Troy Naftzger, PA-C, joined Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville in January 2010.

Troy began his career as a physician assistant in 2003 upon graduating from the Cuyahoga Community College. He later earned his Masters of Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Nebraska in 2007. A licensed physician assistant, he also has served as a treatment supervisor and physician assistant for the U.S. Army since 1994, where he has significant experience in emergency and routine medical care.

The team at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville welcomes Troy!

The Ohio physical therapists of Orthopaedic Associates will be at the Day of Dance at Colony Squire Mall on February 27, 2010, between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

The event, sponsored by Genesis Healthcare System, welcomes the community to learn simple ways to stay healthy, enjoy music and participate in health screenings.

The Ohio physical therapists of Orthopaedic Associates provide information on proper stretching exercises and how physical therapy can help your life.

OAZ’s Ohio physical therapists can guide you in physical therapy or special hand exercises to relieve mild to moderate symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Gliding exercises: Moving your fingers in a specified pattern of exercises may help your tendons and nerves glide more smoothly through your carpal tunnel. While there’s some evidence that gliding exercises can help relieve carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms when used alone, these exercises appear to work better in combination with other treatments — such as splinting.

• Contrast baths: Alternating between warm water and cold water soaks helps reduce carpal tunnel symptoms in some people.

To talk to OAZ’s Ohio physical therapists about carpal tunnel syndrome, make an appointment today.

A rotator cuff injury is an injury to one or more of the four muscles in the shoulder. A chronic tear can usually be treated with rest and acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen. Occasionally, injections of steroids into the shoulder joint are helpful.

If pain persists, OAZ has one of the best teams of physical therapists in Ohio to perform passive range-of-motion exercises. Those with continued pain may require surgery and follow-up with an orthopedic surgeon.

Indications for surgical treatment:
• Usually for people younger than 60 years of age
• For complete tears
• An option after failure to improve after six weeks of proper treatment
• If the person has a job that requires constant shoulder use

If you’re experiencing shoulder pain or a rotator cuff injury, see OAZ’s Ohio physical therapists.

Stretching is the act of lengthening muscles in order to increase muscle flexibility and joint range of motion. OAZ specializes in Ohio physical therapy and reminds patients that stretching activities are an important part of any exercise or rehabilitation program.

The Mayo Clinic recently released a list of the top five benefits of stretching and OAZ agrees that these benefits are important for people of all ages to consider. Keep in mind that warming up the body prior to activity decreases the risk of injury as well as muscle soreness.

The top five benefits of stretching are:

1. Increased flexibility and joint range of motion:

Flexible muscles can improve your daily performance. Tasks such as lifting packages, bending to tie your shoes or hurrying to catch a bus become easier and less tiring. Flexibility tends to diminish as you get older, but you can regain and maintain it.

1. Improved circulation:

Stretching increases blood flow to your muscles. Blood flowing to your muscles brings nourishment and gets rid of waste byproducts in the muscle tissue. Improved circulation can help shorten your recovery time if you’ve had any muscle injuries.

1. Better posture:

Frequent stretching can help keep your muscles from getting tight, allowing you to maintain proper posture. Good posture can minimize discomfort and keep aches and pains at a minimum.

1. Stress relief:

Stretching relaxes tight, tense muscles that often accompany stress.

1. Enhanced coordination:

Maintaining the full range-of-motion through your joints keeps you in better balance. Coordination and balance will help keep you mobile and less prone to injury from falls, especially as you get older.

The Ohio physical therapy experts at OAZ remind patients that stretching is one of the most important parts of the rehabilitation process.

Often times caregivers do not realize that taking care of a spouse or family member at home can increase their risk of injury. In fact, certain activities put you at a greater risk for back pain, including:

• Pulling a patient in bed up into a sitting position
• Transferring a person from a bed to a chair
• Leaning over a patient for long periods of time
• Lifting or moving a person

The physicians at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville offer their patient caregivers the following lifting techniques to be sure that they, too, don’t suffer injury.

• Maintain the proper alignment of your head and neck with your spine
• Maintain the natural curve of your spine
• Don’t bend at your waist
• Avoid twisting your body when carrying a person
• Keep the person who is being moved close to your body
• Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, which will help maintain your balance
• Use the muscles in your legs to lift, not your back
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Patient caregivers can avoid back pain by keeping these simple tips in mind.

Recovering from any surgery can be a challenge, including a hip replacement surgery. At Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville, our board-certified surgeons work with recovering patients every day and believe that mind-set is a big part of rehab.

OAZ wants to encourage patients to have an optimistic attitude about the recovery process and recently came across an article where post-operative patients shared the joy that resulted from their hip replacement surgeries.

Some of the comments include:

• “Part of recovery is the simple pleasure from accomplishing a new milestone. I have not been able to walk upstairs or downstairs going leg over leg since September of 2008. It was such a joy this week to go up the stairs ‘normally’ without pain!”

• “I just completed week five and the world has suddenly become a place going out to dinner, shopping and enjoying life again. Prior to this, life wasn’t a lot of fun and certainly very little pleasure. I now feel alive again.”

• “I have reached my 12-week milestone where my surgeon said I would have achieved 90 percent recovery. I am walking up to three miles a day with no pain, planning to increase to five miles three times a week. I’m back to all day-to-day activities with no limping and I even played a little lawn volleyball with my sons! I stood for a couple of hours at an outdoor concert with no pain. Most of the time I don’t even think about my new hip. It feels completely natural.”

Talking to other patients and reading about ways surgery can change your life for the better can keep you encouraged during your hip replacement rehab.

The Ohio orthopaedic surgeons at OAZ remind patients that common injuries often occur at home. In fact, new reports on osteoporotic fragility fractures show that insomnia and self-reported poor sleep are associated with increased risk of falls. This research has shown a positive relationship between falls and short sleep duration at night.

This relationship was true for women over the age of 70.

• Women who slept less than 5 hours per night were about 47 percent more likely to have fallen twice or more during the course of the study.

• If the sleep was fragmented, poor sleep efficiency and greater wake time after sleep

onset were associated with increased risk of recurrent falls.

If you fall into this category, take caution and be sure to get at least seven hours of sleep per night and talk to an Ohio orthopaedic surgeon at OAZ for additional ways you can prevent falls at home.

You can find more injury prevention tips on our Preventative Health Web page or contact Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville at 740-454-3273.

Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville has one of the best Ohio sports medicine practices. One of the most common injuries treated at OAZ is a torn ACL. If you’ve experienced an injury, and your knee is popping, giving out or swelling, make an appointment to get an evaluation.

We have state-of-the art technology at OAZ to make diagnosis easy, including digital X-rays and orthopaedic MRIs.

Treatments for a torn ACL include both surgical and non-surgical options. In non-surgical treatment, progressive physical therapy and rehabilitation can restore the knee to a condition close to its pre-injury state and educate the patient on how to prevent instability. This may be supplemented with the use of a hinged knee brace. However, many people who choose not to have surgery may experience secondary injury to the knee due to repetitive instability episodes.

ACL surgeries have a 90% success rate. Reconstruction of the torn ligament is not a repair, but a replacement, which may come from tendons in the front of the leg, hamstrings or even donor tissue.

ACL reconstruction does not require a long hospital stay. Patients generally stay in the recovery room following surgery. Depending on the type of anesthetic that was used, it takes about one to two hours to recover enough to be able to sit up, eat some light food, use the bathroom (with crutches), and feel ready to go home. Hospital release usually takes place anywhere from between four to six hours after surgery to the next day.

OAZ’s Ohio sports medicine practice will work with patients for physical therapy treatment following the surgery. If you have questions, call us at 740-454-3273.

Many of our patients at Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville are seniors suffering from joint pain in Ohio. Our physical therapy team provides rehabilitation to keep you active.

Exercising is a great way for seniors suffering from joint pain in Ohio. As we get older, our bodies start to deteriorate. To stay healthy, seniors should work with their physician or physical therapists on a fitness program that includes strength exercises, balance exercises, stretching exercises, and endurance exercises. Here are just a few ideas.

• Weight lifting: As we age, we begin to lose muscle mass. By lifting weights, you can stop and even reverse this muscle loss. Regular weight bearing exercise also is beneficial to bone health. You can work on machines at the gym, lift free weights at home, or even do reps with items you have around the house.
• Walking: Walking is a great way to get your body moving without a lot of impact or stress. If you don’t get a lot of physical activity, starting a walking routine can build muscle mass, or at least keep muscles from degenerating. It also helps keep bones strong and healthy by putting some weight on them, even if it’s only your own body weight. The best part is, walking can be done anywhere and it’s a great social workout.
• Yoga: Yoga improves strength, flexibility, and balance. For many, it also is a way to relax and promote peace-of-mind. Don’t worry about difficulty; there are easier poses that are perfect for seniors.
• Stretching: This is an easy and simple way to keep your body limber and flexible. Just take a few minutes, two or three times a day to do some stretches. Pick several stretches so you can work the different parts of your body.

If you have questions about safe exercises for seniors suffering from joint pain in Ohio, Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville can help. Call us at 740-454-3273.