Tom Willemann Health Tips

"Almost Daily Health Tips From Physical Therapist Tom Willemann..."

Use the Form Below to Get Them All Sent to You for FREE

Hip Replacement: Game, Set, Match?

Hip Replacement: Game, Set, Match?

Jake Johnson was an avid tennis player before pain from a degenerative hip joint took him off the courts. When his doctor said that he needed total hip replacement surgery, he thought his tennis playing days were over. But were they? In the past, most surgeons recommended against playing tennis after a hip replacement. Today, artificial hipContinue Reading »

Returning to Normal After a Hip Fracture

Returning to Normal After a Hip Fracture

Hip fracture, a serious injury that usually requires surgery, occurs more commonly in older adults, particularly where underlying conditions such as osteoporosis are present. While surgical procedures are usually effective, recovery often hinges on more than just the surgery.  Your overall health, previous level of mobility and whether you begin and stick to a physical therapy planContinue Reading »

Total Hip Replacement: Getting Up and Going

Total Hip Replacement: Getting Up and Going

If you are about to have your hip replaced, you will need to begin a rehabilitation program very soon after the procedure is completed. The type of rehabilitation will vary with the surgical technique used to attach the metal prosthesis to the femur. This artificial ball and stem can be affixed either with bony cementContinue Reading »

It’s ‘HIP’ to Keep Moving!

Growing older is simply a part of life; there is no way to avoid it. Our hair will go gray, our skin will change its texture and begin to wrinkle, and we will experience muscle atrophy … if we don’t maintain an active lifestyle. One thing you should surely be proactive about and aim toContinue Reading »

Knees Hurt? Strengthen Your Hips

Knees Hurt? Strengthen Your Hips

Does your knee hurt when you walk, run or climb stairs? If so, you have plenty of company. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Americans make more than 19 million physician visits each year for knee pain. Although osteoarthritis is the most common cause of knee pain in individuals over age 55, kneeContinue Reading »

Be Hip to Metal-on-Metal Implants

Be Hip to Metal-on-Metal Implants

If you have had a hip replaced with a metal-on-metal (MoM) implant, you may be concerned about reports of health problems with this type of artificial joint. Hip implants are fabricated from metal, plastic, ceramic or a combination of materials. Each type has risks and benefits, and it is up to you and your surgeonContinue Reading »

TENS Ways to Alleviate Pain

TENS Ways to Alleviate Pain

One approach used in a rehabilitation program, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) uses an electric current to stimulate muscles to contract. Electrical impulses are thought to interrupt messages sent by pain receptors from the nerves to the brain. If the brain does not receive these messages, it does not recognize pain, and you do notContinue Reading »

Can lifting weights improve bone density at your hips?

A study in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (Kerr, D., Ackland, T., Maslen, B., Morton, A., & Prince, R. (1 January 2001) titled Resistance Training over 2 years increases bone mass in calcium-replete postmenopausal women reported the results for 126 postmenopausal women over 2 years whose calcium intake met the current standard: one groupContinue Reading »

The Hip Solution to Knee Pain

The knee is one of the easiest parts of the body to injure because it is used for many motions the body performs. Common acute injuries are caused by sudden stops and turns during activities such as soccer and tennis. Pain may also occur after exercise, but you may also feel it if you sitContinue Reading »

Fighting Arthritis? Strengthen Your Muscles

Arthritis may be a joint disease, but strengthening the muscles is an important component in its treatment. That is because a leading cause of limited movement in people with arthritis—especially, for instance, knee arthritis—is the weakening of surrounding muscles, rather than pain, dysfunction or abnormalities in the joint itself. This raises an important question: IsContinue Reading »

Page 1 of 2