November 2011
"Building Movement Awareness": Motor skills are acquired throughout our early years as we explore our environment and interact with our world around us. Normal development of motor skills follows a typical pattern, usually described as “milestones”. As children develop they can deviate from the expected time frame and often catch up to their peers at some point, maybe surpassing expectations.
This process of motor skill acquisition is sometimes interrupted by injury, emotional stress or some other factor. When motor skills are stunted or never attained they can often be overlooked even into adulthood.
“Johnny is just not very coordinated”. “Suzie is just clumsy”. “Freddy is just not good at sports”. These phrases are heard often when talking about children that do not develop motor skills appropriately.
In Physical Therapy we deal with injured people. Not all injured people are able to recover fully for various reasons. Some injured people recover slowly and some quickly. Many factors play a role in injury recovery, but Movement Awareness can play large role.
An example: Minnie injured her knee in a car accident. In Minnie’s recovery she underwent a major surgery. She then had to re-learn to walk, run, jump, step up/down, pivot and many other tasks. Her recovery went quickly as she re-learned these tasks at a high level of motor skill. She could easily explain the positions that aggravated her knee, she could easily describe the giving way she experienced in her knee while walking up stairs, she could bend her knee and very methodically isolate specific muscle groups when instructed. She had good Movement Awareness.
Another Example: Mickey injured his knee in a truck accident. He underwent a major surgery and re-learned how to walk. He had trouble re-learning how to pivot in and out of the car. He struggled with his exercise program because he couldn’t really coordinate his other leg with his injured leg. He needed constant supervision to do his exercise program correctly. Mickey had poor Movement Awareness.
Good Movement Awareness usually comes from our motor skill acquisition throughout our life. These skills DO NOT have to be learned as a child, BUT (a very large BUT) most people establish their coordination, agility, reactive balance and proprioceptive ability during their younger years.
One thing that modern neuroscience research has shown us is
that our brain and nerves can learn to coordinate movements in our body at any age. The key is repetition and practice. Even people who begin exercise very late in life can see improvement in these areas.
Here are some tips to help build Movement Awareness. (If you have an injury or medical condition you should seek advice before trying any new physical activity.)
Building Movement Awareness through exercise:
· Jump Rope: This uses your hands, arms, legs and will force you to coordinate many different muscle groups at the same time.
· Step Exercise: Step aerobics had it right in the 80’s. Use a 8-12 inch step to practice fast and slow step ups and step downs in all directions (Front, back, sideways, diagonal, etc)
· Bar Hangs: Monkey bars are on playgrounds to help kids build upper body strength and coordination. Practice hanging from the bar and swinging back and forth to start.
Building Movement Awareness through Activities:
· Tai Chi: This form of movement training can be traced to a spiritual/meditative art form but has been adapted to focus on the physical form. It is great for balance and awareness of body position.
· Racquet Sports: Tennis, racquetball, badminton, ping-pong, pickleball, etc. These all use our hand-eye coordination to play the game. Some are high impact and fast, while others are very low impact and can be modified for any level of fitness. Join a club or compete!
· Swimming: There is a right way and wrong way to swim. Learn the basic strokes and then have someone critique you. This will challenge your body in a low-impact environment. Maybe try synchronized!
Improved Movement Awareness can enhance your experience in sports, in hobbies and in rehabilitation if you were to get injured. If you want specific advice about how to improve your movement awareness, ask your Physical Therapist!
Ankle sprains are one of the most common orthopedic injuries in the world yet they are also one of the most under-treated injuries. Most ankle sprains heal on their own without treatment…...or do they?
In many cases, one ankle sprain leads to another and then another. This is a common presentation in our Physical Therapy office. For those that do not re-sprain the ankle, there is usually a physical activity that has helped regain stability and strength where the damage was done.
The tissue most often damaged in an ankle sprain is LIGAMENT. The next tissue most often damaged is TENDON. There is a very significant difference between these two tissues because ligaments never truly heal. Tendons do heal, but often slowly. When ligaments are torn, the ankle joint becomes more loose and in some cases unstable. When tendons are torn, muscles (attached to the tendon) become weak.
What is it that keeps a sprained ankle from becoming a recurring, chronic sprained ankle?
In research done on this subject the most common finding has been that certain types of exercise and activity will help prevent recurrent ankle sprains better than others. A sprained ankle needs more than just “strengthening”.
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