Beacon Physical Therapy

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/15b125/letter-from-the-lighthouse-652412

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/43daa0/letter-from-the-lighthouse-650052

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/c5c4b7/letter-from-the-lighthouse-648032

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/a46dbe/letter-from-the-lighthouse-646104

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/c1be0b/letter-from-the-lighthouse-643820

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/2fc356/letter-from-the-lighthouse-640592

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/906282/letter-from-the-lighthouse-642884

We’ve all seen the movie Groundhog’s Day, right? Bill Murray lives the same day over and over again. Whether you're an athlete or someone who likes to be active, you might see the parallels with a recurring injury. Whether you run, swim, cycle, play tennis or do yoga (or something else!) if you have been dealing with the same injury over and over again, aka Groundhog’s Day, it’s time to see a physical therapist. After all, if your car tires keep going bald on one side..., do you just keep replacing them or do you fix the alignment? We thought so. You have to treat your body the same way. If you don’t address the actual problem and continue to only address the symptoms pain, stiffness, etc. you will keep reinjuring yourself over and over again. And how is that working for you? We’d bet that it isn’t and that you’d like to live a pain-free life doing the activities you enjoy, without worrying about recurring injuries. It’s not enough to take an ibuprofen, or hit yourself up with a massage gun, and keep going. If your body is talking to you LISTEN. As physical therapists, we can assess your gait or posture, to make sure you don’t have an easily fixed alignment issue. If you are dealing with chronic pain from your office job, we can also do a postural or ergonomic assessment. Simply put: You don’t have to live with pain. And you don’t have to keep living the same day over and over again with aches and pains preventing you from enjoying the things you love (whatever they may be!). At the end of Groundhog’s Day, Bill Murray’s character escapes the endless repetition of the day by learning his lesson (and essentially becoming a better person). You can learn your lesson too, and get assessed today. #physicaltherapy #pain #recurringinjuries #groundhogsday #beaconpt #fmt #injuries #listentoyourbody #backpain #neckpain #shoulderpain #kneepain #anklepain #fitspo #fitspiration #getassessed #ptassessment See more

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/c030c8/letter-from-the-lighthouse-639384

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/44f5d5/letter-from-the-lighthouse-637476

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/efa306/letter-from-the-lighthouse-635512

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/318440/letter-from-the-lighthouse-632864

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/dd03ee/letter-from-the-lighthouse-609048 What's new at Beacon PT, Tip of the Week, Class schedule for the week of 11/2-11/6

I know, I do the same designs every year, but it makes me happy! Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween weekend! - #pumpkins #halloween #trickortreat #jackolanterns #fall #autumn #fallfun #carvingpumpkins @ San Francisco, California

Hope everyone has a safe Halloween weekend!! #halloween #beaconpt #pumpkins #jackolanterns #trickortreat

Many people believe that pavement-pounding when you run can damage your knees, but that is simply not true. You might have missed a NYTimes article last week that we wanted to highlight here, reporting on evidence that running doesn’t damage your knees, and in fact, can fortify knee cartilage. This study of adults who were in good health and recreationally active (N = 14, mean age 25, SD = 11) found that, as we might expect, the peak contact force on the knee joint was gr...eater when running than when walking. However, as a result of the longer swing and flight phase of running, the duration of load and the distance covered per loading cycle was offset such that the load accumulated per unit distance traveled did not differ when running than when walking. Of note, runners in this study were barefoot; heel striking in bare feet is painful, so any heel strikers likely became midfoot strikers for this trial. However, regardless of where you land on the foot, the take-home point is that our bodies are built to withstand a tremendous amount of compressive force and show no adverse effects on cartilage or other joint tissues, specifically when the body is aligned and in proper posture. When body alignment is compromised, inefficient movement not running! - is the culprit that will most often lead to joint pain and injury. Muscle imbalances and weaknesses, and resulting joint immobility and instability, create poor gait biomechanics, which over time can initiate and progress joint pain and injury, not just ground reaction forces from walking and running. Bottom line, if you walk or run with proper gait mechanics, your knees should be fine. Not sure? Get assessed! #running #gaitmechanics #gait #properalignment #posture #bodyalignment #properposture #run #walking #fitness #healthandfitness #health #wellness #osteoarthritis #arthritis #kneepain #physicaltherapy #beaconpt #fitspo #fitspiration #poundingthepavement See more

Ever get that feeling when you twist your mid- or upper back and it just feels "stuck" when you go to one direction? Having an asymmetry in our spine is typical as we may favor one side or another as we sit during our long Zoom meetings, virtual conferences, or a full day of school. However, this type of restriction is sometimes muscular and something we can address and work through (relatively easily) in order to get some relief. We need thoracic rotation, not just so... we can turn around and back the car up, but for rudimentary things such as walking or throwing a ball, as well as more advanced skills like swinging a tennis racquet or golf club. Thoracic rotation can also help with thoracic mobility in general, which is great for all of my weightlifters out there. A lack of thoracic rotation can force the body into compensations that lead to issues in the neck, lower back, hips, knees and ankles. As the song goes, it’s all connected. Sometimes just moving through and breathing into a soft tissue restriction can help. Give these exercises a try, you might discover that increasing your thoracic rotation may have a positive impact on other areas of the body and not just the part that’s stuck! #thoracicmobility #thoracicrotation #twist #golf #tennis #gait #rotation #twisting #health #wellness #healthandwellness #fitness #healthandfitness #fitspo #fitspiration #physicaltherapy #beaconpt See more

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/b596cc0c0c27/letter-from-the-lighthouse

We picked up a huge pumpkin at Clancy’s Pumpkin Patch and Trees last weekend, perfect for carving this Halloween. Clancy’s is a third generation, San Francisco business that has been around since 1949, and bringing San Francisco its first pumpkin patch in 1979. We were so fortunate that Clancy himself shared his version of Pumpkin 101 with us that afternoon! We learned that conditions were fantastic for gourd growing, but that overall pumpkin crop yields have been down thi...s year due a shortage in the workforce. He explained to us that the pumpkin we chose was called a Phat Jack, a new hybrid with a really great, thick stalk, a varietal that’s been around for less than 5 years. He pointed out the creases on the pumpkin where it had been essentially scarred from laying on its own vine, and how it had been able to swell and grow around whatever it encountered. A lesson in resilience! Perhaps the most important tip he shared was that once you carve your pumpkin, it will typically last for only 3 days! So, if you’re planning on getting your pumpkins this weekend, by all means go for it, and buy from your local patch like Clancy’s here in SF! Just be forewarned, if you plan on carving your gourd, hands off the knife this weekend if you want it to last through Halloween! #pumpkins #pumpkinpatch #clancys #clancyspumpkinpatchandtrees #localbusinesses #beaconpt #phatjack #jackolantern #sflocalbusiness #halloween #pumpkincarving #pumpkin101 See more

This is what it looked like this past weekend when one of our PTs was taking the virtual IPA course Knee Junction Dilemma. The cat was definitely trying to help out with ankle mobilizations. Thanks to @ipaphysio, @ryansjohnson and Nick Hagen @capacity.pt for a great course! #ipa #physicaltherapy #knee #ankle #hip #kneepain #functionalmanualtherapy #fmt #cfmt #beaconpt #fitness #health #wellness #functionalmobilizations #cats

As a parent, there are many reasons why you might place your child in a baby walker, including to encourage movement, promote walking, increase safety while you are doing things around the house, or to hold them during snack, etc. Many people don’t know that these walkers can be detrimental to a child’s physical development. In normative development, infants will crawl on all fours between 8-10 months and begin to walk between 10-15 months. These are critical milestones that ...are necessary to develop and strengthen the body, preparing it for standing, walking, and interacting with the environment. This developmental progression includes breast feeding, which helps to develop the hard palate, which creates space for the tongue to rest on the roof of the mouth, and create the upper core pressure system. It also strengthens the neck, allowing the infant to hold its head up. Tummy time further develops the muscles of the neck to support the head and strengthens the scapular stabilizers for future arm function. Rolling strengthens and coordinates the muscles of the trunk to prepare for sitting. Sitting further strengthens the trunk muscles to prepare the baby for reaching. Crawling further strengthens the scapular stabilizers and hips and initiates reciprocal movement patterns. This opposite arm and leg pattern creates balance in the body, which later becomes walking, and coordination between the shoulder girdle and the pelvic girdle. When infants are placed in walkers, the muscles of the trunk, hip and shoulder don’t develop effectively. This contributes to muscle, bone, and ligament weakness, which can lead to joint instability, faulty gait patterns, spinal disorders and other musculoskeletal issues as the child develops. In essence, a child will not adequately develop a locomotor strategy prior to walking, with resulting issues and disorders that may not emerge until adolescence or adulthood. #babywalkers #gait #gaitdisfunction #faultygaitpatterns #shouldergirdlehealth #pelvicgirdlehealth #crawling #scapularstabilization #physicaltherapy #balance #fitspo #fitspiration #health #fitness #healthandfitness #wellness #infantdevelopment #walking #shoulderpain See more

I know we’ve talked about this before, but hip extension is really important. We need those glutes to propel us forward when we walk and run. If we don’t have hip extension, the body will compensate in some pretty inefficient ways, which can lead to low back pain and knee pain. Here’s a great closed kinetic chain exercise (feet on the floor) for anyone struggling to re-educate those glutes in hip extension. When you flex one hip or bring one thigh/knee up toward your abdom...en, specifically to 90 degrees or above, the body goes into relative hip extension on the opposite hip or standing leg. When the hip of the standing leg goes into extension, the glute engages! Try this exercise out! Do 3-5 reps on each side holding each rep for 20 seconds. #glutes #gluteexercise #physicaltherapy #beaconpt #hipextension #lowbackpain #kneepain #health #fitness #healthandfitness #wellness #healthandwellness #fitspo #fitspiration #buttexercises See more

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/e96785c/letter-from-the-lighthouseWhat's new at Beacon PT, Tip of the Week, Class schedule for the week of 10/19-10/23

As we mentioned in our last post, thoracic mobility is extremely important for neck, shoulder and low back health. Rounded shoulders and forward head posture can wreak havoc on our necks and lower backs, and it can also render our scapular stabilizers weak and tired leading to shoulder, elbow and wrist injuries. Foam rollers are great for gaining thoracic extension and opening up the chest and anterior shoulders, which get extremely tight with rounded shoulder posture, bu...t what if you don’t have a foam roller?! No problem. You can pretty much use any household item to help you with this dilemma. Here are a few suggestions, and a few items you can use if you either don’t have a foam roller, or your dog recently used it as their new chew toy. #foamroller #foamrolling #thoracicextension #pecminorstretch #thoracicmobility #roundedshoulders #poorposture #forwardhead #health #fitness #wellness #healthandfitness #healthandwellness #fitspo #fitspiration #beaconpt #physicaltherapy #neckpain #scapularstability #backpain #nofoamrollernoproblem See more

As scientists learn about COVID-19, it can feel like recommendations change on a daily basis. One thing we know for sure: this virus doesn’t just impact the lungs, it wreaks havoc on the brain, blood vessels and heart. Initial data shows 20-30% of patients with signs of cardiac injury. What we shine a spotlight on today is a related issue that might not be on your radar. Of those infected, about 1/3 never feel sick. However, new evidence shows that the virus can still dama...ge the heart even with mild or no symptoms, especially in those who exercise while infected. Strenuous activity performed while the heart is compromised can cause swelling in the legs, dizziness, shortness of breath, and in serious cases, irregular heartbeat, cardiac arrest and sudden death. In September, Gladstone Institute scientists found that when the virus is added to human cardiac cells in a petri dish, it shreds long muscle fibers that keep the heart beating. More research is warranted to determine if this is actually happening in real time, infected human experience. While preliminary, this is critical knowledge. Many people may be unaware they have COVID-19 and engaging in exercise when infected could damage your heart. Marathon runners and triathletes, logging many miles and potentially skipping regular cardiac screenings, may be unaware of risks posed by their training regimens. What direction can we take from this information? Experts suggest paying very close attention to your body when going out for an intense run, bike ride, or tough workout, especially if you feel even slightly under the weather. If you feel chest pain, shortness of breath or heart palpitations, contact your doctor. If you have tested positive for COVID-19, take a minimum of a few weeks off, and work gradually to resume your previous regimen. Remember, we’re all in this together. Protect yourself, take appropriate steps to protect others, and try to keep a broader perspective in mind. #covid19 #exercise #health #fitness #coronavirus #wereinittogether #cardiachealth #hearthealth #sciencematters #exerciseandcovid19 #wellness #physicaltherapy #shortnessofbreath #fitspo #fitspiration #chestpain See more

Letter From the Lighthouse - https://mailchi.mp/9537d2d1cfa5/letter-from-the-lighthouse What's new at Beacon PT, Tip of the Week, Class schedule for the week of 10/12-10/16