Move Forward Radio

October 24, 2016: Broadway productions, such as the currently touring sensation Hamilton, provide audience members a memory that could last a lifetime. But for the cast and crew, that performance will be one of many in a packed schedule of rigorous routine. Beyond the music and lyrics, there is a lot of action in each show: dance numbers, costume changes, stage changes, and stunts. Behind any show like that, someone has to keep the human machinery moving. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, we talk with the physical therapist caring for performers and stagehands for Hamilton’s touring show in Chicago.  She discusses what it’s like to care for these performers and keep them on stage. Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about physical therapy at MoveForwardPT.com.

October 5, 2016: The American health care system is currently grappling with how to safely prescribe opioids, a group of drugs that can be key to the successful treatment of severe acute pain, but that can be dangerous, even deadly, when used long-term for the treatment of chronic pain. In an August 17 article for TIME Magazine, Dr Andre Machado, chairman of the Neurological Institute and the Charles and Christine Carroll Family Endowed of the Cleveland Clinic, compared prescription opioids to an airplane that is easy to get off the ground but difficult to land. That’s why the Cleveland Clinic is in the midst of a large pilot program for patients with chronic pain in which prescription of opioids will be considered, but not as the starting point. Instead, the program will rely more heavily on physical therapy and mental health therapy, both backed by evidence for the safe long-term management of pain. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, Dr Machado and Ian Stephens, a physical therapist participating in the pilot program, discuss not only how the health care system must adapt in response to America’s opioid epidemic, but also how the mentality of patients must change—shifting our focus from the elimination of pain to the improvement of function. APTA's #ChoosePT campaign is raising awareness about safe alternatives to opioids for long-term pain managemen

September 15, 2016: Margaret’s experience with pain started with an accident when she was stepped on by a horse. She didn’t suffer any broken bones, but the pain didn’t go away. It was thought that it was a bunion, so she had surgery. But the pain continued. Eventually, Margaret was diagnosed with complex regional pain disorder. She began extensive physical therapy to simply help her get over her fear of putting weight on her foot, and then to begin walking. Today, her therapy is ongoing, but her progress is significant.  In this episode of Move Forward Radio, Margaret shares her journey with extreme pain, and details how physical therapy is helping her along the way.  Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about complex regional pain disorder at MoveForwardPT.com.

September 1, 2016: Joanne was enjoying her life as an art teacher when she started experiencing hip pain.  The pain increasingly intensified, making it hard to stand or walk. The pain ultimately forced her into retirement.  She began to accept the pain, and loss of mobility and quality of life as a normal side effect of aging. But when Joanne was set on a path, including hip replacement surgeries and physical therapy, she launched a personal mission to regain what pain had taken from her.  In this episode of Move Forward Radio, Joanne shares how her surgeries and physical therapy have helped her become more active and fit than ever. Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about total hip replacement on MoveForwardPT.com

August 23, 2016: The 2016 Olympic Games showcased a week's worth of track and field, the single sport, with its wide variety of events, may best exemplify the Olympic motto, "Citius, Altius, Forius" - "Faster, Higher, Stronger." How do elite athletes get faster, higher, and stronger? With a smart training program that seeks to maximize performance and minimize injury. That’s the kind of program that physical therapist Shannon Singletary oversees at Ole Miss, where he directs the Health and Sports Performance team that cares for all of the University of Mississippi’s varsity athletes. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, Singletary provides valuable advice to youth athletes who want to excel in the various disciplines of track and field, or any sport. He also takes us behind the curtain at Ole Miss to describe their coordinated approach to athletic training and rehabilitation. Read more about physical therapy at MoveForwardPT.com.

July 29, 2016: Erin Jackson's pelvic pain - a mysterious, stabbing pain that felt both internal and external, plagued her for over a decade. She endured it through college and law school, but it was alwasy there, preventing her from having an active life.  She saw multiple health care providers in multiple states.  She was prescribed multiple medication, none of which worked.  And it made her pain worse. After moving states to seek better health care treatment, Erin began working with a physical therapist who presented a new treatement approach for her pain - and things finally began to change.  In this episode of Move Forward Radio, she shares her journey with chronic pelvic pain, and how "physical therapy saved her life." Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about pelvic pain on MoveForwardPT.com

July 14, 2016: New staggering statistics illustrating the reach and toll of America’s opioid epidemic seem to be released almost daily. In 2012, health care providers wrote enough opioid prescriptions for every American adult to have their own bottle of pills. In 2015, roughly 1 in 3 Medicare beneficiaries were prescribed at least 1 opioid.  Approximately 60% of adults prescribed opioids have leftover pills, and that 1 in 5 of them reported sharing their medication with someone else. But adults aren’t the only ones who experience pain. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, a pediatric physical therapist discusses pediatric pain management, including when opioids might be appropriate, and when alternatives like physical therapy are preferred. Using safe, proven, and effective physical therapy instead of dangerous prescription painkillers to treat pain is the crux of #ChoosePT, a national campaign launched by the American Physical Therapy Association, who is partnered with the White House to address the nation’s opioid epidemic.  Learn more about #ChoosePT at MoveForwardPT.com. Download the podcast on iTunes.

June 30, 2016: For the past 15 years, Americans in pain have increasingly been prescribed opioids – painkillers that include Vicodin, OxyContin, methadone, and combination drugs like Percocet. These drugs can be effective over short periods and safe in low doses. But they come with risks, including depression, overdose, addiction, and withdrawal symptoms. The result is a national health crisis that involves not only prescription opioids but heroin, as well. There are safer ways to manage pain – among them, physical therapy, which was recommended in guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an alternative to opioids. The American Physical Therapy Association, which is partnering with the White House to address the opioid epidemic, has launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of opioids and the effectiveness of physical therapy. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, a campaign spokesman discusses pain, opioids, physical therapy, and APTA's #ChoosePT campaign.  Learn more about #ChoosePT at MoveForwardPT.com. Download the podcast on iTunes.  

June 21, 2016: Helo Matzelle ignored the ringing in her ears until that sound was joined by voices in her head. What she hoped might be a small problem wasn’t: Helo had a brain tumor. Surgery to remove the tumor was successful, but it was not without complication. Helo experienced brain swelling, and at one point had to have her body packed in ice just to keep her alive. Once Helo stabilized, a second life-saving process began -- an effort to return Helo back to the woman she was before the tumor. With the help of her therapy team, Helo learned to sit up again, and then walk again, and slowly but surely she was able to regain her independence. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, she shares her experience of returning to her "old self." Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about David's transformative story at MoveForwardPT.com.

May 26, 2016: If you want to improve your fitness, one great way is to swim. Swimming works muscles throughout the body without the pounding of land-based exercise. That’s why injured athletes often turn to the pool when they want to maintain their fitness and rehabilitate an injury at the same time. But that doesn’t mean that swimming is an injury-free activity, which is why competitive swimmers benefit from cross-training out of the pool. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, a physical therapist discusses his work with elite-level athletes and casual swimmers, and describes both the benefits of swimming and the related injury risks. Download the podcast on iTunes. Learn more about physical therapy at MoveForwardPT.com.

May 6, 2015: Playing sports as a kid likely used to mean there was a good chance you played several sports. Maybe soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track and field in the spring. However, today, many kids aren’t so diversified. At a fairly young age many kids now pick just 1 sport and stick with it almost all year long. The potential upside is obvious: more focused time increases a child’s experience, which can accelerate their progress. But there are potential downsides, too – some physical, some social, and some behavioral. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, a physical discusses those risks. Download the podcast on iTunes. Learn more about physical therapy at MoveForwardPT.com.

April 21, 2016: When it comes to treating people with cancer, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The type and severity of cancer a person has will dictate the method and intensity of their treatment. But early research suggests that anyone with cancer will likely benefit from prehabilitation—a period of intervention between a cancer diagnosis and the traditional treatment. In today's episode, a physical therapist discusses what prehabilitation entails and how it benefits the patient.  Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about physical therapy at MoveFowardPT.com.

April 7, 2015: In 2007, 20-year-old David was stationed in Iraq when a sniper shot him in the legs. With two bullet wounds and many eventual surgeries, David wondered if he would ever walk again. He was depressed and pessimistic about his recovery.  And he was scared at the thought of putting weight on his injured limbs. But that’s when David met some physical therapists who told him that his chance of recovery was good and made him believe again. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, David shares his story of recovering physically and mentally from his injuries, and what he is doing today to inspire others through their recovery.   Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about David's transformative story at MoveForwardPT.com.

March 17, 2015: Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system that’s typically diagnosed when someone is between the ages of 20 and 40. An estimated 400,000 Americans have been diagnosed with MS, but while those people are united by their diagnosis, the effects of MS can vary significantly from person to person. That can make diagnosis alone difficult, and it can make treatment and management of the disease’s symptoms even harder. That’s where physical therapy comes in. In this episode, a physical therapist describes how physical therapy can address the unique needs of people with MS, a condition that rarely affects two people in quite the same way. Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about multiple sclerosis at MoveForwardPT.com.

March 3, 2016: Affecting an estimated 5 million adults, 80-90% of them woman, fibromyalgia is a condition whose symptoms include widespread pain and fatigue.  Difficult to diagnose, fibromyalgia is also a condition without a cure.  Its various symptoms can be treated with components such as education and exercise. In this episode of Move Forward Radio, a physical therapist discusses the diagnosis, treatment, and management of fibromyalgia. Download the podcast on iTunes. Read more about fibromyalgia at MoveForwardPT.com.