Fitness Matters

Community Newsletter from New Heights Physical Therapy Plus, Inc.

In this issue:

Avoiding Airbag Injuries – Airbags have changed the way many of us were taught to drive.
Knee Arthritis – Affects people in middle age, and physical therapy has some important solutions.

What’s Happening

Pilates: Evening classes start back up in September.

Insurance May Pay for Bike Fittings: Did you know that if you are having pain while riding your bike, a professional bike fitting may fix that, and your insurance may cover it? For more information, talk to Maria in our Portland office: 503-236-3108.

Avoiding Airbag Injuries

One of the many challenges with which we help people is full recovery after auto accidents. While airbags are important safety devices that help most of the time, there are avoidable circumstances in which the airbags can actually cause injury. The way many of us were taught to steer may now be wrong.

Airbags are designed to deploy when your vehicle encounters a collision at a force equivalent to a head on collision at 14 miles per hour. These safety devices are not pillows meant to “soften” your landing. They are tough, inflatable walls meant to deploy at speeds up to 210 mph. Older airbags use up to 1200 pounds of pressure. Once the bag deploys, it begins to deflate immediately. The airbag is meant to give your body a wider surface to strike – better dissipating the energy of your velocity. The airbag must be strong enough to prevent your body from striking more uneven surfaces such as the steering wheel or dashboard. When everything works correctly, injuries from the airbag are limited to minor abrasions and eye irritation from the powders blown into the air. However, airbags can cause more serious, but avoidable injuries. Here are tips for avoiding those airbag injuries:

• Shuffle Steering: Many of us were taught to turn the steering wheel by placing hand over hand. This is no longer recommended because the hand-over-hand movement tends to put the driver’s forearm in front of the airbag. Instead, get in the habit of shuffling your hands on their respective sides of the wheel without your arm crossing over the center.
• Stop Honking:If a collision seems likely, avoid sounding the horn.
• 10″ Rule: Try to keep people (including arms, hands, fingers, and feet) at least 10″ away from the point where the airbag will deploy.
• Use your seat belts: Airbags are designed to work in conjunction with seat belts.

Of course, even the safest drivers eventually end up in accidents. Keep New Heights Physical Therapy Plus in mind if you have pain or reduced ability following an auto accident. The earlier you get in, the better the results from manual therapy and other physical therapy methods.

Arthritis of the Knee

A study conducted by the Arthritis Foundation in San Mateo, CA showed that more than 50% of people suffering from arthritis did not believe or were not sure that doctors knew of anything that could improve their condition. Making a referral to New Heights Physical Therapy Plus is one of the proven things your doctor can do to improve your experience of arthritis long-term.
People often think of arthritis as a problem that just affects older retirees, but this is not always true. In the case of osteoarthritis of the knee, the typical age of onset is 40 to 45. Earlier onset is sometimes associated with activities such as playing ball sports, occupational kneeling/squatting, and cycling (In the case of cycling, this is all the more reason to make sure your bike is properly fitted. [Click here for more info]). Higher weight also leads to earlier onset of arthritis in the knees. For people with arthritis of the knees, and other types of arthritis, the earlier one gets the right physical therapy advice, the better the chance of modulating the progression of the disease.

Can physical therapy really help – long term? You bet! In one randomized, placebo controlled trial published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (1), people who participated in physical therapist designed exercise programs demonstrated greater six-minute walking times after one year, and they had fewer knee surgeries. Another study published in the British Medical Journal found that people who were given a physical therapist designed home exercise program showed significant improvements in stiffness, muscle strength, physical function, and pain even two years later. (2) People who did their 30 minute home exercise program daily had the best results, but even people who had moderate and low adherence to the program maintained measurable improvements. Therapeutic taping with athletic tape has also been shown to reduce pain in knee arthritis, (3) and we can teach people to do that as well.

If someone you know is getting slowed down by arthritis pain, swelling, or stiffness, please tell them about New Heights Physical Therapy Plus.

1. Deyle GD, et al. Effectiveness of manual physical therapy and exercise in osteoarthritis of the knee. A randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med February 1, 2000: 132: 173-81.
2. Thomas K, et al. Home based exercise programme for knee pain and knee osteoarthritis: randomised controlled trial. BMJ October 5, 2002; 325: 752-5.
3. Hinman RS, et al. Efficacy of knee taping in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee: blinded randomized controlled trial. BMJ July 19, 2003; 327: 135-8.