Pain Relief University
Have you been searching for pain solutions that don’t involve incisions, addictions, injections, medications or complications?If yes, then this podcast is for you. Pain Relief University’s hope for every one of you is that you stop suffering needlessly and experience relief naturally.May this episode be the one that makes pain-free living your new and permanent reality.
Pain Relief University
Ep 3 - 2 Sides of a Coin, Occupational Therapy & Physical Therapy
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In this episode, we interview Dr. Eulanda, an occupational therapist. As you might recall, last week we interviewed Dr. Katherine, a PHYSICAL Therapist. Yes, there is a difference between the two. If you didn't know that beforehand, and even if you did, be sure to check out this episode for more information on those differences and more!
She can be found online at dailygraceadh.com. She can also reached thru the following number: 478-227-8968. Feel free to reach out to her for more information regarding her story and occupational therapy!
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Pain Relief University is proudly presented by MegRelief – the ultimate all-natural pain solution. Say goodbye to pills and chemicals; MegRelief offers pure relief through natural and organic ingredients. With just one spray, soak, or massage, you can experience quick and effective pain relief.
Have you been searching for pain solutions that don't involve incisions, addictions, injections, medications, or complications? If yes, this podcast is for you. Pain Relief University's hope for everyone is that you stop suffering needlessly and experience relief naturally. May this podcast provide you the combination of remedies that make pain-free living your new reality. Let's get started. Good evening everyone. This is Arthur Toole with Pain Relief University, where our goal is to come in and help you know what the experts are saying about pain and things that you can do to just work through that pain before you go under the knife, before you take another pill. So with me, I have just an expert and a friend and an accountability partner, Yolanda Waller, who's been an occupational therapist for, well, actually, I'm not going to steal her show. First, thank you for coming on to our humble small podcast. But will you please, for our audience, tell them, you know, who you are, what you do, you know, how long you've been at occupational therapist, and anything else you want to share to start us off?
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you so much, Arthur, for this opportunity. It is a privilege and an honor to be on here to speak with you and your audience. My name is Yolanda Waller. I am an occupational therapist in the Macon Middle, Georgia area. I have been practicing for 19 plus years. Um, and my specialty is pretty much geriatrics, um, seniors, those who want to age in place, who do not want to be forced to go to a long-term care facility or memory care facility. So I work with um seniors in the community by educating them on fall prevention strategies, also on things that they can do to make their home environment safe. Um, I also have experience with skilled nursing facilities, been um in long-term care for about 10 years. I've been doing home health for as long as that as well, and um acute rehab. So I have had my hands in patients along the whole gamut.
SPEAKER_01You do everything.
SPEAKER_00I do, yeah, I've done a little bit of everything. Um, but my passion is pretty much for those seniors who who want to stay active, who want to thrive, who want to be able to be independent and live at home safely and not necessarily have to live with their children or in a nursing home. So my goal is to equip them and empower them to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_03Gotcha, gotcha. So, first I want to say thank you for what you do because I my mom was um, she was an occupational therapist. What is it? Do they call them uh CODAS? Is that what they call them?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, occupational therapy assistants.
SPEAKER_03Yes. So she was occupational therapist assistant. And that was when I first got exposure um to you all's universe and what you all do. Um and then it was later in the military after I had um and I accidentally had surgery that I had I became to know about occupational therapists and physical therapists and just the whole rehabilitation to get back to normal life. So um with you guys, now I have I'm fully functional because I tore some ligaments in a couple of different places because of the military. Um so I am I am grateful. And then for my mom, um, she had both knees replaced. Um it was the occupational therapist that came in first, and then it was a physical therapist that came in uh later that helped her. So you guys are are critical. But I will start with this. Why is it that a lot of people don't know about what you guys do? All right, because like for me, if it wasn't for my mom, I wouldn't have known until I was forced to. So it's like I know a doctor, I know a dentist, I know uh, you know, a chiropractor. Why aren't more people aware of occupational therapy?
SPEAKER_00Most times, I believe, because not a lot of occupational therapists are in private practice. So you will be introduced to an occupational therapist once you go into a hospital or after you've had surgery, um, and then that surgeon refers you to an outpatient clinic where specifically, if it's for a shoulder or a hand, um they can order occupational therapy for that, or if you have to go to rehab after you've been hospitalized after a traumatic injury or some type of um health event where you're not able to go home and you need a little bit more time to recuperate. So that's most times when people are introduced to occupational therapists. However, occupational therapists work with people across the lifespan. So even infants, newborns, um, occupational therapists will work with them if, you know, for instance, um there were a situation during birth, and um, you know, there are some um some babies that are born and they have um their arm is like caught in the birth canal and they have um the ligaments that stretch, so they can work with them. Um after giving birth, the nurse is going to check for certain reflexes that should be there. Um, if those reflexes aren't there um because of either the um birthing event or some type of developmental issue, they can call it occupational therapists in. And so through the life span, um, because occupational therapists help people to regain function or be independent as possible despite their injuries or their disabilities, whether it's mental or physical, um, they can work with kids to make sure they meet their developmental milestones to be able to, you know, go to school and learn and to be independent. But also um, you know, in adulthood, most of the time when there's injuries, um, that's when people are introduced to occupational therapies.
SPEAKER_03You know what? I forgot to mention how we were introduced. I um I came to know you through our mutual friend Catherine, who I mentioned before we we uh we started the podcast. Um with uh well, she was a physical therapist, but my our youngest son had some motor development uh challenges. And when I went to Catherine, um you were the one that she recommended, and you were the one that gave us like the initial tools to use to help help our um our youngest son develop and it worked out. But I would have never ever thought, oh, let's reach out to occupational therapists, right? Um so I think like people really need to know what you guys do because if they know, then they can be less dependent on drugs or they can be less dependent on the immediately jump into surgery and things like that. Um, are there anything going on to build more awareness around occupational therapists? Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Well, it there is um amongst my um colleagues. So we're building a community where we're um empowering each other to be more independent and to be in private practice and to be able to provide services to improve the accessibility for people to find occupational therapists. Um unfortunately, people um or sometimes it's doctors who lump us together is physical therapy. And we are we work closely together, but our outcomes and our strategies are somewhat different. So it has to be specifically um separate. Um, so if there's someone, um, say for instance, a parent whose child is having some behavioral issues. I remember being in a um restaurant not too long ago, and um a family came in and the daughter, you could tell, you know, she was hyperactive. She was excited about being there. It was crowded. So you can tell because what I could tell, because I know of how certain sensory input may affect the child. So the father, yeah, the father was behind me, and he said to his wife, he's like, let's just go, because the the child was, you know, running to the table, she was under the table, you know, she just couldn't sit still. And so I encouraged him to stay, and I encourage him, you know, that she's fine, you know, it's okay, that we can, you know, society's gonna learn to accept certain behaviors. Um, and so um they did stay, and I observed those type of behaviors, but evidently the family may not know how to communicate that to the pediatrician, um, that she just can't sit still when she's in an environment, you know, she she's all over the place. She can't organize herself and calm down and be able to enjoy a meal in peace. So that's that lets me know there are some sensory motor issues. Um, and there's the spectrum of um autism, there's the spectrum of sensory processing disorder, and testing um is done to determine what that is. And because um, you know, most people think of a psychiatrist as doing the testing, but occupational therapists also do testing because we look at the whole person.
SPEAKER_03So we're gonna look at their what kind of testing do you do? I just want to make yeah.
SPEAKER_00So there are um comprehensive assessments that we do. So it's gonna look at their visual perception, it's gonna look at their motor coordination, it's gonna look at their strength, it's gonna look at their cognition. Um, and so we take that data and we put it all together, and then we get a score. And based on that score and our interpretation of what we see and how the child responds, we can make recommendations for them. And then the treatment goes along with that.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so let me give some scenarios for for our audience. So going back to you would you were having breakfast at a restaurant, the child was what was running around. Um, normally most of us would just call that a bad child or a child that's really, really energetic. But for you, you know, because of your background, you realize that it may not be that. So if I have a child that just can't sit still for whatever reason, um, before I if I go to the doctor, they just they're just gonna say they're hyperactive, right?
SPEAKER_01And they're gonna gritlin or something like that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But I can take them to you, and there may be some things that you can do to help us work through that.
SPEAKER_00Right. And so the thing about that would be a medical service. So their pediatrician or your doctor has to give us an order to provide treatment. So um, before you do medication, um, you can ask you, I mean, and people have to communicate and talk with their daughter. And sometimes they have to bring it up. So, can I get a referral for an occupational therapist? Do you know of an occupational therapist in the area that can um assess my child or assess me if it's something related to pain or function or anything like that? And um, nine times out of 10, they will have a list of providers. If not, they can definitely find one. A referral nurses most times is in the office and they can find one. But if you do your own research and um your homework, you can choose who you want as a therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, just like you choose your doctor or your dentist.
SPEAKER_03You can choose. Is that still based on the type of insurance that you have, or can I be in in Maryland and pick an occupational therapist in Georgia?
SPEAKER_00So it depends. If you want your insurance to pay for it, um, you would find a provider who is within your insurance network.
SPEAKER_03So in network, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And then so because we are licensed by state. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03So let me do this. There's some other scenarios of uh where occupational therapy could help a person. So we had the young kids, um, and then we had our kid who had some developmental challenges and some motor skills challenges. Like he he literally could not squeeze his hand and he couldn't write well. And we just thought he didn't know how to write well. It turned out his hands were physically weak. And so we did squeezing exercises that that you taught us, and that helped him out tremendously. Um, but I know you do before we get to the elderly, what are some scenarios that I guess like the 20, 30, 40-year-old could find themselves in that before they go to surgery, they should come see you?
SPEAKER_00Right. So um it could be anything from an athlete um who may have an injury and it doesn't go away in two or three days. Um, so they can seek an occupational therapist for an evaluation to determine one, the source of the pain and treat that source of pain and improve their range of motion flexibility strength. Um also those who may work and may um with repetitive motion, they may experience some type of um some type of pain or discomfort. Um, it affects their their ability to perform their job. Um, so again, occupational therapists do on-site um ergonomic um assessments and make recommendations of not only, I know a lot of companies have learned how to like set up desks and computers at eye level and keyboard, but also we assess the um the how the person performs the job, and we can make recommendations um of how to do the job maybe more efficiently, where it's not going to be overworking, say your shoulders, or um if you have to stand for a long period of time, um educating the corporation on how to encourage more risk breaks or um changing the flow of the work. Um, and maybe it may be um how the how the if it's a conveyor line, how that's set up, you know, it's just different things that we can look at and make recommendations um for that age group. Um it can be um anyone who you lifting furniture, you know, and you hurt your back. Um, and then it may last for a while. You know, it may be a uh just a simple injury or it can be a traumatic injury. Um, and then after that, I mean, we've had people who um have had to have surgery and they want to return to work. So after surgery, you think you're just gonna wake up from surgery and be able to get up and continue to do your daily routines, but that may not be the case. So we have to retrain you um to do your dressing, do your toileting, adhere into those final precautions after surgery. Um, and then work your way up to where you can perform your job um, you know, at the best um quality that you can. Um it can be anything from an accident if if someone gets in an accident and get injury. So it it can be anything, actually.
SPEAKER_03So got it. You know, so what's the difference? And just pardon my ignorance. So um probably about seven years ago, uh my wife Danette got it, she was rear-ended, um, and the guy just hit and ran. And he ended up not being able to, I mean, she was in constant pain. Um, and naturality is one of the reasons we have meg relief. Um, but at that time we didn't. And somebody recommended a chiropractor to her, and I was adamantly, you know, against you know, chiropractor, uh chiropractor, not because of anything, I had no experience, but it was it was my ignorance that made me against you know, chiropractors. But nothing else worked, pain mass didn't work. The doctors were like, oh, just give it time. But now we're talking months in, and she still have like like serious pain, like 10 out of 10. So she went to a chiropractor, they did something, and then she found some relief, and then you know, now she had to go every week, like two, three times a week, until finally we was like, you know, enough, we're not gonna go anymore. One, it's a two-part question. So, what would have been different if she would have came to an occupational therapist um after a car accident? Or is that the would that have been a good approach? And two, then a later question is what's the difference between uh a chiropractor and an occupational therapist? Um, and you could take either one. And the reason I asked this is because based on what you're saying, the some of those things they were taught they told us, and that's what led us to go to a chiropractor for her.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So they probably recommended a chiropractor. Well, this is what really can help is we get a clear diagnosis of what's going on. So they're gonna do if either at the hospital or through orthopedist or neurosurgeon, um, depending on the where where the pain is, um, to do a diagnostic test. So whether, okay, your x-ray is gonna show you bones. Okay, so if there's a fracture um or misalignment, it can show you, but you're gonna need most likely a CAT scan or MRI to show any type of soft tissue or other layers of the anatomy to show us if there's a tear, if there's some type of um some um some labor, some things in the disc that are herniated. Like we need to know, we need a clear diagnosis from the doctor. Okay. So with a chiropractor, the chiropractor is going to focus on the spine, okay. Um, the spine and joints. And so what their goal is to be able to improve the alignment, so um you have improved um mobility and relieve the pain. Um, but if it's more of a soft tissue um issue, then the approach to how to for healing would be different. Okay. So if your pain is limiting you from doing your daily activity or if it's leading to depression, or you're not, um, you're more fatigued, then as far as an occupational therapist, we're going to address all of those areas. So with the pain, depending on I'm I would do a more thorough interview. What type of pain can you describe it? When does it happen? Um, you know, what are you doing now? How effective is that? What have you tried this? And give you some alternatives of what you can do for pain management, and then incorporating that when your pain is at its least or without trying to engage you in some type of um exercises to improve your mobility, um, engaging you in your functional, whatever activity you need to do when your pain is less. So we're gonna do a regimen, we're gonna look at that to improve your overall ability to be able to function again. Um, now another option for um any type of um vertebral or spinal issues is the physical therapist because they're also um trained as well um to be able to do some type of um distractions and mobility. Um, some occupational therapists have that skill set too. Um we're just not as aggressive at doing like the popping and all of that kind of stuff. So um, and we also use modalities as well. So whether that's thermal, so either heat or cold pat, um using ultrasound, um, those type of things that reduce the inflammation in the area and be able to um then work towards the range of motion or the soft tissue massages and trying to, you know, break up the adhesions and things like that. It's not as aggressive as um chiropractors, um, but it's still a lot of times effective if it can be corrected without.
SPEAKER_03Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. All right, so I'm gonna switch it up for uh for us a little bit. So answer this why occupational therapy? Like you could have done from the sounds of it, you could have done a bunch of things. You yet you chose occupational therapy. What was it?
SPEAKER_00Right. So yeah, that was the plan. You know, when you leave high school and you go to college, the plan is to go premier, right? So actually, it was like my junior year, I believe it was, and I was a part of um the healthcare society um at my university. And we went on this college tour of med schools, and lo and behold, at the Howard University med school, the LI Health students came in and they did a presentation on physical therapy and occupational therapy and maybe speech therapy. But listening to the presentation and talking about what occupational therapy does, I was like, that would fit my lifestyle. Like I would be able to help people, you know, more. I'm not just gonna meet them in an office and see them, you know, once or twice a year. And you know, I would be able to build the relationship, really help them to regain their life, which would be an overall benefit, you know, for them in the long run. And, you know, you'll be able to serve more people. Like I figured, you know, I might get bored doing the same thing for 30, 40 years.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah. And so I can I can change it up. I can work with kids, I can work with adults, I can work with seniors, I can work in the work industry, I can work, you know, different areas. So I the the variety of the profession, it hit home with me. It didn't seem like something that would be so um stressful and time consuming. Like I want work life balance, right? So um being an entrepreneur, that changes changes that. But but that was the goal back then. And um to be able to work, you know, and not being so like looking in a microscope, because I was a biology major too. So looking in a microscope all day or you know, writing prescription. Like I didn't want that lifestyle. I wanted to be able to relate to people and um be able to help them in the long run.
SPEAKER_03So gotcha.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So then tell me about your most satisfying experience uh working with a patient. Like that set it up. Like, you know, what did they experience? You know, what did you do? How did it end? Like, like lead us through that.
SPEAKER_00Geez, man, I it's so many. Like, um, I think one would be um a patient that I had um in the home health setting. Um, it was a lady, um, and she was bedbound when I met her. She wasn't able, like she wasn't able to get up and go to the bathroom anymore. Um, she lived with her daughter, but her daughter worked. So she was at home by herself. She would have to wait till her daughter gets home from work to be able to, you know, either get her um, if she was having an incontinent episode to get cleaned up or to get things that she may want it for herself, like a snack or something. Um, her daughter may come during the day or whatever. And so this late, I mean, she was morbidly obese. Um, she had had um knee replacement and it was a failed knee replacement, so her knee would give out. So she had a fear of falling. Um, she was oxygen-dependent, um, she had congestive heart failure. Um, it was just a number of, she had she was a breast cancer survivor. It's just a lot of medical issues that she had. And so um I went in. Um, and so when you have patients like this, you know, of course they're anxious, they don't trust you, they don't trust themselves, they don't trust you. Um, so to be able to get this lady to at least the side of the bed um took a lot of um encouragement, um, getting her to trust me. Um, but within a week or two, we was able to get her to the side of the bed. Um, shortly after that, we was able to walk to the bathroom where she could use the toilet. Um, we started working on toilet trans, I mean shower transfer. So she was able to get in the shower, have the eight, give her a shower, shampoo her hair, like those types of things that we take for granted. Like to be able to do that, like it would change her whole life. And so about in a month, um, you know, during the course of our time working together, we were working on walking longer distances. So they lived in an apartment. So the goal was to be able to walk to the kitchen. So if you want to get you a beverage, get you a snack, you know, you'll be able to do that safely. So we were able to get her, she has a rollator walker, so you know, it has the seat, and I would remind you, she is oxygen-dependent, she has congestive heart failure, so her stamina is really low. So, but we were able to accomplish that. She was able to walk to the kitchen. We would do kitchen tests, so having her reach in the cabinets, reaching the refrigerator. Lo and behold, this was leading up to Thanksgiving, and this lady got so much better. Like, she cooked Thanksgiving dinner with her family. Like, what I was expecting you to make a sandwich or reheat something in the microwave, and you're doing Thanksgiving dinner, and I she threw down. Yeah, that's a good one. So, those type of outcomes really make me proud. Um, there's another lady, um she had a respiratory disease. Um, it was cystic fibrosis, and she was on hospice actually. And so, um, but her family didn't want to give up.
SPEAKER_03Hold on. Um, for those who don't know what hospice is, you know, break that down for them.
SPEAKER_00Right. So hospice is the um the medical service for people who have a chronic disease or a terminal disease where their life expectancy is not expected to improve or they are expected to expire within six months or 12 months. Okay. So um she came from the hospital and um she was referred to hospice for in-home care. So you get nursing to come in, you have a doctor who can do a home visit, respiratory therapy, you can get supplies. So it's it helps the family um to be able to take care of them at home and not you know have to go to a nursing home or stay in a hospital long term. So um, or a nurse at home. So anyway, um working with her again with um Catherine, we work with her. Um, and so just to be able to roll in bed and to sit up was a chore. And so we would do exercises and just imagine, like now with the pandemic, people understand how you know, when your lungs are constricted, um, how hard it is to breathe. So just being able to sit up or being able to change position, like it is exhausting. But she was able to um, you know, conquer that, improve her ability to stand and her range of motion, her strength. Um, and so as she improves, I would just introduce her to different things. So one of her favorite things to do was cook for her family. So there were certain dishes that they, you know, enjoyed for her to do. And also for herself, she was independent before she went to the hospital. So she was able to live on her own and she did whatever she needs to do for herself. So for her to have to have her children take care of her, um, she felt guilty um about doing that. You know, she wanted to be able to do more for herself. So we would do things in the kitchen. We would be able to, you know, do things. Um, the other thing, she was afraid of falling. So we were able to, I was able to recommend the necessary bathroom equipment so she could um be able to, you know, go to the toilet, um, take a shower. Those things are very important to me. I think it makes anyone who's sick feel better. Um, and also to be able to do those things and dress herself. But the out the biggest thing was um, so one of the nurses came and did an assessment of her. And she was sitting up in the chair and she was working on this sewing activity. It was like a Christmas stocking that she makes for her children, grandchildren. This has been tradition in her family. And then she said the nurse was surprised that she wasn't in bed, that she was sitting up. And she's like, Yeah, she said, I don't lay in the bed. She said, I get up every day, you know, I do whatever she wants to do for the day. So cool. But the good thing about that, this lady got so much better. Her she was able, her family celebrated her birthday. So she had her children and her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. They celebrate, I forget which number, it was like 80 something. They celebrated her birthday with her.
SPEAKER_03Wow, you gave her you gave her a life back.
SPEAKER_00Gave her life. I mean, she wasn't in the bed, she was sitting at the table dressed, enjoying the meal and talking with her family.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. No, that's awesome. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, those, yeah, those are good.
SPEAKER_03No, those are really good. So, so if my child has motor development skills, I can come see you. If I have an elderly parent um who's falling, or who can't bathe themselves, who can't get out the bed, or they're in a lot of pain, I can bring them to you. If I'm experiencing um, you know, severe pain that's impeding my daily life, like it's impeding my ability to work, my ability to walk, I can come see you. That that that's that's your area.
SPEAKER_00That's our area. So, and also that of course there are situations where a lot of our saers um have arthritis, right? That is the most common syndrome that everyone has. Um, it can get so severe that it affects their ability to move. Um, and again, when people have to deal with pain every day, like it starts to affect their mentality, their emotions, right? Um, they try to protect themselves and not have to, you know, cause anything that's gonna cause more pain or that's gonna be uncomfortable for them. So it's very important that we um go in and educate our patients on how to manage their pain. For one, the proper exercises they need, because if it's arthritis, most time we're gonna work on strengthening the muscles that support that joint, okay, to eliminate falls, to um elongate the muscles and the tendons and the and the muscles, so they will be able to do what they need to do. But the main thing is being able to manage the pain. Um, and so again, like there are things, even though in the clinic or in the hospital, we use um more sophisticated um modalities, you know, our heating packs or our cold pack, ice packs, um, our ultrasounds. Um, but you still can do that at home. I mean, even if they don't have a full ice pack, you get your bag of frozen peas. Like, or, you know, if you got some ziplop bags, we can put some ice cubes in that and just use that. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't have to be that. But, you know, we got to be able to do what we need to do to get where we're trying to get, right? And so the other thing is um I think it's hard for people or they get tired of telling, you know, their healthcare professional that they hurt. But it's very important to advocate for what you need, um, be able to describe the pain. Um, and I tell people to write it down. So when you go to your doctor's office, you know, it may not come to mind, but if you can explain to them, okay, it's a burning pain or it's an aching pain, it's a stabbing pain, and tell them where it is or when do you feel it, most of the time they can it'll help them kind of get the right services or referrals to a specialist or the right type of if it's medication? A lot of people don't want to take medication, so it's and because of the opioid abuse, most time they're just gonna get Tylenol anyway. Tylenol.
SPEAKER_03That's what I was gonna. I was gonna ask you about that. So how many of your patients do you well, first, do you prescribe medication as occupational therapists? In fact, no, not at all. Do many of your patients that come in to see you, um, like your elderly patients, are they already typically on prescription medication for pain?
SPEAKER_00Right. Um, most times they are. Um, and again, most recently in the last year or two, probably two or three maybe, it's not gonna be your narcotics or your opioids anymore.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So you do you are seniors? They're trying to get away from the opioids?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. From chronic use. Now, if it's something like if you just had a hip replacement, they're gonna recommend a narcotic for that. But most seniors, they're so afraid of getting addicted to it, they don't really want to take it anyway. So um, not a lot, but there are some, you know, they go to the pain clinic and they can get those pills. And does it help? It's a short-term relief. But the side effects of long-term use of opioids, I mean, I I wouldn't recommend it. I would recommend them do some alternative things, you know, to help with their pain management.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no. Um, have you seen someone that's had that suffered severe side effects from opioid use? I mean, or prescription drug use?
SPEAKER_00Most time it's gonna be constipation.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, it's gonna be something like that. It's gonna be liver issues um or kidney function, you know, long-term use of ibuprobe and stuff like that, or depending on what their other health conditions are, they shouldn't even take those type of medications. Um but then there are those who are addicted to it. But the other thing about that, um, sometimes um patients who have depression, they're gonna perceive pain. And so it's kind of hard to say, you know, if are you feeling pain or are you perceiving pain? So that's another thing about therapists. We're gonna try to get to the root of what's really limiting your abilities there.
SPEAKER_03So I know for me when I had um, so well, the the the major surgery I had um on my on my hand wrist, they gave me, I don't know what the prescription was, but again, like I said in the beginning, my mom was a was a coda. She took the she took the meds and she was like, you're not gonna have these. I was looking at like the doctor told me to try, she said, I don't, I don't care that you you're not having this. Uh you can have a coplatitanol, and then that's it. Um, and then so I know I you know I know about addictions because we have seen that in in our in our family, but I've never taken you know prescription drugs. And then for her, when she did, when she had both her knees replaced, she opted for ibuprofen. Um, you know, she did, I think she did maybe like the prescription drugs a couple of times and she switched to ibuprofen. And then from there, and she was doing that like four or five times a day. And then, you know, at that time, that's when meg relief came online, and she went from four or five times a day for mega uh from prescription ibuprofen to once every other day on meg relief. But she had she had knowledge like you, uh, and and so like listen, like we don't want the the side effects of prescription drugs. Um and so that's that's just tough. You know, that's just tough. Uh so but it's good that you're saying that in the industry people are steering away from opioids now. Right. That's a good thing. I didn't know that that people were. I I was just thinking if you had surgery, it was just automatic they're gonna give you um opioids.
SPEAKER_00Right. Well, the thing is, is that some patients are mad because they can't get that. But it's not just it's just not it's not just that the doctor don't want to write the prescription. I mean, it's it's coming from legislature. Like, yeah, they they are trying to uh to it's like a war on prescription on prescription trust on opiots. So it's not like they can just all willy-nilly just give you that for they're gonna do that maybe for the first 30 days, but to get a refill, it's hard to get a refill.
SPEAKER_01Some Percocet or uh I'm like you say Percocet?
SPEAKER_03And you still stand up, that's just um so I I've taken a lot of your time and I want to respect your time, but I want to talk about the the last thing about um your business, right? Like um you have a couple, so if you could just go to like what are you doing, I know you target the elderly, um, but what are some of the services that you provide? And then just leave them, you know, give us your web address and and telephone number um if people are in the making area and want to use your services, or if you only serve people in the making area, uh, you know, if you if you can assist outside of that and share that as well.
SPEAKER_00Right. So as far as the occupational therapy um services, um it is for private practice where I do a mobile outpatient service. So I'm able to go to the patient's home and provide those services in home. Um, and so what my niche is is for fall prevention. So I do um balance training, um, also anything with aging in place. So I do home safety assessments and make recommendations for those who may need modifications in their home, especially for those who um have either um mobility issues or those who've had a stroke, um, you know, those who've had amputations, those type of things where they want to be able to live in their home and be able to um, you know, safely still, you know, move around their home, or the caregiver needs to be able to provide care for those people. So I make those um those recommendations um that's needed. Also, um, I can do wellness programs. So even though it may not be a skilled um therapy session, but for those who want to maintain their strength and their stamina, um, it's not gonna be like a personal trainer. I'm not gonna have you um trying to run sprints and trying to do um do full push-ups and those type of things, but it's gonna be um uh an individual exercise program to be able to maintain their strength, their mobility, their flexibility to um to be healthy and to live um, you know, as pain-free or less restrictive as possible. Um, and also for those um people who are in the community um, but they need a little bit more support, um, medical management or medical monitoring, that's where my adult day health center comes in. So for those um those individuals who have aging parents, but they still want to work, or if they just need a break, um, it can be even a spouse, you know, this is a safe place for them to send their loved one where they can be looked at during the day. Um, we have a nurse on staff, um, therapy services are provided there as well. They have fun, they do activities, games, and socialize with other people. So it, and so the whole thing is to be able to have thriving seniors in the community, right? Um, even though you may not drive, you may not have the same friends, but you can still be active and engaged and have a purpose every day. Um, and that's called Daily Grace Adult Day Health Services. And the website for Daily Grace is dailygraceadh.com. And for my occupational therapy services, Waller, W-A-L-L-E-R-O-T.com. And so um both um websites can get you um in contact with me if you have specific questions.
SPEAKER_03So thank you. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much. This has been awesome again. Like, you know, I personally thank you because um of all the things you've done for my family. Um, and it's just been been a blessing. So thank you. Uh and everybody listen, you know, if if you have parents that, you know, are falling, they're getting they're getting up there in age or they can't do the the basic things that um you know that they used to be able to do. I mean, definitely, definitely contact an occupational therapist. Like, you know, your insurance will cover it most likely, right?
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah. So yeah, Medicare covers it, um, the Medicare Advantage plans. Um, but they can just call me and we can go over that, what their benefits will cover.
SPEAKER_03Um, and then leave them with your number too.
SPEAKER_00So um the number to reach me out is 478-227-8968. 478-227-8968.
SPEAKER_03Awesome, awesome. So you have any final words for our audience?
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, yes, yes. So for um, if you're having if you're having any type of pain, please um communicate with your doctor about the pain um and seek um the expertise of a physical therapist or an occupational therapist. Um, try those before you do your injections and your surgeries and um have to take pain medication for an extended period of time. I'm sure you will find someone in the area who can help meet your needs. And also try movement is is powerful. So even like your yogas um or your um Pilates, um, gentle um exercise programs, those are beneficial because God designed our bodies to be able to heal his stuff. So try those um those alternative methods. Um, and um it doesn't hurt to try meg relief and use that consistently.
SPEAKER_03Of course. Thank you for the kind, uh, that kind plug. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03All right, you guys, we will see you all next time. We're out of here.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Be healthy.
SPEAKER_03That wraps up another episode of Pain Relief University. I hope that you were able to find something in this episode that you can use and apply to your life to get you one step closer to that pain-free lifestyle. Please like and subscribe to our podcast. Also, leave a testimony that helps us be seen by more people. And lastly, if there's somebody out there that you know that is struggling with joint pain, share this with them. No one should have to be stuck with joint pain. And hopefully, now they know they have options. Alright now. See you next time. Be blessed.