The results are in for the top spot in Missoula’s Choice for the category of Physical Therapy. Hands down, Alpine Physical Therapy got a big thumbs up from our cherished area patrons. We’re proud to be Missoula’s Choice and will continue to lead the charge in excellent patient care in outpatient physical therapy services.

Visit us online at www.AlpinePTmissoula.com.
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Thank you, Missoula!

1. How does Pilates help you as a mom?
It keeps my body strong enough to be able to keep up with busy and growing toddler. It also keeps me strong enough to enjoy recreational activities that keep me smiling.

2. How does Pilates help you as a physical therapist?
I use pilates methods every day in my PT practice. I started using it right out of PT school. I also feel like doing Pilates in my own body because it helps me have enough awareness and strength to teach my patients how to move their own bodies. Also being a manual-based orthopedic PT can be labor intensive, and Pilates keeps me strong enough to do my job without getting hurt.

3. What is your favorite Pilates apparatus or exercise and why?
I don’t really have a favorite because it depends on what I am going after, but probably the exercise series I use the most in several variation of spinal articulation and bridging.  I find this basic foundational exercise a spring board for teaching motor control of the spine and applicable in so many ways and positions.
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For more information on Pilates at Alpine Physical Therapy, click here.

​Thanks to Alpine’s running specialists, Kristi Moore, MSPT, for this informative post.

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It is the time of year when runners begin to look at the upcoming race season and decide what races they will participate in for the year. For many it will be setting a goal for a longer distance race. For others it will be just to finish their first 5K race.

Whether you are just beginning to run or are a seasoned runner, it is important to plan enough ahead of time to train appropriately for the races you are planning to do. A good plan will be 12-16 weeks in length with gradual increases. What does gradual mean? For the new runner, think 10% increase every 3-4 runs. For someone who is consistently running, it can be a little quicker, but you should still make sure it is a gradual increase.

The majority of running injuries are due to training errors, and the biggest error is increasing your mileage too quickly. There are a multitude of training plans out there, and I believe it is a good idea to follow one, especially if you are new to running. Our bodies can adjust to incremental increases in running with less risk of injury. You should expect to feel soreness as you get into or back into running, but not pain or soreness that lasts more than a day.

Another way to help prevent injury as you begin to train for your races is to add some variety to your runs. There is a saying that “variety is the spice of life.” This can help you avoid injury and also improve your running times. The most common ways to change your runs are to do faster runs (i.e. tempo runs or track workouts) that may be shorter in distance. Then do slower longer runs once per week. Also changing where your run can help you get stronger and avoid boredom. This could mean adding in hills or hill repeats on one run per week, or switching to the trails for some of your runs.

When you plan to have different lengths and types of runs, you can let how you are feeling dictate the type of run you do. This can be important for injury prevention. There may be days where you can push through, but listen to your body and know it is ok to mix up your runs. Most importantly have fun in your training!

For more information, visit our web page designed for runners by clicking here.
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Kristi Moore, MSPT
Alpine Physical Therapy, North
2965 Stockyard Rd.
Missoula, MT  59808
(406) 541-2606
www.AlpinePTmissoula.com

Here’s a shout out to all our FB pals at Alpine PT. Be the first of three to stop in to our Blue Mountain Clinic. You’ll win a Patagonia silkweighted T-shirt with our gorgeous Alpine logo on it. This offer expires on 02/14/2014 at 5:00 PM. We’re super excited about our awesome shirts, but we’re also super excited to have you as our FB friends!
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Within minutes of kicking off this giveaway, our good friend, Ron Veilleux of ErgoFitMT, stopped in to get the first of these awesome T-shirts. Here’s a picture of Ron strutting with his new Alpine shirt. Lookin’ good, Ron!

When you come to visit us at Alpine Physical Therapy for an evaluation or reevaluation, you might wonder why you have to fill out a form answering questions about what you can and cannot do when your therapist will be asking you about it anyway. There are several reasons that we ask you to fill out these “outcome measures.” (These forms are available on our website. Simply click here.)

First, they offer a nice sounding board for questioning during our evaluation. Physical therapy is about getting back to the things you love or functioning in your daily life with ease. We are better able to get you back to these things if we know what they are, and we can get to the heart of the problem more efficiently with a heads up of your areas of difficulty.

Second, in our changing healthcare industry, insurance companies and Medicare are becoming more focused on objective measurements to track progress. They want a hard fast number that shows improvement. By filling out an outcome measure initially, then again after a month or so of therapy, they have a more concrete idea of how far along you are in your healing process, which in turn legitimizes further therapy appointments.

Finally, outcome measures help the physical therapy profession as a whole better monitor effectiveness and timeliness of treatment techniques. Each outcome measure that Alpine uses is carefully selected based on evidence of its effectiveness at accurately reporting physical deficits and gains. We want to provide you with the best care possible, and outcome measures are another tool available to us to ensure that we are doing so.

For more information to help you get started at Alpine Physical Therapy, click here for our new patient web page.

Our thanks to Alpine’s Leah Versteegen, DPT, who presented her findings on this important topic at our inservice last week. This is vital information for healthcare providers and for everyone who knows or works with female athletes.

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The number of female athletes has grown tremendously since the advent of Title IX. Alongside this growth have come both trials and tribulations associated with the participation of young females participating in sports. One of the trials has been educating and preparing these young minds and bodies for the stresses accompanying athletic competition. The Female Athlete Triad was identified originally in the 1980’s. It is currently defined as a syndrome of three interrelated conditions that present on a continuum; however, a fourth condition has also recently been described along this continuum. Each is listed and described here:

1. Low energy availability. An athlete’s dietary energy intake not enough to fuel their exercise energy expenditure. This can be due to either unintentional or intentional poor eating habits
2. Prolonged menstrual dysfunction or hypothalamic dysfunction. An athlete misses several menstrual cycles or altogether lacks menstruation. This happens as they lack proper energy/Caloric intake, and the hypothalamus does not properly release certain hormones.
3. Low bone density. This is the most severe condition of the spectrum and occurs as a result of the hormone imbalance accompanying menstrual dysfunction.
4. Cardiovascular disease. Another result of the hormonal imbalance is plaque build up and onset of hypertension leading to cardiovascular disease at a young age.

There are many possible contributing factors to the onset of the female athlete triad, among which are poor nutritional knowledge, athletes simply not paying attention to what they eat during the day, diet trends, pressure from peers/coaches/parents to perform, the misconception that thinner means faster, pressure on appearance in aesthetic sports, or an overall obsession with exercise.  Whatever the cause, it is our role as health care providers, coaches, parents, and friends to identify the red flags that are associated with the Female Athlete Triad. Early detection and proper support including nutritional education for these young athletes is key.

Some of the red flags that we can look out for include:

• Obsessive exercising outside of practice time/ rehab time
• Low energy/fatigue
• Slow healing time
• No menstruation by age 15
• Unable to cope with injury: disproportionate anger or fear regarding injury or increased stress due to missed practice/exercise time
• Obsessive discussion of return to sport
• Orthostatic hypotension (a sign of disordered eating patterns
•  Cold/discolored hands and feet
•  Elevated LDL and plasma cholesterol
• Depression or insomnia
• Recurrent musculoskeletal injuries, particularly stress fractures
•  Excessive focus on food and/or puposeful low Caloric intake

While it is important to be aware of the red flags associated with the female athlete triad and how to properly identify those at risk, it can be too late if we wait to see those red flags. Early prevention is essential. We must improve our awareness of how we talk about food choices and body image to our youth. It is essential that we all understand that food is a source of energy and that positive food choices fuel our bodies for general health, brain function, and improved athletic performance. Regardless of risk factors or red flags, our children should have a sound nutritional knowledge base that can prepare them for sport AND for life beyond sport.  Part II of this blog will discuss basic nutrition for the young athlete.

For more information, contact Alpine Physical Therapy by calling 406-251-2323.
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Leah Versteegen, DPT
Alpine Physical Therapy, South
5000 Blue Mountain Rd.
Missoula, MT 59804
(406) 251-2323
www.AlpinePTmissoula.com