by Erin Courtney PT, DPT | Mar 6, 2018 | Chronic Pain, Low Back Pain, Pain, Physical Therapy
Why do we feel pain? What is our body telling us? Learn 10 facts about pain and how physical therapy can help treat it. 1. Pain is a protective device. Things shouldn’t hurt for no reason. In a healthy body, pain is a sign that something is wrong. It’s a signal from... 
by Sandra Stryker PT, MPT, COMT, FAAOMPT | Jan 9, 2018 | Chronic Pain, Ergonomics, Exercise, Knee Pain, Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, Pain, Physical Therapy, Wellbeing
“Sandy, I feel old!” I hear this all the time, from my family, my friends and often from my clients. They say it in all kinds of ways. Some explain that they feel stiff when they wake up. They tell me it takes longer to heal from a simple injury. They say, “I... by Sandra Stryker PT, MPT, COMT, FAAOMPT | Oct 24, 2017 | Chronic Pain, Pain, Physical Therapy, Wellbeing
Over the last 5 years, we’ve been bombarded with news stories, headlines and public service announcements about the rampant health crisis around opioids. Prescribed pain medications or opioids kill more people than cocaine and heroin overdoses combined. In towns... 
by Sandra Stryker PT, MPT, COMT, FAAOMPT | Aug 2, 2017 | Chronic Pain, Knee Pain, Osteoarthritis, Physical Therapy
I can’t tell you the number of times a new client comes to Life’s Work Physical Therapy to see me, and they are completely terrified of their new diagnosis: “I have osteoarthritis of my knee. My pain will NEVER go away and I am only 55. How could this happen?” And on... 
by Sandra Stryker PT, MPT, COMT, FAAOMPT | May 17, 2017 | Chronic Pain, Inflammation, Physical Therapy, Wellbeing
When we describe inflammation, we use words like swelling, irritation, tenderness, redness, soreness and even in some cases, infection. While inflammation is very normal immediately following an injury, accident, surgery or other traumatic event, it should subside... 
by Erin Courtney PT, DPT | May 26, 2016 | Chronic Pain, Ergonomics, Neck Pain, Wellbeing
In the last 50 years, the workplace has gotten more and more sedentary. As office jobs became increasingly prevalent, the posture-related pain increased as well. In addition, even though we were sitting more and more, the workstation wasn’t usually set up to promote... 