Guide Physio & Rehab

Happy Wednesday, The feedback I got from last week's newsletter prompted a great conversation with friends on the trail about how to have a productive conversation with our providers. Communicating with health care providers is a ubiquitous challenge so today's newsletter is all about how to do just that. Here are four tips I have learned through advocating for myself and for my patients over the years. Write your questions for your doctor out in advance I know for me, as soon as I step into...

Happy Wednesday, When I first had my cholesterol tested at age 35 my doctor asked how much I exercise and how much red meat I eat. As someone who had yet to begin her recovery journey from perfectionism I answered, “well, I could be better about both.” The reality? I lifted weights, climbed, and ran several times a week each. I was exercising a lot, and honestly struggling to eat enough to keep up with it all. One of my real questions was “how do I get enough protein to recover from all of...

Happy Wednesday, Did you know that a standard requirement of pre-operative orthopedic care is smoking cessation before surgery? This week's newsletter is a bit lengthy and nerdy but I want to give you all the facts. I try to keep these emails focused on topics especially for outdoor athletes, but this is too big of a topic to narrow down to just this group! Tobacco and Nicotine I have seen smoking cessation delay surgeries that would otherwise have been done ASAP. In these cases the surgeon...

Happy Wednesday, One of the hardest moments in injury recovery is when you’re already 80% better. Honestly. If you’ve struggled with this you’re not alone. I had a couple of clients hit this phase of recovery recently. Let’s imagine you sprained your ankle. Back up to the exact moment on the trail that it happened. Maybe you limped off the mountain, knowing that you would need true rest and recovery before this would get better. You cleared your schedule and took up knitting to keep your mind...

Happy Wednesday, You know how I’m always talking about what you can do now before the summer season really gets going to take care of your body? Let’s be real. There will always be that season when you didn’t nail early season training, or things you could have done better. You not going to throw in the towel and call it a season before it even begins just because you could have done something better. Imagine this for a moment. You are a raft guide, kicking off a summer season where you plan...

Happy Wednesday, Have I told you about Shawn? No!? Well if you're dying to hit the trails again, by foot or by bike, you're gonna LOVE hearing this... Shawn was laying on the couch with a hot pack on his back, nursing a back injury that had him laid up for a week. It was the 5th time this had happened this year and he was starting to give up on his lifetime dream of completing a triathlon. Every time he started to train again, this would happen. When you’ve struggled with injuries like this,...

Happy Wednesday, If you’re anything like me, your weekly screen report isn’t something you like to brag about. But it’s spring in Montana and the trails are dry so we’re turning off screens and getting outside after work, right!? The reality though, is that many of us are held back by fear of injury that is actually dampening the excitement and stopping us from doing what we really want outside. Fear of an injury in the immediate future is one of the single biggest deterrents keeping people...

Happy Wednesday, I think about this a lot - if I coached you to jump up and down 1700 times in 10 minutes (or even 15 minutes) would you lose some trust in me? Okay, don't answer that yet, we’ll come back to it. As the season is changing more and more of us are getting out on the trails! I love this time of year but it is one of the most common times for people to end up in my office from overuse injuries. Today, I wanted to share what I see as some of the most important things for you to...

Happy Wednesday, Do you know how many women will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis in their lifetime? 1 in 10 women 1 in 5 women 1 in 3 women 1 in 2 women Scroll down to find out the answer. But before you do, here are a couple of hints. Osteoporosis is the development of low bone density that can happen as we age. 80% of people who develop osteoporosis are women. In fact, women are at higher risk of fracturing a hip due to osteoporosis than they are to develop breast, ovarian,...