It’s a new year! Many people make resolutions to improve their health and life in the new year, but most of them give up on their resolutions within the month of January. This doesn’t need to be you, though! You can make your New Year’s resolutions achievable by keeping the following physical therapy advice in mind.

Losing weight and exercising more often are among the most common resolutions. It’s important to ensure that you are being healthy and safe when working towards these goals. A physical therapist can help you achieve your goals in a safe, healthy manner. 

Here are some of our top tips to help you make your New Year’s resolutions achievable.

#1. Recognize That Change Takes Time

Lifestyle changes take time, and that’s what the majority of New Year’s resolutions involve. Whether your goal is to drink more water or to get into the best shape of your life, it’s important to be kind to yourself. Remember that it took time to develop the lifestyle that you currently lead. It will take time to change it. Recognizing that change takes time is a crucial part of making your New Year’s resolutions achievable.

You aren’t going to get abs, become a master painter, or write a book in a day. Working towards your goals one small, attainable step at a time will help you reach your big, pie-in-the-sky goals over the course of the year or next few years. If you don’t usually drink water, try replacing one soda or juice with a glass of water. As this becomes habitual, gradually increase your water intake until it’s your main beverage. 

Remember: it takes an average of 66 days or about 2 months for a behavior to become habitual. Keep this in mind, and don’t be too hard on yourself if you slip up in your goal. Just get back in the saddle the next day. 

This is especially important when it comes to goals involving exercise, as you can seriously injure yourself if you’re not careful. A physical therapist can help you set a realistic timeframe for your goal and understand what is best for your body. They can also provide you with advice on how to prevent injury – which would throw off your goal of exercising more often significantly!

#2. Set SMART Goals

Many people fall into the pitfall of making vague goals, like “I want to read more”. With such an undefined goal, it’s easy to either feel overwhelmed or to not know where to begin. In order to make your New Year’s resolutions achievable, try following the SMART principle.

What this means is:

• S: Specific. You define the goal clearly, with all the whos, whats, whens, and whys. You figure out the exact specifications of your goal, from why you want to do it to any requirements you have for yourself.  
• M: Measurable. You figure out how you can track the progress and measure the outcome. Instead of “I want to read more”, try “I want to read 1 book a month”. That is something that you can easily measure over time.
• A: Attainable. Is your measure of time reasonable? Ensure that the goal is something within your reach. For instance, if you want to lose weight, remember the health factors involved in this. It is neither realistic nor healthy to try to lose 30 lbs in 30 days. However, 1-2 lbs a week, or 4-8 lbs a month could be attainable for you, depending on your body and its nutritional needs.
• R: Relevant. Is the goal good for you? If you hate to run, resolving to run more may not be a good option for you. You may opt for a different goal that is more in line with your interests in needs. For instance, if you hate to run but you love to swim, resolving to swim more often would be a better goal for you. 
• T: Timely. Give yourself a deadline, even a soft deadline. By having a specific time you want to achieve your goal by, it can help you manage your time to make your New Year’s resolutions achievable. 

If you’re unsure of how to set a SMART goal for your fitness goals, you can schedule an appointment with a doctor or physical therapist. They will help you understand where your body’s at, and how you can safely and healthily work towards your goals. 

#3. Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Slip-ups are inevitable. Life happens. If you slip up, you can still make your New Year’s resolutions achievable by trying again. What matters is that you try. 

If you get injured, it’s especially important that you don’t beat yourself up or try to push yourself into doing activities that your body isn’t ready for. Physical therapy can help you to recover and regain your strength and range of motion. Physical therapy can also help you to prevent injury in the future. 

Remember: in order to achieve your goals, you need to take care of yourself. If you get injured while exercising, don’t try to grin and bear it! This could make your injury even worse, and prevent you from being able to achieve your goals. If you get injured, seek out medical attention and physical therapy as needed. 

Do You Need Physical Therapy?

Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy can help you make your New Year’s resolutions achievable by helping you both heal from and prevent injuries. If you need advice on the best way to start exercising or how to avoid injury, your physical therapist will be able to help you. Getting a physical before starting any exercise program is important in order to prevent injury. 

Contact us today to learn more about how physical therapy can help you.

Snow may be beautiful, but the ice it brings with it can result in all sorts of different injuries. It’s important to ensure that you’re walking safely on snow and ice. The National Safety Council estimates that 300,000 injuries and 1500 deaths per year are caused by falls. A quarter of slip and fall injuries occurred while walking into work, and a third occurred in parking lots. More than 50% of falls on snow and ice result in serious injury.

We’ve compiled a helpful list of tips for walking safely on snow and ice for you to utilize all winter long. With some adjustments and a lot of care, you can prevent injuries. While our physical therapists are here to help you recover from any injuries you do sustain over the winter, we care about helping you avoid injuries, not just recovering from them. 

Here are some of our top tips for walking safely on snow and ice. 

#1. Take It Slow And Give Yourself Time

In our modern world, everything is go-go-go. In the winter, however, you want to try to take it slow-slow-slow. Going fast in the winter months is reserved for experienced snow sports athletes. For everyone else, going too fast while driving can result in losing control of your car and ending up in an accident. Going too fast while walking can cause you to slip and fall.

That’s why one of the most important tips for walking safely on snow and ice is to plan ahead to give yourself extra time. Even if you’re running late, taking that bit of extra time to ensure that you’re steady footed is much better than rushing into the office only to end up with an injury. 

Assume that any surface is slippery and icy and take short steps or shuffle to maintain stability. While it may be tempting to cut across what seems like a shortcut, stick to designated walkways. 

#2. Use Support And Maintain Your Center Of Gravity

When entering or exiting your vehicle, keeping your center of gravity over your supporting leg and using the handrails can prevent a fall. When you go up and down stairs, you’ll want to use any available handrails to help, too. 

Keep your hands out of your pockets. Point your feet out, like a penguin, especially if there are icy areas. Both of these increase your center of gravity and make it easier to catch yourself if you do fall. 

#3. Keep Your Hands As Free As Possible

Talking on the phone or gathering all of your things before you exit your car may be fine in the warmer months. However, in the winter months, you’ll want to avoid anything that could throw off your balance and impact your ability for walking safely on snow and ice. 

Instead of getting your coffee and then getting out of your car, take the time to ensure that there’s no ice that will send your feet flying out from under you first. Once you’re out of the car, then you can retrieve any items that you need from your car. 

#4. Be Prepared To Fall

Knowing how to fall safely is something that people who do winter sports learn, and it’s something you should too. Your priority is to protect your head and to avoid bracing yourself on more fragile parts of your body, like your hands. 

If you feel yourself falling, try to relax as much as possible. This may seem counterintuitive, but you’ll sustain less harm if you’re relaxed rather than tensed up.  Drop anything that you are carrying and roll with the fall. Bend your elbows and knees and try to keep the impact to the fleshiest parts of your body, like your butt. You want to avoid falling on your wrists, knees, or spine, as these are more likely to be injured. 

Tuck your head, and if you are falling to the side, tilt it up, away from the ground. If you’re not falling to the side, try to rotate your body so that you take more of the impact on your side, rather than your front or your back. 

Have You Been Injured?

Even if you’re doing everything that you can to ensure that you’re walking safely on snow and ice, you can still slip and fall. If you’ve been injured and need physical therapy, Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy is here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our physical therapy services and let us help you on the path to recovery. 

If you’ve suffered a muscle strain and your physical therapist recommends that you try dry needling, you may be a bit wary. The idea of having needles stuck in you isn’t appealing to many people, and fear of needles can deter people from getting the vaccinations and the like that they need in order to be healthy. Since dry needling involves multiple needles, it’s only natural to wonder whether or not it hurts.

The truth is: it depends. It can, and it can’t. It’s important to note that dry needling as a technique is used in order to help you heal and to improve your symptoms, not to make them worse. It is used in order to relieve pain in the long term. It can be incredibly effective for a variety of conditions. 

Rest assured: if your physical therapist is recommending that you give dry needling a go, it’s because they think it will help you. They wouldn’t be out here recommending treatments that hurt you – they’re not sadists! 

Here’s what you need to know about dry needling and pain so that you can set your mind at ease about this treatment method.

Does Dry Needling Hurt?

As previously mentioned, it depends! 

This treatment typically isn’t anywhere near as bad as you might think, especially if you have a fear of needles. Many people don’t even feel the needle prick their skin, because of the little guide tubes that physical therapists use. 

When the injured area has needles inserted, usually one of two things will happen. Either you won’t feel anything, or you may feel a deep muscular ache followed by your muscle twitching. Believe it or not, that ache and twitch response is actually a good thing. This is because it means that the needle has been inserted in the right spot, called a trigger point, and is working to release your muscle.  

Different people respond differently to this treatment method. It’s important to bear in mind that your experience could be vastly different than someone else’s.

Does Dry Needling Help With Pain?

Yes! This treatment method involves sticking dry needles into your trigger points in order to release tight muscles. Many people report an immediate reduction in their pain levels. For others, they may experience aching and soreness in the days following the treatment before they begin to notice improvement. 

The level of aching and soreness you experience is similar to after a workout. This treatment is used in order to help with injury rehabilitation, chronic and acute pain, and more. It works to restore your muscular function and alleviate your pain.

How Long Does Dry Needling Last?

This depends on your specific condition. Your physical therapist will work with you to develop a personalized treatment plan. Usually, you can notice improvements within 2-4 sessions, but this varies depending on the individual.

As for how long the needles themselves are in you – again, this varies. There are several different techniques that your physical therapist may use. They’ll use the one best suited to your symptoms.

In some cases, the needle is in-and-out, it isn’t left in your skin. In others, it may be left in for a little longer. In more severe cases, they may be left inserted for 10-15 minutes or so. 

What Does Dry Needling Feel Like?

If you’re worried that this treatment will hurt you, naturally you want to know what it will feel like! You’ve likely seen this answer coming, but… It varies depending on the individual. 

This is because everyone has different symptoms and concerns. You typically won’t experience any pain with a healthy muscle, but the more unhealthy the muscle, the more likely it is that you will experience some discomfort during the treatment. The discomfort should go away quickly, giving way to some symptom relief.

Most people don’t even feel the needle penetrate their skin. They may feel an ache and twitching in their muscle, which means that the treatment is working. It can feel a bit like a cramp. 

After the treatment, you might feel sore, the same as you would after a workout. It could take a few hours or until the next day for the soreness to appear. It should dissipate within a couple of days. You may also experience some tiredness, nausea, loopiness, giggling, or be emotional. Again, these should go away within an hour or so. 

In some cases, your symptoms may get worse before they get better. Although rare, if your symptoms don’t get better within a day or do, you will want to tell your physical therapist about it.

Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy provides dry needling, as well as other physical therapy treatments. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you on the path to recovery.