Clinical

Should I Use Heat or Cold Therapy?

The use of modalities is helpful to reduce pain, improve the body’s ability to heal, and enhance overall function. Heat and cold therapies are two modalities that are traditionally used to address impairments and functional limitations of patients. There are … Continue reading →

Pinch Grip Testing: An Essential Clinical Utility

Pinch grip is important for individuals to perform activities of daily living and various everyday tasks. Testing for pinch grip strength is important to be able to understand impairments and functional limitations a patient is experiencing. What are we evaluating … Continue reading →

4 Ways to Perform Thoracic Extension Exercises

Thoracic extension exercises are a great way to focus on individual impairments and functional limitations.  Thoracic extension exercises can help improve range of motion, flexibility, and overall posture. There are numerous ways to perform this exercise.   Here are some … Continue reading →

How Can I Improve my Grip Strength?

Assessing grip strength is important as it can tell you a lot about your patient.  Not only grip strength, but other variables including all-cause mortality, frailty, and many other pieces of information.  Therefore, we should focus on finding way to … Continue reading →

What are CanDo® Intensity® Loops?

Go beyond traditional exercise bands and crank up the intensity with the CanDo® Intensity® Loops! One of the most durable bands we offer, the CanDo® Intensity® Loop is designed to give a greater resistance than our standard CanDo® bands. Ideal … Continue reading →

What is Therapeutic Alliance?

Therapeutic alliance is “a general construct that usually includes theoretical definition the collaborative nature, the affective bond, and the goal and task agreement between patients and clinicians”.1 Developing the therapeutic relationship between the patient and clinician is so important to … Continue reading →

How to Perform Long Axis Hip Distraction at Home

Performing hip traction is a manual therapy technique utilized to help decrease pain, improve range of motion, and enhance overall functional mobility. Manual therapy, including traction muscle stretching, has shown to be beneficial to decrease pain, function, ad well-being for … Continue reading →

How to Measure Lumbar Range of Motion? A Bubble Inclinometer.

Range of motion is assessed by a qualified healthcare professional to identify impairments and functional limitations.  Range of motion is an objective measurement that can be used to measure progress of a given individual during their episode of care.  When … Continue reading →

Don’t have Dumbbells Available? Use Cuff Weights Instead!

We commonly will prescribe exercises using dumbbells to perform specific therapeutic exercises.  However, sometimes patients are not able to use these products due to potential issues including pain with gripping, skin integrity, and other problems. What are some alternatives we … Continue reading →

Mentor, Mentee, or Both?

Clinical education is a part of a student’s academic program to learn how to apply the skills learned in the classroom and transition those techniques to a clinical setting. Students are typically paired up with a clinical instructor to help … Continue reading →