Wellness Archives - Catalyst Physical Therapy & Wellness

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Hello You Sporty San Diego Dwellers! 🏄🏻‍♂️🚴‍♀️🧘‍♀️🧗

Let’s talk shop (or should we say, *chop*?), about those muscles, bones, and joints of yours that might be starting to feel like they’ve hosted one too many weekend warrior competitions. In honor of National Physical Therapy Month, we’re diving knee-deep (no pun intended) into the lighthearted truth and chucklesome tales of why choosing physical therapy is akin to picking a golden ticket to the ever-elusive fountain of youth and painlessness!

In the dazzling sun-soaked environment of San Diego, where the endless encouragement of the great outdoors nudges us into perpetual motion. Our bodies, while basking in the vitality of activity, whisper the occasional plea for respite. Ah, those whispers! The gentle nudge of lower back pain after a vigorous game of beach volleyball, the subtle throbbing of knee pain post a gloriously victorious soccer match, or that dastardly neck and shoulder pain after what was supposed to be a “friendly” tennis competition!


Pause! 🛑 Let’s Crunch Some Crispy Stats, Shall We? 📊

Research alludes that musculoskeletal problems, notably lower back pain, has a sneaky prevalence among adults, with an astonishing 80% of the global population experiencing it at some point. Add to that, shoulder pain affecting a whopping 18-26% of adults, and the (not-so-sweet) knee pain cherry on top, impacting 20% of adults.

Did you know, the bittersweet reality of our biological clocks ticking away, is that as early as age 30, our muscles can start subtly waving goodbye, degenerating at a rate of 3-8% per decade? But wait, isn’t 30 the new 20? (Spoiler Alert: Your muscles didn’t get the memo!).


Let’s Marinate in a Solution, Instead of Our Own Sweat 💡🍲

Enter stage left: Physical Therapy! The unparalleled hero in tackling the comedy of errors that is our bodies betraying us amidst our athletic endeavors! Physical therapy isn’t merely rehabilitation, oh no dear friends, it’s your secret weapon in preventing the ‘owies’ and ‘uh-ohs’ before they plot their sinister debut!

Our sanctuary of healing and preventative marvel, Catalyst PT & Wellness, believes in ensuring that the age number is nothing but a spectator in your athletic arena. Our “body wellness exams” are the tickets to preemptively muting those future ‘ouches’’. A head-to-toe look can dial in a customized, meticulous plan ensuring that your strength and fitness echo within every playful sprint and competitive leap across the beautiful sandy expanses of San Diego.


With a magnifying glass 🔍 fine-tuning the specifics of your bodily symphony, your physical therapy journey morphs into a harmonious ballad, where shoulder pain, knee pain, neck pain, and lower back pain become mere echoes of a forgotten past.


A Heartfelt Message from Us to You 💌🤣

Dear amazing humans,

Our bodies, these miraculous vessels, bask in the glory of movement, celebration, and competitive vivacity! Yet, every vessel needs its maintenance (yes, even those who feel they’ve mastered the art of gracefully gliding through the ages of 20-35).

Now Visualize this: A future where your body doesn’t second guess a spontaneous decision to chase a child running away, enroll in a weekend tournament, or trot after a frisbee across the green expanses. Physical therapy, with its magical tapestry of strengthening, mobilizing, and injury-proofing, is that bridge to your unbridled, unrestrained physical freedom!



Onto the Final Act: A Nudge to Act 😂🚀

We bet our best physio ball that you’ve at least chuckled, snickered, or perhaps produced a hearty smile whilst perusing these words! Now, the real fun begins by ensuring that the joy isn’t confined to mere moments of hilarity.

Pssst! Make change happen: Follow this LINK and fill out our general request form. Consider this your golden ticket to a world where every step, jump, and sprint is a mirror to the youthful spirit dancing within you! Allow us to dial in the exact remedy to keep the dance alive.

And for those of you delicately teetering on the edge of ‘maybe’, explore through our Wellness tab and discover a plethora of ways to envelope yourself in the warm embrace of care, wellness, and perhaps, a little nudge into a world where your body mirrors your evergreen spirit!

In jest, in health, and in heartiest echoes of laughter, here’s to choosing YOU, choosing JOY, and choosing Physical Therapy! 🎉🥂🌟

Let’s get that pep back in your step together, San Diego! 🚶‍♂️💨🚶‍♀️💨

With whimsy and wellness,
Your Catalyst PT and Wellness Team



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Dizzy can mean a lot of different things to different people.

It could mean feeling light-headed like you are going to pass out, feel off-balance, feel like you just stepped off a boat (Mal de debarquement), or could be that the room is spinning or you are spinning (vertigo).

The way you describe your dizziness leads expert clinicians to hone in on the root cause so that the appropriate treatment can be provided.

Advanced trained physical therapists can evaluate and treat dizziness as they are movement experts that can provide the correct treatment right away so the dizziness can be relieved either right away or as fast and as soon as possible.

One form of vertigo, BPPV, can be evaluated and treated right away by a Vestibular Physical Therapist with an 80% success rate according to the highest levels of scientific evidence!1

Unfortunately, many patients do not know to see these expert Vestibular Physical Therapists right away and go to the ER, urgent care or primary care MD clinics and according to studies completed by physicians only 10-20% of patients with BPPV seen by a physician receive appropriate repositioning manuevers.2


Knowledge is power!

It is my duty to educate everyone, share what I have learned and get patients the care they need and deserve right away! This delay is also costly, when patients do not improve right away their body adapts to the dizzy state leading to a longer recovery!

I have personally had a patient who had been dizzy for 3 years come see me once and I treated his BPPV and his dizziness was completely resolved in one visit! His doctor put him on allergy medication for 3 years and it didn’t change a thing! Is this the doctor’s fault? No! This is a healthcare system failure where patients are not getting to the trained providers like vestibular physical therapists that have the time to fully assess the vestibular system and treat it properly. Primary care physicians on average have on average 15-25 min to see their patients but physical therapists at Catalyst have 1 hour evaluations to devote to our patients, we are so lucky to have this time to assess and treat our patients!

In California, many PPO insurances support patients directly accessing physical therapists for 12 visits or the first 45 days of treatment. If the doctor does not evaluate and treat your dizziness with bedside tests and your dizziness persists then you need to see vestibular physical therapist right away, your doctor can refer you or you can go directly and the Vestibular Physical Therapist can bill your insurance under direct access.


Physical therapists get a small amount of training in vestibular evaluation and treatment in their graduate curriculum, so you want a clinician with advanced training or certification.

Vestibular therapists can also refer you to the correct specialist MD’s (neurotologists), ENT’s, and audiologists. Not all ENT’s or audiologists specialize in vestibular testing and treatment just like not all physical therapists. So you need to ask if they specialize in vestibular evaluation and treatment.

Let’s eliminate dizziness together by getting the right care right away by the most trained providers!


References

  1. M von Brevern, et al. Short-term efficacy of Epley’s manoeuvre: a double blind randomised trial, J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2006;77:980-982.
  2. Bhattacharyya, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (Update), Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, 2017, Vol 156 (3S) S1-S47.


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Top 5 Reasons to See a Massage Therapist in San Diego

During these uncertain times, self-care is more important than ever.  However, you may be wondering if you should see a massage therapist in San Diego right now.  So here are our Top 5 Reasons to not only see a massage therapist but what the benefits are of choosing Catalyst PT & Wellness for your massage therapy.

 

1.  We Are a Health Care Facility

As a healthcare facility, we are open and allowed to treat patients indoors.  This includes physical therapy, wellness, and massage.  In addition, we are taking the highest safety measures possible for our patient care.  

Here are just a few of the new measures in place for our massage therapists in San Diego:

    • Both the patient and practitioner must wear a mask for the entire massage.
    • Health screenings are conducted prior to each person entering the clinic. 
    • There are no longer patients allowed to wait in the reception area.  At Catalyst, we ask that all clients wait in their cars to be called in by their therapist.
    • Strict cleaning protocol of massage rooms, massage table and linens and any other tools used for massage therapy

 

Catalyst Massage

 

2.  Stress Is At An All-time High

Are you more stressed or anxious than usual?  If so, you are not alone.  Many of us are stressed about work, finances, family and friend’s health and wellness.  Read more from one of our own massage therapists, Kacey McCoig, on why massage is a great way to lower stress.

Therefore, with all this new stress in our lives, it’s been proven that therapeutic touch can help.  How?  Physical touch significantly reduces emotional and/or physical stress and anxiety.  Here’s a great piece from Harvard Medical School about The Healing Power of Touch. 

No need to read further and ready to book your massage therapy in San Diego?  Great!  Give us a call today, 619-501-2195, or email us.

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3.  New Hobby or Working From Home?

With gyms and fitness studios in San Diego shut-down, have you picked up a new hobby?  Perhaps running or biking to get your fitness on while still maintaining a safe distance from others?  Maybe you have mastered the garage home gym!

Either way, your new exercise routine may be creating pain in your muscles and joints.  Read more from the Cleveland Clinic on delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS and how to tell if it’s a good pain or bad pain.

In addition, if you’re working from home now, you may be spending all day in your flip flops.  Read our last blog on why wearing flip flops all day is bad for your feet.  Coming into our San Diego location for massage therapy can help you relieve the pain.  Furthermore, our massage therapists can help you identify what specifically might be the cause, like wearing flip flops or being barefoot all day long.  See below for more on how our massage therapists work together with our PTs!

 

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4.  Back to Training?  


Now that sports are coming back online, are you training for an upcoming event?  Whether soccer, tennis, cycling, or a half-marathon, our massage therapists have guided both professional and amateur athletes towards health and wellness.  Read more on how Dr. Kristen Campbell, PT Manager and Director of Massage, worked with the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to prepare them for competition.

Through proper timing, technique, and intent during every massage session, our skilled professionals take into consideration your WHOLE training and competition schedule.  We make sure we are helping you recover properly.  Therefore, we get your body ready to achieve your maximum potential in the pool, on the court, track, or trail.

 

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5.  Our massage therapy team works directly with our physical therapists

Our team of massage therapists in San Diego works closely with our physical therapists, facilitating a collaborative approach to your care.  This multidisciplinary team of specialists learns from each other.  In turn, this allows us to better address your specific needs and diagnose what’s causing your muscle aches and pains.

Constantly experiencing pain while walking or running?  Yes, we can help alleviate muscle soreness.  However, when we work together and combine our knowledge resources, we may discover that this constant pain is not from your workouts.  Sometimes is something more simple.  Perhaps the fact that you wear flip-flops all day.  Especially here in San Diego where flip-flops are the norm, we see this often.  Curious about how wearing flip-flops every day can cause harm?  Read our blog post on flip flops and how they can harm your feet!

 

Final Thoughts on Getting a Massage

So by now, we hope you have a better understanding of the steps we take here in the clinic to ensure your health and safety.  In addition, if you’re still wondering if you should see a massage therapist in San Diego right now, fill out our contact form.  Give us a call at 619-501-2195.  From our front desk to our massage therapists, everyone is highly trained to assist you in finding the best possible care.  At Catalyst, we excel in combining our services to give you the best experience and get you back to doing what you love.

 


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Need a Proven Way to Lower Stress? I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things to do is get a massage.  Yes, I know I’m a massage therapist, but I wasn’t always. I know what it feels like to sit long hours at a computer on a regular basis, and I know […]


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December is an awesome time to re-assess goals and determine the resolutions that we want to make for the New Year. Resolutions are easy to make, but hard to keep. The hardest part is getting started in the first place! Old habits die hard, and if you don’t start making changes to your fitness routine […]