Written by: Dr. Elizabeth Braley, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS As much as I wish Physical Therapy was the solution for all my patients, sometimes people require surgery. Surgery is a big deal! Preparing and understanding what to expect can help ease anxieties and improve your rehabilitation experience. The most common shoulder surgery I see is a rotator cuff repair. Rehabilitation varies after different types of surgery and after a rotator cuff repair rehabilitation will vary slightly

Written by: Dr. Lisa Bodratti, PT, DPT Tibial (shin) and metatarsal (foot) stress fractures can be common injuries in the running community. A stress fracture is not your classical bone “break,” but rather a cluster of very, very small fractures in your bone due to repetitive stressor like running or jumping. There are some known risk factors and prevention techniques we will share with you in this week’s blog. Risk factors: Previous history of a bone stress injury (BSI) - th

Written by: Dr. Stephanie Soto, PT, DPT Introducing The Green Room’s newest service, lift appointments! Are you an athlete, fitness athlete, avid gym-goer, novice or expert with lifting? Well this is for you! At the Clifton Park location, I am now accepting clients to improve their lifting mechanics to work towards optimal performance. What lifts can I help with? ★ Deadlift ★ Back squat ★ Front squat ★ Overhead squat ★ Overhead press ★ Pull up ★ Clean ★

Written by: Dr. Lisa Bodratti, PT, DPT of The Green Room Physical Therapy There are two ways in which your knee can move - extension (straightening) and flexion (bending). After a knee surgery your range of motion, or ability to move from flexion to extension, is usually limited. As a rule, we have to improve your mobility before we can start the process of strengthening to improve your stability, which makes regaining your knee motion goal number one. So, why does it matter

By: Dr. Lisa Bodratti, PT, DPT from The Green Room Physical Therapy Undergoing a Total Knee Replacement can be a very overwhelming task. We’re here to make that process easier for you! Here at The Green Room we see LOTS of patients who have had their joints replaced, especially knees. We’d like to help you feel more comfortable by giving you an idea of what your first postoperative visit will look like at The Green Room. Lets talk: The very first thing you can expect on your

Vertigo is a very common problem for older adults, but can also occur in younger adults as well. Although there are many causes, one of the most common causes of dizziness is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). BPPV is a type of vertigo resulting in a spinning sensation or dizziness sometimes resulting in nausea and vomiting typically brought on by changes in position. According to The American Institute of Balance 50% of individuals over the age of 70 will experie

By: Dr. Elizabeth Braley, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, ACSM-EP The short answer? After 48 hours of physical and cognitive rest, YES! The long answer: Some people have persistent symptoms after a concussion. When concussion symptoms linger then a gradual return to exercise is important. Initially you can start walking or using a stationary bike at an intensity and duration that does not increase your symptoms. As your body adjusts the intensity and length of the exercise can be increas

Written by: Dr. Carleigh Rosenberg, PT, DPT When most Physical Therapists are faced with the popular question “how did you get into PT,” it is usually followed by stories of torn ACL’s and the months that followed with the great PT that shaped their ideas for their future career. For me it has always been different, because until a few months ago I had never attended a PT session as a patient. After an unfortunate incident involving stairs (I’ll save that story for another ti

Written by: Dr. Stephanie Soto, PT, DPT of The Green Room PT If you have pain in the front of your knee with activities like walking, getting in and out of a chair, squatting, or even running, this article is for you! I will be taking a deep dive on knee anatomy and give you a glimpse on what thoughts are running through our mind during your first initial evaluation here at the Green Room. Your knee joint is made up of a few different structures. We have your thigh bone (femu

Written by: Dr. Carleigh Rosenberg, PT, DPT of The Green Room PT Whether it feels like it or not, Spring is right around the corner! A lot of people find themselves being more active in the spring time when weather starts to improve, but often have questions about where to start. Getting back into running can be intimidating, and often can lead to some aches and pains if progressed too quickly. This can easily be prevented by incorporating some basic exercises and new routine

Written by: Dr. Stephanie Soto, PT, DPT of The Green Room Physical Therapy If you have worked with me, I’m sure you can attest that I push people here at the Green Room. There is a method behind the madness. Exercise is medicine and I’m here to prove it. In 2018, a study conducted by Boorman et al found that 75% of patients with chronic, full thickness rotator cuff tears have a successful rehabilitation with only exercise (no surgery!). In 2010, a study by Segal et al found t

Written by: Dr. Stephanie Soto, PT, DPT Everyone knows that getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep is ideal. But do we know why is it important or what happens if we don’t get enough sleep? Sleep is what helps form our memories and helps our brain and nervous system learn all the new tasks or information that you tried to learn that day. It keeps you alert and is integral for decision making, paying attention, and creativity. If you aren’t getting good quality sleep, there are a

Written by: Dr. Lisa Bodratti, PT, DPT Activity Modification One of the main tenets to treating ITBS successfully is activity modification - this does not mean stopping ALL activity. We recommend that you stop the aggravating exercise or activity and focus on pain-free movement. Try to cross train or strengthen those glutes (see below)! Some (Of The Most Appropriate) Exercises! These exercises were shown through research to engage and strengthen the muscles you want to streng

Written by: Dr. Lisa Bodratti Anatomy and why it matters: The ITB is a fibrous, thick band of fascia that begins at the outside of your hip and runs all the way down to the outside of your knee. Fascia is relatively inflexible, very strong connective tissue that covers all of your muscles and joints (kind of like casing on sausage). In the case of the ITB, it is its own entity and adds stability to the outer hip/thigh. At the hip, the ITB arises from fibers of the tensor fas

By: Dr. Lisa Bodratti Urinary Urgency and Incontinence, Fluid Intake and Nutrition - How Are They Related? What is urinary urgency? Urinary urgency is the strong sensation to urinate followed by any amount of involuntary urine loss. This can be caused by weak muscles, triggers like running water/”key in the door”, bad habits like “just-in-case-ing” (urinating before you leave the house, go to work, etc. even if you don’t have the sensation to go), and muscular tension or trig

By: Dr. Lisa Bodratti The short answer? Yes! The long answer: As long as you do not have any conditions where exercise or movement was problematic prior to your pregnancy and your OBGYN has not advised against exercise, it is safe, even if you do not usually exercise. There are some considerations to take into account, like new fatigue levels, nutrition, and “meeting yourself where you are at.” We can talk about exercise easily using the FITT principle - frequency, intensity

This week’s blog will be different than usual. My typical blog is one of pure education, on one specific topic or another. But recently, I’ve noticed that a lot of our patients-even my own- aren’t educated on one thing-all the services we offer here at The Green Room! Many patients on their last day of PT will say, "I didn't know you offered custom foot orthotics," or "what is this light bed thing?" or something along those lines. A lot of this has to do with the fact tha

The definition of osteoarthritis according to the Oxford dictionary is “degeneration of joint cartilage and the underlying bone, most common from middle age onward.” Though I’m sure all of us are familiar with the term arthritis, and either have or know someone who has arthritis, it’s not as straight forward of a diagnosis as many of us might think. One of the biggest misconceptions of osteoarthritis is that “wear and tear” through high levels of exercise and activity direct

This week’s blog is about something that comes up often in the clinic, Cortisone shots. Weekly, we get asked “should I get a Cortisone shot?,” “are Cortisone shots dangerous?,” “Should I avoid cortisone shots?,” and a few other questions related to Cortisone shots. So, what is the truth about Cortisone injections? First of all, what is a Cortisone shot exactly? Cortisone is a synthetic version of cortisol, a steroid produced in our adrenal glands and released into the blood

This is week 2 of our Myth Busters series of Blog articles. One debunked myth we hear a lot in PT is that running is bad for your hips and knees. Yes, some people may have knee or hip pain when they run, but there are other things going on, and it’s likely not the running that’s causing the problem, it’s the running that’s exposing the problem. Whether the problem is tightness, weakness, biomechanics, running surface, training methods, etc., running has a way of exposing o