It’s important to regularly check in on your health. Unfortunately, going to annual health and physical therapy exams is something that many people have avoided since the COVID-19 pandemic began. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 32% of U.S. adults avoided routine care in 2020. 

This means that many people have been stuck at home, and they haven’t been taking their normal steps to stay healthy, which may include ignoring their core fitness. Also, they may not have been doing any physical therapy or other things to improve their core fitness. If you fall into this group, you should consider having an annual physical therapy exam to check on your musculoskeletal health and core fitness. 

What can an annual physical therapy exam do to help your core fitness?

Your core is a large group of muscles in your trunk, and these muscles do a lot of the work of keeping you stable and upright. For those who have poor core fitness, an annual physical therapy exam can be helpful in many ways. This can include: 

1. Diagnosing core fitness issues — We mentioned that there are many muscles that are part of your core, right? Physical therapists can pinpoint the specific muscles that you need to address during an annual exam. They can also identify areas of your core that are too stiff or whose flexibility is being restricted by scar tissue. Furthermore, a physical therapist can create a plan to help improve your core strength and flexibility. 

2. Spotting posture problems — Your core fitness has a big effect on your posture, and annual physical therapy exams can help point out posture issues you have. Forward head posture. Rounded shoulders. Poor walking mechanics. These and other issues can stem from poor posture. A physical therapist can help you spot these and other postural issues. They can also help you develop a plan to address them. 

3. Identifying ergonomic issues — The chairs we sit in. The keyboard and mouse we use. The position of our monitors. Any or all of these things could be causing ergonomic issues that you need to address. But first, you have to know that these issues exist. The physical therapist who does your annual physical therapy exam can point out ergonomic issues that may be affecting you and how they may be affecting your core fitness. They can then offer recommendations to help you work on these issues. 

Find regular help improving your core fitness at Continuum Wellness

Eager to have an annual physical therapy exam that can help you learn about your core fitness and much more? Our Continuum Wellness team is here to help you. Our clinicians can help you identify weak or stiff areas of your core. They can also help you identify underlying issues that are contributing to poor core fitness. They can then build you a long-term personalized physical therapy plan designed to: 

• Stretch and strengthen your core muscles. 
• Break up areas of scar tissue. 
• Improve your posture. 
• Incorporate better ergonomics into your environment. 

Contact our team today for more information about all the services we offer that can help your core fitness, to schedule an initial appointment or find out what to do before your first session.