Health & Care

Flexibility is a hot topic, as anyone who’s ever tried to contort themselves into downward dog, child’s pose, or “happy baby” can attest. In the United States alone, 8.7% of the adult population attended yoga classes last year, an increase of 30% in the past four years. Seeking increased overall fitness, athletic endurance, or inner peace, these afternoon and weekend warriors are joining a rapidly expanding population of Americans dedicated to optimal health. With the population of baby boomers growing an unprecedented 73% by 2020, the demand for both increased quality of life and longevity of years increases by the day.

For many, curling one’s toes over the eyes is a distant memory of childhood or infancy. (Babies, in fact, possess extraordinarily flexibility – with about 270 bones at birth, only 206 of these remain to form the adult skeleton!) Yet, the profound positive implications of greater flexibility span both time and culture. The Okinawan population of Japan, for example, encompasses a global “blue zone”, supporting a higher percentage of healthy and active elders (ages 80+) than anywhere else in the world. One of the central tenets to blue zone inhabitants is an active lifestyle that promotes flexibility and complete range of movement – critical components to overall health!

Flexibility and optimal health – After a traumatic car accident, however, flexibility and range of motion may be among the most immediate abilities compromised. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the most common injuries sustained in a car accident include whiplash, torn ligaments (such as the ACL), and back injury, all of which restrict and restrain flexibility and range of motion. At this time, the prompt and efficient aid of healthcare professionals trained in injury rehabilitation is crucial. According to the Mayo Clinic, the restoration of optimal flexibility and range of motion may contribute to:

• Increase in blood flow
• Improved performance in athletic activity
• Increased endurance
• Prevention of activity induced injury and muscle strain

What are your most joyous childhood memories? No doubt, for many of us they include times when we were free, easy, entirely uninhibited – when was the last time you touched your toes, jumped on a trampoline, or ran down a sandy shore with wild abandon? Our specialists recognize that your top priority is returning to the life that made you “you!” Aided by our industry recognized chiropractors and orthopedists and more, let us help you reach for the stars – at PROS Miami, we know that flexibility equals freedom!

The days following a car accident are traumatic enough – litigation, insurance, and emotional distress may be part of an already difficult time. Add in an injury, and an already trying period may become one of the most challenging experiences of one’s life.

Post accident, accurate and expedient injury identification is critical, greatly influencing prognosis and recovery time. Yet, faced with a deluge of information, new faces, and recommendations, the unfamiliar jargon of healthcare professionals may begin to seem like the incomprehensible words of Charlie Brown’s schoolteacher – indecipherable mumbo jumbo.

Preparing for an x-ray, MRI, or CT scan? Take a quick glance at our handy guide, and put your fears to rest!

X-Ray

Familiar to anyone who’s ever suffered a childhood broken bone, x-rays are the least invasive and often first line of assessment when fractures or broken bones are suspected, a quick and completely painless test that uses radiation to provide professionals with a view of the internal structures of the body.

MRI

In contrast to x-ray technology, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) testing employs magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce images. This technology engenders very detailed images that can detect even minuscule changes to the structures within the body, providing a very useful assessment tool for healthcare professionals.The bane of anyone suffering from claustrophobia, MRIs may be the least pleasant thought for those who would balk at caving or similar adventures in confined spaces. Fear not – in contrast to older technologies, most modern MRI centers offer “open” MRIs – two-sided structures that offer an infinitely less constricting examination!

CT Scan:

A computed tomography (CT) scan takes the rudimentary x-ray one step further – utilizing a series of x-ray images taken at different angles, this test offers healthcare professionals an in-depth and multifaceted view of the internal structures of the body – examining bones, soft tissues, and blood vessels for signs of abnormality. Particularly in instances where traumatic injury is suspected (such as a car accident), a CT scan may be employed to detect internal traumatic injury otherwise invisible to the naked eye.

The time following your accident is when – more than ever – you need competent, caring professionals on your side. Armed with years of experience and training, the elite team at PROS Miami will guide you every step of the way – we’ve been down this road before!

As anyone who has ever held a newborn baby knows, the human neck is a fragile appendage. What babies lack in physical power they make up for in intellectual prowess – born with highly developed brains, the weight of the head far outweighs the initially flimsy capabilities of the neck. Whiplash, Weeks into life, in fact, the neck of an infant must remain supported in order to avoid injury.

Thankfully, human adults are able to walk around without supportive assistance, resting assured that their necks are capable of supporting their (in comparison with the the rest of the animal kingdom) enormous brains. However, throughout life, the neck remains a delicate entity, vulnerable to sprains, strains and fractures from a multitude of dangers.

The most perilous of them all? Your family vehicle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that each year, over 1 million cases of whiplash are reported. (Many experts, however, believe that this may be a gross underestimate of incidents, suggesting a more likely 3 million cases.)

What is Whiplash?

First coined in conjunction with the widespread advent of motor vehicles in 1928, whiplash (so named in deference to the cracking of a whip) is an injury that results from the sudden and forceful back-and-forth movement of the neck. Though any traumatic injury may pose a risk of whiplash, the condition is most common in victims of car accidents – so widespread, in fact, that the treatment of whiplash supports a booming $30 billion a year industry in the United States.

Symptoms of whiplash may include:

– Neck pain and stiffness

– Worsening of pain with neck movement

– Loss of range of motion in the neck

– Headaches, most often starting at the base of the skull

– Tenderness or pain in shoulder, upper back or arms

– Tingling or numbness in the arm

– Fatigue

– Dizziness

Interestingly, whiplash is most prevalent in rear-end collisions, in which a sudden impact forces the neck forward and back in rapid succession. It is less common in side impact collisions, and least prevalent in frontal impacts.

Treatment

The good news? Whiplash is not a life-threatening injury, and in most cases is resolved within several months. With proper treatment and care, healing is both expedited and long-term. However, rapid and expert assessment after initial injury is crucial to long-term rehabilitation. Fortunately, the multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals at PROS Miami is well trained to assist you in recovery, ensuring that that pain in the neck that’s here today, is gone tomorrow!

The Fourth of July – the celebration of our nation’s independence and, for many a time of revelry. If you’re like many Americans, at the beginning of July you were engulfed in the festivities – parades, cookouts, and fireworks – an abundance of fireworks! According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, in fact, on July 4th, 2016 alone Americans detonated more than 285 million pounds of fireworks! The rockets red glare, indeed.

But for our nation’s veterans, the celebratory screech, squeal, and explosion of seemingly innocent fire and light may be anything but innocuous – for the 5.2 million Americans who experience PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) during the course of a given year, the distant echo of a neighbor’s target practice, the backfire of a car, or the tell-tale rat-a-tat-tat of an annual fireworks display may be cause for terror.

As defined by the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), PTSD entails the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor wherein there is perceived or actual threat of serious injury or death, the witnessing thereof, or the exposure to the threat of such injury to a close associate or family member.

Fight or Flight

Have you ever heard of the “fight or flight” response? Think back to the last time, for example, you haphazardly stepped into the crosswalk of a busy street, only to be narrowly missed by a distracted driver. That racing heart and shaking hand that occurred only milliseconds after your faulty step? That’s the fight or flight response kicking in to save you. Biologically designed to protect us from harm, the instantaneous activation of the parasympathetic nervous system in a time of trauma either mobilizes or freezes the individual in an effort to save life and limb. In most instances, this response is “shaken off” after the initial trauma. However, in instances of PTSD, the individual becomes caught in a perpetual trauma loop, psychologically (and physically) re-experiencing the initial trauma whenever triggered by an associated occurrence.

Are you at risk?

Symptoms may include:

• Flashbacks (Re-experiencing the initial traumatic event)
• Nightmares
• Recurring thoughts
• Avoidance of associated stimuli

A Helpful Hand

PTSD is not relegated to veterans of war, however. In modern society, with the potential for violence ever more present in daily life, occurrences of PTSD have soared, effecting approximately 8% of adult Americans each year, including victims of car accidents, robbery, natural disasters, emotional and physical abuse, traumatic injury, and more.

You are not alone! The key to understanding PTSD is the realization that the symptoms you are experiencing are your mind and body’s normal reaction to an abnormal and extraordinary event. Guided by the expert and compassionate care of the highly trained practitioners and psychotherapists in PROS Miami’s referral network, we will illuminate for you the light at the end of the dark tunnel of trauma.

The minutes, hours, and days after a traumatic car crash or accident can be a frightening, confusing, and uncertain time – navigating the legal, emotional, and physical effects of a sudden and debilitating injury can be all but overwhelming. With good reason, most individuals spare no expense in time, energy, and financial expense when researching rehabilitative care. Does my rehabilitative center offer the best in medical and post-injury care? Are the specialists leaders in their field? Are the services offered the latest the medical and scientific fields have to offer? All valid questions! Yet, when we examine healing, it’s important not to overlook one crucial yet less often discussed element of the rehabilitative process – the unquantifiable yet essential “bedside manner” of the healthcare team.

We’ve all been there. Referred to a great doctor or healthcare team by a friend or colleague, we’re assured that we’ll be receiving top-of-the-line care, and are well on our way to healing. Yet, to our surprise, the healthcare professional is brusque, impersonal, and seems more concerned with his or her next appointment than our welfare. And our concern is with good reason! In recent years research on integrative healthcare – or healthcare with an increased focus on the health of the mind, body, and spirit – has surged.

Holistic Health

We’ve all heard the adage “Money can’t buy happiness.” Yet, scientific research now proves its wisdom! Social psychologist Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University shows, in fact, that human beings are generally terrible at predicting what factors would lead to their happiness and health: though many purport winning the lottery would elicit increased health and happiness, definitive research demonstrates that lottery winners are, in fact, no healthier or happier over time than their less (monetarily) fortunate counterparts.

What Surprising Factor Leads to Increased Health?

Recently, researchers Steve Cole and Barbara Fredrickson, in conjunction with the National Academy of Sciences, conducted a study that produced fascinating results. The duo evaluated levels of cellular inflammation in individuals that described themselves as “very happy.” (Inflammation, many posit, is at the root of cancer and other diseases and is generally high in people who endure a great deal of stress.) Intriguingly, Cole and Fredrickson found that individuals who live a life high in purpose and meaning, in which social and intimate connections with others are strong, experience much lowers levels of intrinsic cellular inflammation, supporting lasting health! Key to their finding is that people who enjoyed the most significant health, both practiced and were recipients of one of the most salient components of happiness -compassion.

Service with a Smile!

At PROS Miami, we understand that the period of time directly after your accident is a vulnerable moment in your life’s journey, and that the quality of care you receive from our team contributes directly to the speed with which you return to health and vitality. Further, we know that it’s not just the quality of the medical interventions we employ that will effect your healing – it’s the depth and compassion of our care, the lasting relationships you’ll develop with your healthcare team that will support your longterm wellbeing. At PROS Miami, our specialists offer not only the latest in medical intervention, but service – with a smile!