Hurting Now? Get Seen Today!

Call us to be seen by a phsical therapist today:

Calumet (906) 337-1100
Escanaba (906) 789-1011

How many times have you heard (or thought to yourself), "I just can't do that anymore"? Whether it's playing with your kids or grandkids, doing yard work, kneeling down in church, or just getting out to the grocery store, when your ability to do activities that you've previously done changes, it can decrease your quality of life. While we all eventually give up things that we've outgrown or our bodies won't allow us to do anymore, we at Body Mechanix often find people giving things up prematurely because of issues with pain, weakness, or balance problems. Essentially, these issues come to affect a person's quality of life by limiting their everyday activities. Oftentimes, the decline in function is so gradual that you don't even realize it is happening. The loss of function often begins with avoidance of movements that are painful, which in turn can lead to weakness, and eventually a loss of functional mobility. Before you know it, you're not getting down on the floor to play with those kids anymore or someone is doing your shopping for you. By the same token, if pain is limiting your activities, your quality of life starts to diminish.

I wasn't able to drive, but after only two weeks of therapy, I was able to drive myself to my appointments! -S.B. (Escanaba)

The physical therapists at Body Mechanix are human movement specialists who evaluate various aspects of a person's functional mobility including joint range of motion, muscular strength, gait patterns, and balance. We then determine how deficits in any of these areas may be affecting your overall function. Once the major cause of activity limitation is found, an individualized treatment plan is formulated to address the particular problem area and, in turn, improve your overall function.

Pain is the most common cause of limited activity. Pain hinders normal activities and can also cause abnormal movement patterns, that, if not corrected, can become habitual and lead to additional problems. For example, if you fall and land on your shoulder, your natural reaction over the course of the next few days and weeks is to limit the use of your shoulder because it hurts. However, in just a few short days of limited use, you may start developing slightly different movement patterns because of the pain. Over time, if these movement patterns are not corrected, you can develop potentially serious and long lasting shoulder problems such as rotator cuff tendinitis or frozen shoulder because of the impaired mechanics of the shoulder musculature.

Weakness can occur somewhat suddenly as the result of an illness or injury. This is not completely unexpected and most people understand that it is going to take some work to return to their prior level of function. However, weakness may also occur slowly over time as a result of a move to a more sedentary lifestyle (such as decreased level of activity in the winter months). This weakness comes as more of a surprise to people because of its gradual onset and can potentially be more of a problem as it can lead to decreased endurance, poor balance, and falls.

Body Mechanix physical therapists are trained to not only improve joint range of motion and increase strength while decreasing pain, but also to work to help people improve functional endurance, mobility and safety. Helping people to stay strong, mobile, independent and safe leads to an improved quality of life.

If you've given up activities such as riding a bike, shoveling snow, playing the piano, participating in your bowling league or any other activity, and would like to return to that activity, physical therapy at Body Mechanix can be very instrumental in helping you accomplish that goal. The Physical Therapy team at Body Mechanix can help you improve upon your quality of life and return to the activities that you enjoy.

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	Bring this referral form to your doctor so that they can prescribe Body Mechanix Physical Therapy as part of your wellness regime.