Hidden injuries cause pain in more places than sport. Physical therapists are experts in dealing with injuries, but your PT can’t help if they don’t know about your injury! You might be wondering who would keep an injury secret. The answer is – lots of people!

The first thing that comes to your mind might be an athlete, like a football player, or a baseball pitcher. But athletes aren’t the only ones that keep injury secrets. Performers like dancers keep injury secrets, and so do workers in all types of jobs. These groups might seem diverse. However, they have a lot in common when we look at the reasons they hide injuries.

So, why would anyone want to keep their injury secret instead of getting it treated and letting it heal?

Injury Secret #1 Reason: Stigma

Stigma is the first reason people hide injuries. Although there have been big improvements in the culture around sports, performing arts, and worker’s comp, some people still have the old “no pain, no gain” attitude. To some people, reporting an injury is an act of weakness, or a way of letting the team down.

In addition to this internal pressure, there can also be external pressure from coaches, parents, teammates, supervisors, or fans to keep playing or working.

Reason #2: Fear of Loss

Secondly, people hide injuries because they’re afraid of what they’ll lose. With the focus on head injuries in recent years, athletes know if they report concussion symptoms, they’re coming out of the game. Workers who get hurt on the job fear loss of pay, or loss of their job. Performers who get hurt might fear that their replacement will outshine them on the stage and take their place.

Injury Secret #3: Competitive Advantage

While the first two reasons apply to athletes, performers, workers and most any other group that might be hiding an injury, this one only applies to athletes. There is a third incentive to not report an injury – competitive advantage. If an opposing team knows a player has an injury, and what the injury is, they might be able to take advantage of it. For example, if a football team has a running quarterback that has an ankle injury, it will change how the opposing defense plays. 

These reasons all make some sense, but they’re also all shortsighted. Finishing a game, dancing tomorrow night, or working one more shift are never worth your long term health. Hiding a minor injury can turn it into a major one. It’s never weak to report an injury and you’re not letting your teammates, or coworkers down. If you’re not up to your best, you owe it to the people counting on you to let them know. Letting a healthy player, performer, or worker take your place is the right thing to do. If have an injury, don’t hide it! Just like your physical therapist can’t do your exercises for you, they can’t help if you don’t tell them what the problem is. Let the right people know, then go to the right person for help – your physical therapist!

Did you know that bilateral coordination is closely related to the vestibular system? When our body registers movement and gravity, our vestibular system allows us to respond with appropriate movement, balance, and posture.

In fact, there are three components:

• Symmetrical movements
• Alternating movements
• Dominant hand/supporting hand movements

The vestibular system, and our body’s ability to register information and integrate it into movements, enables bilateral coordination and body awareness of the upper and lower body. Below is a list of activities that can help build and develop bilateral coordination. Try these activities to work on skills like visual motor integration and fine motor while encouraging bilateral coordination.

Symmetrical Movements

With symmetrical movements, both hands do the same thing at the same time. For example, using both hands to pull up pants or socks. Other activities that can work on this skill include:   

• Holding a squeeze bottle with both hands at midline to paint
• Jumping rope and jumping jacks
• Catching a ball with two hands

Alternating Movement Bilateral Coordination

With alternating movements, both extremities are working, using alternating motions. So, you will see alternating coordination with swimming or climbing a ladder. Activities to work on this skill include:

• Riding a bike
• Marching

Dominant Hand/Non Dominant Hand

With dominant hand/non dominant hand, one hand performs a task while the other hand assists. This is needed for many fine motor skills. Therefore, this type of coordination is needed for writing and cutting with scissors. Activities to work on this skill include:

• Lacing cards
• Coloring
• Writing
• Tying shoes

So, try some of these activities to help your kids improve their bilateral coordination. Also, if you have a baby, check out these tips for crawling and start working on it early!

Lewy body disease is a progressive neurological disorder primarily affecting thinking, memory movement, mood and sleep. The disease is caused by protein deposits called Lewy bodies in the brain. It is one of the most common causes of dementia and affects more than one million people in the United States. Lewy body disease has some very specific symptoms.

• Cognitive symptoms of LBD include visual hallucinations, loss of concentration, attention, and wakefulness, difficulty problem solving and loss of memory.
• Movement problems are also associated with the disease and may include rigid movements, tremor, and shuffling resulting in falls.
• Sleep difficulty is common and may cause acting out of dreams by punching, yelling, kicking and screaming.
• Mood changes occur and may include depression and apathy.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for Lewy body disease. Some medications may help but side effects of the medication may lessen their benefit. Lewy Body dementia is devastating to both the patient and family. Having a plan to manage the symptoms will allow both the patient and primary caregiver to live life as fully as possible. Use the following tips as a guide.

Tips for Living with Lewy Body Dementia

1. Educate the patient. Knowing what to expect reduces anxiety surrounding the disease, increases safety and allows planning for the future, both for you and loved ones. Obtain and carry a LBD Medical Alert Wallet Card to advise others of cognitive or mobility problems if and when you are unable to do so.
2. Educate the caregiver. Caring for someone with dementia can be challenging. The better caregivers understand the symptoms and progression of the disease, the better they will be able to predict and manage the behaviors and struggles associated with the disease. It will also help loved ones accept changes in behavior while knowing when to seek professional help.
3. Focus on the good days. Unlike other forms of dementia, symptoms of Lewy Body dementia vary day to day. Plan for a good day but accept that a bad day may happen and tomorrow is another day.
4. Take care of the caregiver. A caregiver running on empty will not benefit either the patient or the caregiver. It is not possible to effectively provide care 24/7. Reach out to family or agencies in your community to get respite.
5. Emphasize the remaining abilities. Because LBD is a progressive disease, skills will decline over time. Instead of focusing on lost skills, look for abilities that remain. Take a shorter walk, plant a flower pot instead of a garden, look and talk about previously completed DIY projects rather than start one.
6. Choose your battles. Hallucination and delusions are challenging symptoms of LBD. Arguing about their presence is not effective as they appear very real to the patient. Addressing the fear is often more effective.
7. Be intentional about scheduling. Make a list of things you and your loved one may enjoy. Choose one to do each day but be flexible in the event of a bad day precludes doing the activity. Focus on quality of activity, not quantity.
8. Physical exercise. Physical exercise has been shown to slow down the progression of dementia. It builds strength and lessens the risk of falling. It also improves mood for the patient and caregiver.

Kids sometimes have trouble transitioning between tasks or environments. Transitions are hard for many kids. They may demonstrate increased negative behavior or avoidance. This is a skill that kids frequently use in the classroom at school. It is necessary for increased engagement in daily activities. Unlike adults, kids have limited understanding regarding the concept of time when they are asked to stop playing, go to bed, or move to a new space. This can be incredibly challenging. But, the good news is that parents can support kids with these transitions to minimize behavioral outbursts and increase understanding.

Strategies to support transitions

• Firstly, routines. Each time a transition occurs, establish a sequence of consistent events, such as singing a song or clapping hands. This informs the child a transition is coming and can establish familiarity and comfort. Learn how an evening routine can help.
• Visual Schedules: When a schedule remains the same from day to day, we can include pictures on a board to signify the sequence of events. The child will remove each picture after they complete the task. Make a picture schedule on board with Velcro and place it in an accessible location in your home. The schedule is individualized and based on the child’s needs and abilities.
• Timers: Timer apps exist on most smartphones and contain fun, enticing pictures that the child can view. It is important to notify the child that you are about to set a timer and what to watch for when time is up.
• Representational objects: Find a special object that represents the task the child is transitioning to. For example, use a ball to assist with transitioning to a ball activity or a crayon for coloring. The child will then take the item to the desired location of where activity is about to occur.
• Make sure you give explicit instructions and be specific.
• Encouragement is important.
• Allow time for your child to process a verbal request for change.
• Lastly, provide specific feedback on performance after the completion of the transition. This is highly motivating for most kids and builds confidence.

Reference

1. Occupational Therapy for Children 7th Edition, Jane Case-Smith, Jane O’Brien

Many individuals are experiencing the short and long-term symptoms of the COVID-19 virus. The COVID-19 virus impacts the musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, neurological, and psychological systems, as well as communication. Therefore, many individuals have lingering symptoms of the virus. This is impairing their ability to do the things that mean the most to them. However, there is good news! Occupational therapy for COVID-19 can help your recovery. Occupational therapy is appropriate for treatment of long or short-term impacts of the COVID-19 virus by maintaining a holistic person-centered approach to care. For some people, a recent stay in the ICU due to the impact of COVID-19 causes impairments in emotional well-being, physical function, and lung function.

Firstly, early intervention to address such symptoms is of the upmost importance for regaining function and returning to meaningful occupations. During your evaluation, your occupational therapist will assess the person, occupations, and environment. They will further investigate impairments impacting function and healing in order to provide individualized treatment to address difficulties in all areas.

Areas Impacted by Covid:

• Cognition and communication
• Physical abilities and fatigue
• Myopathy/neuropathy
• Perception and vision
• Mental health (depression/anxiety)
• Independence and mobility

How Occupational Therapy Will Help Your COVID Recovery

• Energy conservation strategies
• Environmental modifications to support function in daily activities
• Emotional support/relaxation
• Strengthening and activity tolerance
• Balance and safe mobility
• Vocational rehabilitation
• Strategies for managing cognitive impairments

So, if you are struggling with post COVID recovery, call MOSAIC today to schedule an evaluation. Additionally, for more tips on how occupational therapy can help adults, check out this MOSAIC blog.

Reference

1. A Quick Guide for Occupational Therapists: Rehabilitation for People Recovering from COVID-19.

Youth sports can have a very positive impact on children. These activities aren’t just good for their growing bodies, they also are good for their minds. Sports teach important life skills. The physical benefits of children participating in sports is obvious. This is becoming increasingly important as so many of today’s kids spend extended time being sedentary, engaged in screen time activities. While screen time can be positive too, often it takes the place of physical activity. Physical activity has been shown to stimulate chemicals in the brain that promote emotional wellness

Benefits of Youth Sports

The developmental benefits of sports go well beyond simply learning new physical skills. Sports include winning or losing. It is important to recognize that even if your child is not winning, they can still have fun and enjoy playing the sport. Losing can teach children how to bounce back from disappointment and develop coping skills. It promotes the development of becoming resilient. It is not necessary for children to always win because they need to experience what it feels like to lose. This teaches empathy.

Of course winning is not bad! Winning boosts self confidence and self esteem. Sports can also help in developing patience and understanding that it may take a lot of practice and hard work to develop their skills. Being a part of a team can help develop children’s self esteem when the environment is healthy, supportive, and encouraging. The support of the team members, positive coaching (and parenting), and seeing their skills develop will help boost a kid’s self esteem. 

Social Benefits

There are many social benefits of being involved with team sports. These skills are used throughout life. It can help develop the skills of listening to other players, cooperation, and how to support each other. It can give kids a sense of belonging as well as helping develop new friendships.

Another key part of playing on a team is following directions and accepting discipline. Kids are expected to follow the rules of the sport and accept the consequences when they do not. Kids learn how to take directions from the coach, referees, and even other team mates. They learn what team work is all about! 

The Role of Parents in youth Sports

A component that is often overlooked is the parents’ role in team sports. Many parents are not aware of how their response and comments impact their child. Parents, focus on your child having fun and being active, rather than winning or losing. Be positive! This includes praising your child or team efforts, even when they do not win. Be aware of your side line comments, keeping them positive to the players, coaches, and referees. Be your child’s and team’s biggest cheerleader. Let the coaches and referees take charge of the team. 

The following was taken from The Thinking Branch. It captures so many points, especially our role as parents, which is often a very big key in how a child responds to playing team sports. 

It was HER that said it.

On the way home from the soccer field, my goalie daughter said:

“Mom, I should have turned my wrists down on that last goal they scored instead of keeping my hands flat. It would have made the ball go to the ground like Coach Erik teaches me instead of it going up and over me like it did. I’m gonna get better at that.”

I glanced in the rearview mirror to see if her face showed the excitement I thought I heard in her voice.

“That’s so cool you noticed that,” I said. “You’ve been working hard on your technique, and it’s so fun to watch you play.”

As I continued down the road, she and her little sister were already discussing what slushie flavor they were going to get – but I kept thinking about what she said.

Instead of beating herself up for a mistake, you could tell she felt empowered that she knew what she did wrong – without anyone else having to point it out – and could adjust the next time.

This was different from other rides home where – before we got out of the parking lot – I’d suggest something she could have done better or ask her why she didn’t do something in a certain way – not to be hard on her, but (in my mind) to “help” her.

But those conversations never went the way this one did.

Those left her feeling frustrated. You could see it on her face she felt attacked and like she was letting me down. I’d remind her I was “just trying to help” and she’d ask to change the subject.

But in that recent moment, I realized how powerful it can be when you let coaches coach and let kids find the answers within themselves.

How powerful it is when you accept your job as a parent is to support their growth and not always point out where it needs to happen.

How powerful it is when you see your kids gain the tools to self evaluate…and you start to do some of your own about your role in their sports journey.

I’m not always going to get it right.

But just like my goalie plans to tighten up her technique the next game, on the drive home after it – I’ll tighten up mine, too.

By letting the coaches coach and my player play.

And staying in MY lane where my job is to give her space to grow and keep reminding here I’m here for her along the way.

Here are a few youth sports options in our local communities. Many offer scholarships if there is a financial hardship. Your area Chamber of Commerce may also be a resource in locating activities.

• Belgrade Girls Softball
• Bozeman Girls Softball
• Soccer (AYSO)
• Bozeman Swim Club
• Belgrade Baseball
• Bozeman Baseball

Click here to learn how to minimize your child’s risk for sports related injuries.