Heart disease is a leading cause of death and disability. This shouldn’t be a surprise – it’s been at the top of the list for years. You know that taking care of your heart is important. That means doing things like eating right, avoiding smoking, and exercising regularly. What most people don’t think about is calling their physical therapist. But physical therapists can improve your heart health too!

how Physical therapy can help with your heart health

Cardiovascular exercise is anything that makes you breathe harder and your heart pump faster. That could be walking, running, dancing, biking, swimming or hiking. It strengthens your heart and blood vessels. It can help control weight, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and prevent heart disease.

If you’re regularly going for a run or swimming laps, you don’t need help from your PT. But 3 out of 4 adults aren’t exercising regularly. For those people, a PT may be just the person they need. It’s not uncommon to get injured, then never get back to the old routine. A PT can help with the old injury and design a plan to safely return to regular activity.

It’s also not uncommon for people to try to be more active on their own, only to stir up pain somewhere – like their back, hip, or shoulder. A PT can help with that too. They’ll figure out the cause of the pain, help correct it, and implement a plan to help that person reach their goals.

After a medical issue

Physical therapists can also help to safely increase activity levels after a major medical issue like a heart attack, stroke, or even cancer. Recent research has shown improvements in cardiovascular fitness, fatigue levels and even pain in cancer patients who participate in a personalized physical fitness plan from a PT.

Whatever your barriers to physical activity are, your PT can likely help you overcome them. As movement experts, physical therapists are trained to deal with a variety of conditions. They’ll help you work around whatever issues you have so you can safely elevate your heart rate and keep cardiovascular disease away.

Read more about how a PT can help coordinate your fitness routine here. Also, the American Heart Association has tons of great information if you want to learn more.

Spring! New growth, sunshine, and warmer weather are a welcome sight following winter. Along with spring comes Easter and, of course, that means a visit from the Easter Bunny! The Easter Bunny often visits homes and hides a bunch of plastic eggs filled with wonderful surprises. Somehow, each year, that one box that holds those plastic eggs goes missing… so off to the store to buy more! Needless to say, many families have a very plentiful supply of plastic eggs. Here are some fun, simple, and creative ways to recycle those plastic Easter eggs that also have a learning component.  Bonus, they can be used anytime throughout the year, and kids love them!

Letter and number practice

Write letters or numbers on a slip of paper and place each one in an egg. Kids can practice identifying them and writing them. For slightly more advanced learning, have eggs with corresponding numbers of items for them to find, count, and match to the printed number. And to expand on letter concepts. kids can name an item that starts with the letter they found hidden in the egg.

Spelling or sight word practice

Write spelling words or sight words on a slip of paper, and put one in each egg. Kids pick an egg, and read the word that is hidden inside. This can easily be expanded to writing a simple sentence using the word.

let recycled Easter eggs choose story time books

Write down favorite or new book titles and put one in each egg. Kids love the surprise factor of finding out what story will be read. This can also help with eliminating struggles of who gets to pick the story…it is all up to the egg!

chores

Sometimes having kids help with simple chores ends up being a chore itself. Fill each egg with the name of a job /chore. This is a fun way to help kids learn how they help around the house.

recycle Easter eggs by filling with money

What kid does not like money! Fill eggs with a coin, and have your child pick one egg color, and then find all the eggs of that color (hiding the eggs can add to the fun). Once you kids find all the eggs, they can match coins or add up the coins. Maybe use the money filled eggs as a reward for completing the chore from the activity above!

fill recycled Easter eggs with snacks

Fill the eggs with small snacks. Things like raisins, nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows work great. Let your kids choose an egg to see what special snack the egg is holding.

matching

Separate the eggs and either hide them or place them in a container, and have kids find the matching half and put them together. In addition to the skill of matching, this activity helps develop fine motor skills.

These are only a few ideas of how to recycle all those plastic eggs. Plastic eggs come in a variety of sizes, patterns, and colors that make the list endless. Check out some of more creative uses at Twiniversity. Some of them will surprise you! For more fun ideas about how to use an everyday item with your kids, check out our blog, Cups – More Than Just for Drinking.

Did you know that the CDC recently changed the ages for some of the major milestones of child development? Here are some examples. Walking without support changed from 12 months to 18 months. Crawling is no longer a milestone. Before, a 24 month old was saying 50 words. Now, the expectation is that a 30 month old will say 50 words. Milestones now include ages 15 and 30 months. So, why did the CDC make these changes, and what does it mean?

Firstly, the main goal of these changes was to make it easier for primary care providers to identify children who are at risk for delays. The previous ages were based on when 50% of children would meet a milestone. This caused many providers to take a “wait and see” approach as only half of children would demonstrate a particular ability at a particular age. So, the new guidelines represent the age that 75% of children can do the activity. Therefore, if a child is not doing something that a vast majority of children are able to do, they should receive a referral to the appropriate specialist.

Milestone criteria

Here are some of the criteria that new milestones must meet:

• Milestones ages are the age most children (>75%) will demonstrate the milestone
• No longer include warning signs
• Are easy for families from different social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds to use
• Can be answered with yes, not yet, or not sure
• Use plain language
• Are organized in developmental areas

what do therapists think?

To be honest, we are concerned. In theory, these changes should mean that more kids will have referrals to specialists early. But, many of us have concerns that some kids who are at risk for delays will have referrals later because of these changes. Let’s use walking as an example. Previously, the milestone said your child should be walking by 12 months of age. What that meant was that by 12 months of age, 50% of children were walking without support. That hasn’t changed. 50% of kids STILL walk without support by 12 months of age.

The new milestone says your child should be walking independently at 18 months (and taking a few unsupported steps by 15 months). This means that 75% of kids are walking independently at 18 months of age. So, if you child is NOT walking by 18 months, there should be no hesitation about receiving a referral to a physical therapist. Unfortunately, this may mean that a child who would have received a referral at 15 months (or sooner) is now getting a referral 3 months later. As therapists, we always say that the earlier a referral happens, the better.

Milestones don’t always tell the whole story. While the article does not specifically state why crawling is no longer a milestone, it is very likely that it is not included because 75% of kids will not crawl, not because the skill is not important. In addition, the vocabulary average for a 30 month old is closer to 450 words, NOT the 50 that is the the current CDC milestone.

What does this mean for parents?

Trust your gut. If you have concerns about your child’s development, talk to your primary care provider. Or, call MOSAIC to set up a free screen to discuss your concerns with one of our therapists who specialize in these areas. You can view the updated CDC Milestones here.

References

1. Evidence-Informed Milestones for Developmental Surveillance Tools

According to the CDC, there are more than 36 million falls each year, and 1 in every 5 of these falls results in a broken bone. To put this in perspective, every second of every day an adult over the age of 65 will have a fall. There are many contributing factors that can cause an adult to fall. These include weakness, medicines, home environment, community environment, nutritional status, and balance. So, how do we prevent falls? Physical therapists can help manage and lower the risk in many of these categories, but one area they specialize in is treating balance deficits. We all have 3 main systems that work together in order to maintain our balance. They are our vision, vestibular, and somatosensory (proprioception) systems. Let’s dive in and see how each of these function.

Prevent Falls by Improving Balance

Our vision is a critical component of our balance system. We rely on this for depth perception, peripheral vision, light/dark environments, acuity, etc. However, as we age, our vision slowly starts to deteriorate. We may become near or far sighted, we may develop other eye conditions such as macular degeneration, but we also begin to lose our sensitivity in low light areas. Maintaining a well lit home with nightlights is a great way to help reduce the risk of falls.

Vestibular

Our vestibular system is what detects linear and rotational movements. In other words, acceleration or deceleration of our body. It is responsible for our brain understanding if we are turning right, left, moving up, moving down, speeding up, or slowing down. It also helps to orient our head/eyes relative to the horizon. Try staring at a picture on the wall. Now, move your head to your shoulder and notice the orientation of the picture doesn’t change?

Somatosensory

Lastly, our somatosensory (proprioception) is made up of multiple different nerves in our joints, skin, muscle, and tendons. They help to detect stretch, pressure which, in turn, will tell if our body is touching the ground, or how our limbs, head, and trunk are all oriented relative to another. Try closing your eyes and touching your index finger to your knee or elbow or nose. We are sensing where our limb is in space.

Each of these is a key contributor to our balance. When one of these systems isn’t operating efficiently, it can confuse the other system and result in dizziness, loss of balance, or falls. Physical therapists will work to train these systems and help find other ways to prevent falls or lower your risk for falls. Before beginning any balance exercises, it is important to meet with a physical therapist so they can make sure you perform these exercises safely and correctly while also identifying your deficits to help achieve your goals. Don’t forget to check out How to Prevent Falls in the Winter Months for more tips.

References

1. Avin, K. G., Hanke, T. A., Kirk-Sanche, N., McDonough, C. M., Shubert, T. E., Hardage, J., & Hartley, G. (2015). Management of Falls in Community- Dwelling Older Adults: Clinical Guidance Statement From the Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy of the American Physical Therapy Association. Physical Therapy, 95(6), 815–834.

Orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs) are patterns involving oral and orofacial musculature that interfere with normal growth, development, or function of orofacial structures. Orofacial musculature dysfunction can occur at any stage in life. So, let’s look more into oromyofunctional disorders and how skilled treatment can help. (ASHA, 2022).

What can be addressed in oromyofunctional disorder treatment?

• Obtaining proper lingual resting posture with tongue on palate
• Breathing patterns, specifically promoting nasal breathing
• Tongue thrust
• Sleep breathing disorders
• Oral habit elimination (i.e. finger/thumb sucking)
• Temporomandibular joint pain
• Long-term stability of orthodontic treatment
• Tongue & lip tie
• Difficulty chewing and/or swallowing
• Articulation errors relating to atypical patterns

Who provides services for oromyofunctional disorders?

• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Occupational and Physical Therapists
• Lactation Consultants
• Osteopathic Physicians
• Dental Hygienists, Orthodontists, and ENTs
• Sleep Specialists and Craniosacral Specialists
• Chiropractors and Massage Therapists

Overall, a licensed healthcare professional who has secondary training to support oromyofunctional disorders is a desired provider.

Goals of oromyofunctional therapy

The main goals of therapy are, firstly to establish nasal breathing. Secondly, to achieve tongue resting posture on hard palate. Thirdly, to correct atypical swallow and speech patterns (ie: tongue thrust). Providers work to achieve these goals through isolated jaw, lip, cheek, and tongue exercises with behavior modifications. Treating therapists work along with allergists, ENTs, and dentists when referral is necessary to address airway, dental occlusion, and tongue and lip tie confirmation diagnosis and treatment.

Bodywork is also another important component to achieve proper body posture. Proper posture helps to meet overall OMD goals. Therefore, the treating therapist would refer to a physical therapist if bodywork is needed. The remediation of oromyofunctional disorders improves overall facial structure, dental occlusion, and swallowing and speech impairments. To learn more about tongue ties and other tethered oral tissues issues, check out this MOSAIC blog. Click here to learn more.

The pictures above refer to an 11 year old female at initial evaluation and then 6 months after. She completed oromyofunctional treatment for tongue thrust elimination. She achieved nasal breathing, proper tongue resting posture on palate, and eliminated tongue thrust swallow pattern in therapy. Her open bite improved greatly with the completing behavior modifications and isolated exercises in skilled oromyofunctional treatment. Subsequently, elimination of these behaviors will ensure her orthodontic longevity.

References

1. “Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders.” American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/orofacial-myofunctional-disorders/.

2. “OMDs.” Function-Focus, www.function-focus.com/omds. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.

Family game nights are a great way to bring everyone together for a little fun competition. They are also be a good way to boost language skills too! In addition to spending quality time with your family, playing games together can help with improving turn taking skills, attention, and cooperation. One great game to play with kids is Zingo.

What is Zingo?

Zingo is for kids four years and older. If you are willing to provide some extra help and attention, it can be played with children as young as two (with some modifications of course). This game takes a new spin on classic Bingo, and you can play with up to six people. Each player receives a board with 9 pictures and words on it. Then you take turns sliding the “Zinger” to dispense picture cards. The first person to fill their board is the winner.

Zingo Modifications

Zingo boards are two sided. The green side has fewer images in common so it is less competitive. The red side has more images in common so it is more competitive. You can modify game time by just trying to get three images in a row, or by matching the four corners. If you are playing a friendly game, you can pass the Zinger back and forth. The person whose turn it is gets those tiles or share them with someone in need.

You can also play that the first person to call out the tile they need gets it if you decide not to take turns being the dealer. If you want to add an exciting twist, you can play speed Zingo. The adult or dealer slides the Zinger and children race to grab the tiles they need without taking turns. Detailed instructions and tips on how to encourage more advanced thinking skills can be found here.

The Right Zingo for You

There are four different versions of Zingo to choose from. Original Zingo is a basic picture matching game. This is the best version for young children. Zingo 1, 2, 3 focuses on counting and addition. With Zingo Word Builder, you work to find missing letters to make words, and in Zingo Sight Words, you try to find matching sight words.

How to Encourage Language During Play

Use all of the Zingo games in different ways to build up your child’s expressive and receptive language skills. You can talk about the pictures, numbers, or words you find and what they mean. Take it to the next level. Find objects around the house that match the pictures or words on the tiles or make sentences using the target words. If you are playing number Zingo, you can count out your child’s favorite snack to go with the number they get. You can also use the boards to play “I spy” and work on describing and identifying the pictures. For example, “I spy something in the sky, it’s very hot, and it’s yellow.” If your child guesses “sun,” they get that tile.

There are so many different ways you can play this game to incorporate different skills. That is why it is always a go to game kid in speech therapy at MOSAIC. For more activities to do with your kids, check out our School’s Out Summer Activities and Infant Play Activities, and remember, if you have any questions about your child’s development, you can always call MOSAIC and speak to one of our skilled therapists.