In April 2021, Dr. Jen sat down with Jared Levenson on Zoom for his Eating Enlightenment podcast. She shared her thoughts on lifestyle medicine, aquatic physical therapy and water exercise, and her transition from living on farm in the Santa Cruz mountains to living on the road full-time.
Listen to the podcast here:
Medical diagnoses don't need much of an introduction. They're what you get from your doctor when you're sick. Examples would be influenza, diabetes, or hypertension. They describe the underlying problem that is causing your symptoms.
When people feel sick, they know they need to go to the doctor and find out what's going on to get treated. We should treat movement the same way. If you're having pain when you move, can't do things you used to be able to - like get on and off the floor easily, or can't do things you want to do - like go for a bike ride or pick up a grandchild then you need to get a movement diagnosis.
A movement diagnosis does the same thing as a medical diagnosis; it describes what's causing your difficulty with movement. Some examples would be difficulty standing from a chair due to to decreased…
Exercise has great benefits for your physical health - it can strengthen your muscles, improve your cardiovascular system, and reduce your risk of diseases like stroke and diabetes. But, did you know that exercise can have benefits for your mental health too?
Why exercise lifts your mood
Exercise causes your brain to release chemicals including endorphins, adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine. These chemicals all work together to make you feel good. In addition to the chemical changes in your brain, exercising can lead to a feeling of accomplishment and relaxation of your muscles, also helping you feel good.
We all feel like life is spinning out of control at times, but if you have dizziness, that spinning feeling is for real. A physical therapist can help with many common forms of vertigo and dizziness. Let's take a look at two examples of conditions that cause dizziness commonly treated by PTs.
BPPV
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (or BPPV) is the most common cause of vertigo, a false sensation of spinning. BPPV is a mechanical problem in your inner ear that causes a feeling of spinning with certain head positions or movements. BPPV is caused when some of the small crystals normally embedded in gel in your inner ear get dislodged and end up in the semicircular canals of your inner ear. These canals are filled with fluid and sense head motion. The crystals disrupt the normal function of the canal, which sends an abnormal signal to your brain. Your…
