Physical Therapy – Clinical Sprinkles

By Pauline Tran-Garcia 0 Comments Uncategorized ergonomics, Physical Therapy, posture, tech neck

How to Prevent Tech Neck

What is “tech neck”?

“Tech neck” is used to describe a posture of an individual sitting in front of a computer and the stressful position associated with working on a computer. The human head was about 12 pounds and if it’s bent forward about halfway, it increases the weight of the head up to 40 pounds and all the way forward is 60 pounds. The neck is made up of 7 small vertebrae and the muscles that support them, have to work so much harder when it’s lengthened.

What can you do to avoid tech neck?

Set up a good environment! Many of us spend hours in front of a computer or electronics and we need to set ourselves up for success. The desk can be modified to comfortably support and foster a good environment to reduce stress on our bodies.

When choosing the optimal height of a desk, whether sitting or standing, you want to choose a height that allows the forearms to rest parallel to the floor on the tabletop. The hip angle can be modified based on the chair and the use of a footrest.

Read more to find recommendations to make your desk more ergonomically friendly.

#1 The Desk

The sit/stand desk is all the rave but only buy it if you think you’re actually going to use it. I prefer the kinds that allow the entire desk to elevate vs the platform that only holds the keyboard/monitor. The electronic version also reduces the stress on the shoulders from having to lift the desk/platform. This is the desk my husband uses and he’s a big fan! He stands right after lunch every day. So as long as you think you’ll use the standing function, then get the adjustable desk. There are different options for tabletop sizes as well.

#2 The Monitors

Your monitor should be arm’s length away and at eye level. A monitor stand can be used to elevate the monitors or even a couple of reams of paper. Even if you’re working from a laptop, you should be elevating the monitor height and then using a keyboard/mouse (see below for recommendations). If you’re dealing with multiple monitors, you should try to set them both in front of you so that your head is rotating very minimally. The one linked in this image is a clamp so it doesn’t take up desk space for your other work materials and the heights are easy to adjust.

#3 The Keyboard

Having a wireless mouse and keyboard is important especially when working from a laptop. This makes it so you can separate the monitor to a proper height to reduce the stress of “tech neck” and the heavyweight of our head when our neck is flexed forward. The wireless capability is not required but reduces cords and creates a much cleaner setup. The link attached to the image is for a mouse and keyboard combination.

#4 The Mouse

Using a mouse is much better than the trackpad of a laptop because it uses bigger muscle groups than just the couple fingers repetitively into flexion (can lead to trigger finger or carpal tunnel syndrome). I’ve linked a simple mouse you can purchase to reduce the stress on your fingers.

#5 The Chair

Having a chair that has an adjustable height and armrests is crucial for choosing an office chair. Also when sitting in the chair, the lower back should be able to rest against the backrest to utilize the lumbar support. The chair height adjustment feature is going to allow you to adjust to the desk height to allow the forearms to rest parallel to the floor. So make sure that you’re sitting all the way back in the seat and your forearms parallel to the floor. If you find that your feet cannot reach the floor, look at item #6.

#6 The Footrest

The chair and desk are crucial posture adjustments that are the biggest factors. If your feet don’t touch the floor when sitting all the way back in the chair (like me in most chairs), then a footrest is your best option. Having your feet dangle or having to reach by your tippy-toes is not ideal because this will increase the stress on your lower back, particularly the psoas muscle. So having a footrest can reduce the stress on your lower back.

Summary

This became more than “tech neck” but you can see how these items can make a big difference on multiple areas of your body and improve your posture while working in front of electronics. Some employers will reimburse you for these products so make sure you’re asking about them! Set your body up for success by implementing these key adjustments.

By Pauline Tran-Garcia 0 Comments Physical Therapy percussion massager, Physical Therapy, recovery, rehab

Pros and Cons of a Percussion Massager

If you're wondering whether you should get a percussion massager, you're in the right place. This blog post will answer your questions.

If you prefer to learn via video, here's a link to my YouTube video where I give an in-depth, honest review.

What is it?

A percussive therapy tool is used to improve mobility and blood flow to the applied body region by sending repetitive taps to the region applied to, like a jack-hammer. This can be used to reduce recovery time or reduce pain. As a physical therapist, I would apply this as a supplement to my normal treatment methods. But this would definitely save my hands in terms of soft tissue work for patients. Soft tissue including tendon, muscle, capsules, and fascia. I can use my hands more for joint mobilizations that the percussion tool isn't able to perform.

Who is it used for?

People with muscle aches or pains. It can be used for athletes including runners, weight lifters, cyclists, basketball, baseball, you name it. It can be used for office workers looking for relief in between the shoulder blades or in the pec region. It should not be used for patients with chronic pain disorders that are hypersensitive to stimulus.

Pros

Saves hands from doing soft tissue work
Reduces time in treatment spent on manual therapy so it can be spent on therapeutic exercises or functional training
Easy to use
Increasing mobility and range of motion
Reducing aches/pain
Stimulates an increase in blood flow to the region being targeted

Cons

Hard to access areas like the upper back and around neck/lower back when performing on self
Cost, not covered by insurance
User error, if you don't know how to apply it, its effect may not be great

What it does NOT do

Evaluate or diagnose musculoskeletal conditions
Joint mobilizations
Treat pain in isolate
Eliminate the need for a proper warm-up

Which one to buy?

I've tried a couple of different types and one of my biggest factors is the sound.

Some percussion devices are LOUD and the one that I've liked is relatively quiet which is the Back Hammer (BH$50 saves you $50 from the sale price).

This device has speed settings from 1-20 and can tolerate being pressed pretty hard on the muscles by the person handling the device. It also has 6 different attachments that vary based on the target tissue.

Questions?

Send me a message on my page here with the subject line "Percussion Device" so I can help.

By Pauline Tran-Garcia 0 Comments Career financial freedom, money mindset, Physical Therapy, rich dad poor dad, student physical therapist

Money Mindset Books for Beginners

Are you ready to start feeling in control of what the heck is going on with your money? If so, keep reading because I provide a list of the beginner books I started with and why they helped me.

I truly wish I would have started this sooner… I wasn’t turned on to books about money until my final year of PT school. One of my CIs assigned me to read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. This book simplifies the basics about balancing your income to your expenses and your assets vs your liabilities. It was a great and easy book to read through to get your toes wet. It wasn’t until I read this book that I realized how little I knew about money and the concept of investing.

I’m under a mountain of student loans and I want to be able to set myself up for success for retirement and get ahold of my money now so I don’t feel guilty for my “fun” expenses/purchases. I hope these are helpful to you.

I’ll share a few other books I’ve read over the past 4 years that I recommend reading through. I’ll provide a brief synopsis about each book and why I liked each one. These will be listed in no particular order.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert KiyosakiThis book simplifies the concepts of money and terminology
- It primes the mind for the idea of investing and how to start saving for a retirement fund and why start sooner rather than later
- I liked this book because… It was easy to read. The concepts are introduced very well so that even a beginner (like me) could follow along.

Money, Master the Game by Tony Robbins
- Review concepts of HOW to make the most of your money with the use of compounding interest and how to make the best out of your retirement plans
- The basics about taxes
- How to divide your income into different “buckets” for different purposes
- Ray Dalio’s All Seasons Portfolio Breakdown
  - Ray Dalio is a financial guru (who I hadn’t heard about until this book)
- Wealth, not just financial but also emotional wealth
- I liked this book because… it gave actionable steps and goals to target for setting up my retirement fund

Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki
- People are categorized into 4 different financial groups: the employee, self-employed, business owner, and investor
- This is a great continuation of the Rich Dad Poor dad book that builds on the concepts of how to generally save and then this book goes into when you become a worker OR how you can make your money work for you
- Money mindset concepts like: “live within or below your means so you can expand your means,” “business and investing are not risky, but being under-educated is.”
- I liked this book because… it helped me understand where I’m at financially and where I want to go.

Profit First by Michael Michalowicz
- If you’re a business owner or plan to be one, this book is a great resource on how to learn how to pay yourself first
- Application of Parkinson’s law: you work with what you have, if you give yourself excess, you’ll end up using it
- Strategies to destroy your debt
- I liked this book because… I plan to be a clinic director someday and want to be able to apply financial savviness to my work and personal life. It gave a clear outline of how to allocate money in a business.

Each time I read through a book, I take notes and save them for later to reference. The links above are affiliate links through amazon and I do receive a commission if you purchase from them. I would greatly appreciate your support if you bought through the links provided, but there is absolutely no pressure to buy at all. I just want to share the books that have helped me feel a little bit more in control of my financial status.

By Pauline Tran-Garcia 0 Comments Physical Therapy, Pre-PT, PT school Physical Therapy, student physical therapist

School Supply List for Physical Therapy Students

First off, congratulations on making it into a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program! This is a huge accomplishment and you should be very proud of yourself. The programs across the country are incredibly competitive. Huge high five!

Now for your school supplies and essential for PT school… These are items required for the lab portion of PT school, the best part, am I right?

So I’ve taken the time out of shopping around and picking the best-valued items from Amazon to make it easy for you to shop. Some of the links have different color options.

Goniometer: https://amzn.to/3f7Y0kR (12” for neck, shoulder, elbow, forearm, knee), https://amzn.to/3eVKz7n (6” ankle, wrist)