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Jennifer Lane
  • Jennifer Lane

Bladder Health
Bladder Health 520 250 Jennifer Lane

As a pelvic therapist, one of the most common diagnoses I see is urinary incontinence. This sometimes can be called Over-Active Bladder Syndrome (incorrectly). One job of pelvic floor muscles is to be able to close the urethra (the tube that leads from bladder to outside the body) when you are not peeing. We need strong and healthy pelvic floor muscles so that you can jump and hop and sneeze and cough without leaking urine. We also need control of pelvic floor muscles so that we can avoid running to the bathroom with severe urgency. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are struggling with urinary incontinence.

First of all, you do not need to deal with urinary leakage. Just because you had a baby, doesn’t mean you have to deal with leakage. Just because you are a woman older than 60 doesn’t mean you should be leaking. Kegels are not the only answer to gaining strength in pelvic floor muscles. Relaxation of these muscles is important too!

Restricting your water intake will not make you leak less! You should be drinking water all day, not coffee, not tea, not juice, but water. To figure out how much, take your weight and divide in half. Replace pounds with ounces and this is how much you should drink each day. For instance, If you way 140 lbs, divide by 2 for 70 lbs, change to 70 ounces. The inside of the bladder is lined with a mucus membrane. It likes to be awash with water, not acidic drinks or food like soda or coffee.

The bladder takes 2-4 hours to fill up. Are you peeing every 30-60 minutes? Then you are peeing too frequently. When you pee, is it only for a few seconds? A full bladder will take about 10 seconds or more to empty. Try counting next time! I give all of my clients a Daily Voiding Log to fill out. This tool helps reveal bad habits and patterns and it helps focus the therapy.

Many clients ask me, can incontinence be fixed. And the answer is “YES”. As long as you do your exercises, make modifications to your fluid intake and change your behavior surrounding frequent urination. Still have more questions? Make an appointment today with a pelvic floor specialist!
  • Jennifer Lane

Reducing the Toxic Load in your Home and your Body
Reducing the Toxic Load in your Home and your Body 275 183 Jennifer Lane

Every week I go to the local market and buy organic fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and eggs. My family and I eat most meals at home, cooking with healthy fats, and balanced nutrition. Recently, I started thinking about all the other products I buy for the household. As needed, I run down to Target to re-stock the kids and my husband and I on deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, facial cleanser and lotion, to name just a few. It dawned on me that the products that we put in our bodies should also be organic, healthy and plant-based. The chemicals listed on these product bottles was mind-boggling. And I kept thinking, “We are putting these chemicals on our bodies everyday”. It was time to make a drastic change. I pulled out all these products that I have bought and started trying to figure out ways to replace them. Luckily for me, I was able to find an entire product line from one company, DoTerra to replace all the products that my family and I had been using. So I placed my order and we all started using the new products.

I wasn’t convinced that they were going to be as effective as what we were using. Lots of all-natural products don’t seem to last as long, work as well, etc. But I was pleasantly surprised! Not only was I blown away by the quality of the products, we all started seeing secondary benefits to using them. After using the Shampoo and Conditioner for a month, my hair felt thicker, fuller and healthier. The deodorant did not leave any heavy residue on our clothes and the lotion was deeply moisturizing and healing to small skin irritations.

I continue to replace products in my house. Next project will be the cleaning cupboard but for now I feel really good about how I have reduced the toxic load on my family and myself!
  • Jennifer Lane

Healthy Living into your Senior Years
Healthy Living into your Senior Years 1280 895 Jennifer Lane

Putting the Pieces Together: Health, Self-Care and Seniors

Maintaining your health is not a single activity. Instead, it’s the combination of eating well, exercising, keeping your mind active and socializing. These activities are all part of a healthy self-care regimen, which is important for people of all ages. As an older adult, you have to pay careful attention to each aspect or, like an unfinished puzzle, your health and wellness will never be complete.

Keep reading to see how your daily activities fit together to keep you going strong.

Healthy eating

It’s a sad reality, but aging takes a toll on the body. If you’ve found yourself forgoing a healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner, you’re not alone. An unsettling number of seniors fail to properly nourish themselves due to a number of reasons including lack of energy, loneliness and limited access to shopping opportunities, according to Bayshore Home Care.  Fortunately, in today’s world of technology and the boom of the sharing economy making services such as Uber an affordable means of transportation, you don’t have to settle for pizza delivery or snack on crackers when you really want a home-cooked meal. Smartphone apps, grocery delivery, and meal delivery services make healthy foods easy to shop for and prepare at home. The Food Oasis asserts that grocery delivery and meal delivery are different from meal delivery services providing pre-portioned meals. Delivery services are often customizable and automated to ensure you never miss an opportunity to eat fresh even if you can’t drive to the grocery store.

Socialization

An often-overlooked piece of the senior health puzzle is your social life. Senior isolation has significant consequences that can shatter your efforts to remain healthy. Salmon Health and Retirement explains that senior isolation puts you at a higher risk for stroke, heart disease, cognitive decline and premature death.  In order to combat loneliness and isolation, you should pay attention to how much interaction you have with others. Even if you consider yourself a loner by nature, human contact is essential to your well-being. Attend church, take a few classes, or volunteer at your local elementary school or food bank. In addition to doing improving your own quality of life, the latter will provide you an opportunity to impact your community.

Mental stimulation

If you’re physically unable to leave the house, there’s still plenty of ways to stay engaged with friends and family and to participate in activities that keep your mind sharp. There are a number of affordable computers tablets that are recommended for seniors. Washington DC-based senior services provider Iona advocates the use of smart technology to challenge the mind and boost brain function. Until you are comfortable with computers, puzzles, games, and hobbies such as drawing and stamp collecting, are also excellent ways to keep your brain’s synapses firing at full speed.

Exercise

There are thousands of articles and medical texts dedicated to outlining the benefits of exercise for seniors. But to keep it simple, you should know that exercise can keep your heart strong, your muscles flexible, and your weight in check. Further, exercise can help you maintain your balance, which will improve your mobility.  Low-impact exercises are typically recommended for seniors. This may include swimming, mild aerobics, gardening, yoga and walking. Gym memberships are typically available for free or at a discount for seniors and fitness centers come with the added benefit of providing further socialization opportunity with your peers.  Keep yourself going strong for the long haul by paying attention to your diet, exercise and social and cognitive needs. By doing so, you may be able to prolong your independence and enjoy your golden years with more vigor than you’ve ever had before.
  • Jennifer Lane

Bike Ettiquette, Road Safety
Bike Ettiquette, Road Safety 3024 4032 Jennifer Lane

As more people are riding bikes around Denver, there’s more risk for accidents involving cars and bikes. Understanding the laws of the road that apply to motorists and cyclists will keep everyone safer. Most recently, Denver passed the “Safety Stop” Bill which allows cyclists to slow down as they approach a stop sign but not come to a complete stop if the intersection is clear. Why is this safer for bikes? To keep some momentum rather than coming to a complete stop gets cyclists out of the way of oncoming traffic faster. Read more at “Safety Stop” Bill.

What else should bikers and motorists keep in mind? Bikers should stay off sidewalks, avoid riding in “turn only” lanes if going straight, use hand signals to make it clear where they intend to go. Motorists should carefully open car doors, looking for cyclists before doing so, give cyclists 3 feet of clearance and avoid driving in designated bike lanes. I find that the best way to stay safe is to make eye contact with people. Before crossing roads, entering intersections, merging in to traffic, I look to make eye contact with the driver coming my way. Once eye contact is made, I feel good that they see me and understand where I’m going. Read more about Bike Laws here.

With E-Bikes and B-Cycles making biking readily available, its important for everyone riding or driving on Denver roads to pay attention and understand the laws so everyone stays safe.
  • Jennifer Lane

The Holistic Way to a Healthier You
The Holistic Way to a Healthier You 851 315 Jennifer Lane

What does Holistic therapy mean? For me, holistic therapy means working with the body, mind and spirit to improve health and quality of life. As a PT, I have always focused on how to help the body recover from injury or dysfunction. But as I grow my business, Holistic PT, I have started addressing issues of the mind and spirit too. It is my job to help people feel better and to guide them in the healing process. But there are many barriers to this. Emotional issues, bad habits, false belief sets, negative self-talk all impact how a person recovers from physical pain.

In addition to performing a full evaluation of the physical body, I also ask questions about quality of sleep, emotional impact of their injury, previous successes and failures in overcoming pain. Once this is fully understood, a comprehensive program is set up to help my clients feel better. The tool that I find helpful in my PT practice is essential oils. Essential oils can impact our moods, facilitate relaxation, and help with sleep. They can help reduce muscle and joint soreness too. The most common way to use essential oils is through aromatherapy. Some of the health benefits of aromatherapy include its ability to reduce anxiety, ease depression, boost energy levels, speed up the healing process, eliminate headaches, boost cognitive performance, induce sleep, strengthen the immune system and reduce pain.

It is difficult to treat the physical ailment without also considering the whole person. At Holistic PT, the treatment of the whole person comes first.
  • Jennifer Lane

Biking Should Be How You Get Around
Biking Should Be How You Get Around 2772 2661 Jennifer Lane

My family and I just returned from an amazing trip to Copenhagen and Amsterdam. In both cities, the majority of people get around by bike. For the most part, everyone is riding a one-speed or a three-speed junker of a bike with a basket in the front and saddlebags in the back. For people with kids to transport, they had kid seats on the handlebars or at the back of the bike or they rode a utility bike with a big wagon that sat over the front wheel. People wear normal clothes and shoes, not spandex and bike shoes and they pedal along at a nice pace but they are not racing. What makes it so easy for them to do this is that there is an amazing infrastructure to work with. On all streets, there is a sidewalk, a dedicated bike lane with curbs on either side and a traffic lane. Each lane has it’s own traffic lights so you know when its time to walk, pedal or step on the gas. There is an awareness of others as you navigate the streets and there didn’t seem to be any accidents (although I’m sure they happen). No one wears helmets, except we did see some cool blow up helmets that people were wearing. They looked like neck collars and when I asked someone what it was, they said that if you are in an accident, it will trigger the collar and an inflatable helmet with envelope your face and skull to protect you from damaging your teeth, skin and brain. Check out this video… it’s pretty cool! https://hovding.com/.

My husband and I both commute by bike most of the time. And we had an on-going discussion of why can’t more Americans ride bikes to work and to run errands? To make it safe and accessible the infrastructure has to be there. A dedicated bike lane that is protected on both sides is a must. Currently in Denver they are adding new bike lanes in all the time. But some of them disappear into a turn lane or they are not protected from traffic at all. There have already been 7+ deaths this year which will not help to convince people to ride their bikes to work. Also, both Copenhagen and Amsterdam are pretty flat. I can’t imagine those same people we saw in Copenhagen wanting to ride up a hill from downtown Denver to the Highlands. E-bikes (electric-assisted bikes) may be a good solution for hillier terrain. And finally, there has to be a good option of transportation when the weather doesn’t permit riding. In both the cities we visited, there was an excellent public transportation system in place. It was affordable and time-efficient and got you everywhere you wanted to be.

So for the time being I will continue to ride my bike to work and to the market and around town. I hope you will give it a try too!

Geriatric health | Holistic Physical Therapy
  • Jennifer Lane

Staying Healthy and Fit into Older Age
Staying Healthy and Fit into Older Age 2332 3504 Jennifer Lane

My husband and I and now my kids love mountain biking. In Colorado we are able to ride 3 seasons out of the year and there are trails all over the place! I had a patient a few years ago… he was 82 and still mountain biking. And not just on the Cherry Creek Bike Path. He was riding from the top of Kenosha Pass to the top of Georgia Pass! He was my hero. As I get older, I strive to be as healthy and capable as he was. Staying healthy is not a passive process and its not always an easy one either. And there is not one way to do it. But I follow a simple formula and try to stick with it consistently, day in and day out. I love my ice cream and glass of wine too! There are 4 areas that I focus on:
1. Nutrition
2. Exercise
3. Sleep
4. Managing Stress
1. Nutrition: It’s pretty straight forward. I eat 3 meals per day plus lots of healthy snacks to fill the gaps. I take high quality supplements daily to fill any nutrition gaps. These supplements are a multi-vitamin, an anti-oxidant and an Omega-3. I use doTerra’s Lifelong Vitality Pack and have it delivered monthly. My husband and I split the month’s supply and have felt great since starting to take them.
2. Exercise: I move daily. I walk or cycle every day. I used to run 5-6 days per week but have found that I just don’t enjoy it as much as I used to. So I walk instead. And I ride my bike to work. As I have gotten older, I have started focusing on more strength training classes to keep my muscle mass up.
3. Sleep: I love sleeping! And to ensure that I get to sleep fast and stay asleep, I use essential oils. My routine is to put Serenity on my chest and Vetiver on my head. We also diffuse a combo of these in our room. When sleep is more difficult, I take the Serenity supplement, thus avoiding prescription sleep aids. It’s magical how well this works!
4. Managing Stress: And finally, how do I manage stress? Well, I’ve already mentioned a couple ways I manage stress. One, is by getting a good night’s sleep, the other is by staying healthy. And lastly,I create an environment at work and at home that is relaxing. We have diffusers in most rooms in our house and at any given time, we have different essential oils going. Our olfactory system is amazing at triggering pleasure centers in our brain that can calm us down or make us feel better.
For more info on supplements, essential oils and how you can incorporate them into your healthy habits, contact me at jennlane@holisticpt.net. Also, I will be holding classes on Natural Solutions for healthy living in July and August. I will go over these 4 categories of good health with you. Email me today to sign up for one of these classes.
Thursday July 26th at 1pm
Thursday August 9th at 1pm
Classes held at Holistic PT at 6650 W. 44th Ave Wheat Ridge, CO 80033. Want to host your own class for you and your friends? Email me and we can set that up! jennlane@holisticpt.net.

Geriatric health | Holistic Physical Therapy
  • Jennifer Lane

Is All PT Created Equal?
Is All PT Created Equal? 2332 3504 Jennifer Lane

Is all PT the same? Well, I guess not. A client came to see me the other day, very discouraged about an experience she had with a different PT. She had surgery on her shoulder and was told by the surgeon that she could see a physical therapist in the office connected to his. She made the appointment and started treatment 2 weeks after surgery. Now, this person has had a lot of injuries through her lifetime and has received a lot of rehab. She is in her late 60’s and very active. I’m pretty sure she can ski and hike circles around my 44-year-old self! For context, there are a lot of very active and healthy older adults in the beautiful state of Colorado. It isn’t unusual to see a 70-year-old or even an 80-year-old mountain biking, hiking, skiing or participating in an advanced exercise class. I love this and my goal is to be one of these people.

I’ve veered from the original story. My client was underwhelmed by the experience she had. She was given very little time or attention, measurements were not taken of her starting point and the exercises prescribed caused extra pain. She sought me out as we have developed a relationship over the years and she was worried that the treatment she was getting was not going to help her get back to her activities, as she had hoped. She decided to come and see me, which is a bit of a drive for her and the reason she didn’t start with me in the first place. I did a standard eval, subjective report of injury and surgery and how she is feeling now. Then I took measurements of her good arm and the post-surgical arm to determine range of motion. Treatment followed which included passive treatment to the arm, joint and soft tissue and then it was wrapped up with education on how to be more comfortable at home and how to do exercises pain-free.

When we finished, she was so thankful and felt better already. I was flabbergasted by the difference in level of care that she received and was happy that she came back to me. I think there are 2 factors at play here. In some PT clinics, it’s a numbers game. Physical Therapists have to see a high volume of patients each day to hit their quotas. This may mean seeing 4 patients per hour. The other factor is that older clients are viewed as having different goals than younger folks. Listening to what my client’s goals are gives me a very good idea of how active she is. At no time do I assume that she can’t do those things just because she is in her late 60’s.

Moving forward, I plan to keep the quality high for my clients. One-hour initial evaluations, 45-minute follow up visits and I continue to keep listening to what my clients say. I can do this because I have created an environment in which it works.

What’s the take-home message? Find a PT that is going to listen to you and deliver the quality care that you deserve. Not happy where you are? Find another one. Colorado is a direct-access state which means you do not need a dr’s referral for PT. Want to learn more about direct access? Tune in for the next blog post, coming soon!

To make an appointment at Holistic PT, click here…
  • Jennifer Lane

Causes of Headaches
Causes of Headaches 704 366 Jennifer Lane

There are several types and causes of headaches… tension headaches, migraines, sinus headaches. Physical Therapy treatment can help reduce and eliminate headaches. Like with any injury or dysfunction, it is important to first figure out what is causing the headache. After the subjective exam has been completed, a physical therapist assesses active motion of the cervical and thoracic spine to determine if there are any limitations of movement. Joint mobility and soft tissue tightness is also tested. There are a group of headaches that arise from joint dysfunction in the upper cervical spine.

Is your headache located in your forehead? This may come from limited mobility at C2 vertebrae. Does your headache wrap around your ear like a rams horn? This may indicate a restriction in the OA (atlanto-occipital) joint on the same side as the pain. Is your headache located at the top of your head? This could mean a problem at the AA (atlanto-axial) joint. Chronic, recurring headaches may be caused from poor posture placing strain on ligaments and muscles of the posterior neck. Have you suffered whiplash injuries? Repeated, high velocity injuries to the neck can set you up for headaches too.

Physical therapy is a great non-pharmaceutical way to treat and manage your headaches. Instead of treating the symptoms, a PT will help you get to the bottom of the cause! To learn more, contact Jenn Lane at Holistic PT.  Contact Jenn here… Contact Form.
  • Jennifer Lane

Tennis Elbow: not just for Tennis Players
Tennis Elbow: not just for Tennis Players 640 472 Jennifer Lane

Tennis Elbow, also called lateral epicondylitis, is inflammation of the wrist extensor tendons where it attaches at the elbow. More specifically, the tendons involved are the Extensor Carpi Radialis and Extensor Digitorum. For years, tennis elbow has been called tendonitis (which means acute inflammation), but upon examination, there is very little inflammation in the tendon due to the chronic nature of the disorder. A more accurate term is tendonopathy or tendonosis.

Tennis players are not the only ones who suffer from this. Anyone who performs repeated movements with their wrist (computer programmers, musicians, carpenters) can have tennis elbow. Traditionally, physical therapy treatment of tennis elbow has included cross friction massage to the tendon, modalities such as ultrasound or electrical stimulation, bracing and therapeutic exercise. More recently, research has shown that the prescription of therapeutic eccentric exercises is a very effective way in treating tendinopathies. Eccentric exercises effectively lengthen the muscle-tendon complex, remodeling the tendon and increasing the tensile strength of the painful tendon.

So, what does PT look like for my patients who have tennis elbow? First thing is to make corrections to posture and body mechanics to take undo stress off the wrist extensor tendons. Second, the use of ice or heat still is effective in reducing some of the pain and soreness that people experience. And finally the teaching people therapeutic eccentric exercises to do on a daily basis at home or at work will effectively help reduce pain and facilitate proper healing of the tendon.

Want more info on the research behind this? Keep reading…

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