Do these exercises as soon as your health care provider says you can. Part I * Isometrics A. External rotation: Standing in a doorway with your elbow bent 90° and the back of your hand pressing            against the door frame, try to press your hand outward into the door frame. Hold for 5 seconds. Do 3 sets of 10. B. Internal rotation: Standing in a doorway with your elbow bent 90° and the front of your hand pressing against the door frame, try to press your palm into the door frame. Hold for 5 seconds. Do 3 sets of 10. C. Adduction: With a pillow between your chest and your arms, squeeze the pillow with your arms and hold 5 seconds. Do 3 sets of 10. D. Flexion: Stand facing a wall with your elbow bent at a right angle and held close to your body. Press your fist forward against the wall, hold this for 5 seconds, then rest. Do 3 sets of 10. E. Extension: Standing facing away from the wall with your elbow touching the wall, press the back of your elbow into the wall and hold for 5 seconds. Rest. Do 3 sets of 10. F. Abduction: Standing with your injured side towards the ...

Researchers at Kansas State University already have shown that gardening can offer enough moderate physical activity to keep older adults in shape. In research to be published in February in the journal HortScience, the researchers discovered that among the other health benefits of gardening is keeping older hands strong and nimble. "One of the things we found is that older adults who are gardeners have better hand strength and pinch force, which is a big concern as you age," said Candice Shoemaker, K-State professor of horticulture. Shoemaker is part of a small team of K-State researchers studying the ways in which gardening affects the health of older adults. She works with Mark Haub, associate professor of human nutrition, and Sin-Ae Park, a research associate in horticulture who earned her doctorate in horticulture from K-State in December 2007. The research appearing in HortScience in February comes from a study that assessed 15 areas of health in older adults, from both those who garden and those who don't. The researchers looked at measurements like bone mineral density, sleep quality, physical fitness, hand strength and psychological well-being. "We found that with gardening tasks older adults can, among other things, improve their hand strength and self-esteem at the ...

Physical activity is the cornerstone of any healthy lifestyle – and especially for people with osteoarthritis as exercise helps maintain good joint health, manage their symptoms, and prevent functional decline. Osteoarthritis, however, often makes physical activity, such as exercise, and even performing daily activities, a challenge. But an occupational therapist-led approach – called activity strategy training – could provide patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis the opportunity to lead more active lives and even improve their overall health, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System. In the pilot study, the researchers found that patients who engaged in activity strategy training along with regular exercise increased their physical activity, more so than those patients who only took part in exercise and health education sessions. Study results are now online and are set to appear in the October issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. "Occupational therapy is really the missing link in promoting wellness of people with hip and knee osteoarthritis," says study lead author Susan L. Murphy, Sc.D., OTR, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the U-M Medical School and Research Health Science Specialist at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. "Most ...

Creative Responses to Stress: A holistic approach by Jay Busemeyer Stress can be seen as positive or negative. Challenges can be stressful yet growth producing! With too little stress we may become bored with life. As our daily stress increases, it becomes very important to learn how to manage stress to remain healthy and to reach our true potential. In this presentation we will examine the physical, psychological and spiritual factors in stress management. Wellness is within our reach. step 1) Understanding Stress Stress can be defined as a feeling of tension that is physical, emotional, or psychological. Individuals react differently to situations that may be perceived as stressful. For example, we might imagine a group of children preparing to ride a roller coaster. For some kids, this is great fun! "Let's sit up at the front, Mom". For other kids, the middle seat is good enough. And for those timid ones, this situation may be actually be anxiety provoking. The last few seats may or may not be taken… "maybe I'll just sit this one out, Okay Dad?" Same external situation, but very different reactions. All of us experience unwanted stresses in our lives: traffic jams, unsafe drivers, waiting in line, computer downtime or hang-ups, high ...