WHAT IS OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY?

Occupational therapy is an important component of a person’s rehabilitation process. OT’s work with individuals who have an injury, accident, disease or problems participating in daily life.

Throughout our day we work with many roles (occupations) and if someone is unable to complete the task because of injury or disease, we work toward regaining their independence. For example, an injury to the hand that causes someone to not be able to play tennis or work, someone who has arthritis and cannot open a jar or someone who had a stroke and has difficulty with preparing a meal.

We evaluate the individual and develop individualized goals to resume or pursue the patient’s goals.

Here at Stars, as an occupational therapist/hand therapist, I work with individuals with injuries to their upper extremity that are more orthopedic related, and Adrian sees patients with more of a neurological component. We both work to improve or regain the functional use of the individual.

DID YOU KNOW?

In the case of knee replacements; the early application of supervised pre- and post-operative care has been shown to dramatically improve overall satisfaction and expedite returns to normal daily function. There is no debate that early and frequent activity promotes the best outcome following surgery, but at times this can be very challenging. Barriers to progress that may present early in the recovery phase can include difficulty navigating the home on a walker, dizziness and nausea following anesthesia, excessive pain requiring continued medication use or limited transportation with the temporary loss of driving abilities.

In these situations an in-home care option might be right for you. STARS Rehab is excited to announce that starting November 1st we will begin offering an in-home option to initiate your post-surgical journey. Patients who are identified as good candidates may be offered the opportunity to complete the first few visits of their care from the comfort of their own home. As mentioned already getting up and out of the house is definitely the best option, but isn’t it nice to know there is another choice when that seems overly challenging? With a thorough in-home evaluation by our skilled staff STARS Rehab can help get you started and offer a seamless transition into our nearest neighborhood clinic. Our newest service is just one more example of how STARS Rehab and our 1-on-1 care model focuses daily on Optimizing Movement and Enhancing Lives.

Shoulder pain- What can I do?

Find a new passion for Pickleball? Decide to finally clean out the garage? Just can’t seem to get your dog to not chase every passing squirrel on your walks? Struggling with nagging pain and just can’t figure out why? Has that pulling, swinging, or lifting caused you to start to struggle with finding a comfortable position to sleep at night? Noticing activities you never had to think twice over now stop you in your tracks?

The shoulder joint is one of the more complex joints of the body. Unlike the hinge that is your knee moving primarily through a bending and extending motion, the shoulder is asked to move in more directions than any joint of the body, all while maintaining the stability to complete your daily tasks. Due to this delicate balance of mobility to stability the shoulder is commonly left susceptible to aches and pains of all kinds.

Arthritis of the bones; strains, sprains, and tears of the muscles, ligaments, and other soft tissue; fractures; tendonitis; the list goes on for potential explanations to that lingering pain. 
The good news is, with proper assessment and application of well timed interventions, that pain can be minimized if not eliminated by conservative means. Becoming informed over the origin and nature of your pain places you back in the drivers seat, providing you the opportunity to make the right decisions towards its management and eventual elimination. Pain is not a necessity! Take back control and get back to the activities you love!

What is Trigger Point Dry Needling?

A trigger point is a focal, hyperirritable spot in the muscle that is the result of a local shortening of that muscle. Trigger points can develop as a result of various lifestyle activities, including prolonged computer work, poor posture, and over activity. Trigger points can cause an array of symptoms including pain, referred pain into other areas of the body, as well as decreases in range of motion and strength. There are a number of ways to treat a trigger point, with one of these ways being dry needling. Dry needling is the use of a thin filiform needle to stimulate the underlying trigger point. This stimulation in turn will help improve the symptoms that can be caused by a trigger point; so an improvement in pain, range of motion, and strength. Dry needling can be used to treat headaches, neck and back pain, shoulder pain, as well as hip, knee, and ankle/foot pain.  Trigger point dry needling is a relatively quick procedure that is performed by a highly skilled physical therapist as part of the overall treatment plan.