This summer, many places throughout our country are experiencing extreme heat conditions. For many of us, extreme temperatures of this kind may be atypical leaving us unprepared to make the best decisions regarding activity levels.

Heat stroke is a serious condition that occurs when the body overheats due to prolonged exposure to high temperatures (>= 90 degrees Fahrenheit) or physical exertion in hot environments. It is crucial to take necessary precautions to prevent heat stroke, especially during the hot summer months.

If a flower doesn’t bloom, do you blame the seed or the environment it was planted in?

In many ways, we’re not that different from plants.

Environmental factors play a significant role in determining an individual's health and well-being.

Remember, your body is a beautiful work of machinery that will respond differently to various stressors based on how well it’s operating at baseline.

Read More To Learn 5 Ways to Support Your Environmental Health!

You’re wondering what allergies have to do with your sleep quality right?

You’re also wondering why a physical therapist cares about your allergies and sleep quality, aren’t you?

Poor sleep quality can cause a myriad of health problems over prolonged periods of time, e.g. increased pain, increased stress, reduced processing, poor mood, digestive issues, etc. all of which can negatively impact your body’s ability to heal or recover from an injury or prolonged stress associated with training for endurance events- allergy season overlaps with marathon and triathlon season.

I’m sure you’ve heard me mention that there are 2 nervous system paths. Parasympathetic (Rest & Digest) and Sympathetic (Fight & Flight) are our bodies two options. Instead of counting on someone else to bring you calm, restful state you can do following for yourself. Even better, you can do these things WHENEVER you want or need, not just on Valentine’s Day!

The New Year lends itself to reflection and often decisions to improve upon ourselves and lives in some way moving forward. But what happens when you fall off from “perfect” execution?

It’s easy to get swept up with a million things to do during this time of the year. The tendency is to put yourself and your health on the backburner, which could be part of why New Year’s fitness resolutions are such a “thing.”I propose that this year, we try to do things A Little different.Put in some effort for self care now, and then when deals roll around in January, you hit the ground running because you already created habits that will last longer than a month!

Do you really need more hip “opening” and mobility or could you actually be missing hip stability in your yoga practice?

Are you aware that low back pain results in about 2.6 million E.R. visit annually amongst Americans? [1]

Most people will experience resolution of their back pain in less than or equal to 3 months, but recurrence of back pain is high. Think of it as the “common cold” of physical pain. At Thrive with Dr. C, we teach you about factors that made you susceptible to experiencing back pain, address them, and make sure that you know how to address them for yourself in the future.

There are so many different yoga practices available, it can be hard to know where to start or if you “belong,” because you don’t look like the people popularized as yoga practitioners.

Don’t worry, as a yoga practitioner/teacher, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and a curvier woman-of-color, I have you covered! But if none of this gives you the gumption to try a studio class, you can always get a personalized program from me to start you off strong and structured on your mat.

Ever been to physical therapy and thought, “I can do this at home.”?

If your answer is, “yes.” I apologize for my colleagues. My thought is that if you decided to try PT, it’s because you needed help resolving a pain or an injury- you needed a specialist. At Thrive with Dr. C, we start with a VERY in-depth evaluation process (getting to know you, your body, and function) which allows for the prescription of activities, exercises, education that you should do at home to achieve your desired results. When you come into the office, it our responsibility to demonstrate value and supply you with something NEW and/or provide further understanding of something that you didn’t KNOW to do previously.

Did you know that a lack of quality sleep is recognized as a public health problem? - About a 3rd of US adults report not getting the recommended amount of sleep/night.

At Thrive with Dr. C, we address sleep hygiene because there are direct and indirect impacts on your overall health. Once 1 system has trouble functioning, another will work overtime to pick up the slack, but that can only last so long. Often, things begin to manifest in physical ways associated with pain and movement dysfunction.

Are you aware that digestive problems can increase the likelihood of pain pretty much anywhere in your body?

At Thrive with Dr. C, we like to ask and educate regarding nutrition habits in order to address your pain from the inside-out!