many readers. The topics he usually writes about include business and finance, health, and home improvement.

searches done:

• personal comments observations thoughts feelings physical therapist assistant

About Texas: For those that dont know this, Texas is the 2nd most populous, 2nd most extensive of the fifty states in the USA. Texas is also one of the top paying states for physical therapy assistants in the US.

PTA Salaries, Texas

I looked at two job sites and compared their figures as indicated below:-

1. SimplyHired.com

On the Simplyhired.com site, the average salary for a PTA in Texas is $46,000. Just bear in mind that the average salary vary depending on various factors including place of work, location, experience & benefits.

2. Salary.com

Salary.com is another popular site that I looked at. From the site, they dont give an average salary but  break it down by cities: Below are some of them:-

• Houston, TX: - $46,793
• Dallas, TX:- $46,613
• Abilene, TX; $41,697
• Amarillo, TX: $41,697
• Austin, TX: $44,607
• Beaumont, TX: $43,044
• Brownsville, TX: $41,555
• Corpus Christi, TX: $40,812

From the above data, it seems Houston is the highest paying city for PTAs in Texas. I trust the above information was useful to you in your search on physical therapy assistant salaries. Have a great day

Other Related Articles: Physical Therapy Assistant Salary

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