Blog Archive
Brief eye twitches and occasional leg cramps are common and temporary, but dystonia takes these muscle contractions to a different level. Here, Dr. Stanley Mathew, our triple-board certified physiatrist at American Rehabilitation Center, explains what causes dystonia and how physical therapy plays an integral role in your ability to manage your symptoms and improve...
After a workplace accident or illness, you’re entitled to proper care and assistance with long-term disabilities, but you must follow proper procedures to ensure you get what you deserve. That process usually begins with an impartial disability consultation. Not all physicians are certified to perform this evaluation, but triple-board-certified Dr. Stanley...
If you think of your body like a car, glucose (sugar) is the gas. It fuels your cells so your body can run. When you’re low on glucose, your body sputters and slows, and that’s just the beginning. For people with migraine disease, the “empty tank” triggers a migraine attack....
Cryotherapy conjures up thoughts of sci-fi movies and frozen brains stored away until science advances and brings them back to life. But real-life cryotherapy is less whimsical and far more practical. The concept is simple: Cold temperatures ease pain. But in practice, cryotherapy takes on several forms and targets various...
Botox® has been around for decades and has kept its ranking as the top nonsurgical cosmetic treatment as long as it’s been on the market. But this game-changing aesthetic wonder got its start as a medical treatment, and doctors still use it to address a range of health conditions. Dr. Stanley...
Chronic pain in your neck or back is way too common — up to 70% of adults experience ongoing neck pain, and up to 80% have back pain that won’t quit — but what can you do? You’ve tried physical therapy and medication, but nothing seems to subdue the constant aches and pain. We get...
We don’t have to tell you that back pain can limit your ability to move, work, and enjoy leisure activities, but figuring out why is a different story. Fortunately, diagnostic tests conducted by a qualified medical professional like triple board-certified physiatrist Stanley Mathew, MD, of American Rehabilitation Medicine in Cedar...
Technically, pain is a physical sensation, but it also takes a toll on your mental health. Likewise, mood disorders can affect you physically. Dr. Stanley Mathew at American Rehabilitation Medicine understands the complex connection between your mind and body and can help alleviate the vicious cycle of pain and depression....
If you have migraine disease, you need all the information you can get about how it behaves, your unique triggers and symptoms, and how to treat attacks. Eastern Iowans turn to Dr. Stanley Mathew at American Rehabilitation Center for answers. Here, he explains the four potential stages of a migraine...
When you’re injured, the first priority, regardless of where the accident occurred, is your health and safety. But seeking medical care for a workplace injury can be tricky because your employer and their insurance provider have a specific protocol you must follow. Trying to navigate the process can be frustrating and confusing,...
It may surprise you to learn that Botox® has medical applications, but once you learn its history, you’ll see why it's such a powerful treatment, whether you’re looking to smooth the lines on your face or stop chronic pain. Dr. Stanley Mathew, our triple-board-certified physiatrist at American Rehabilitation Center in Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, and Anamosa, Iowa,...
Between 10% and 40% of people in the United States experience sciatica at some point in their lives, and it’s an experience they won’t soon forget or want to repeat. If you’re struggling to move freely because of shooting pain in your lower back that travels down one side of...
Given the constant motion, bending, twisting, lifting, and propelling, your joints undergo excessive wear-and-tear over the years. Eventually, the inner lining and cartilage break down, allowing your bones to rub against one another painfully. This describes the classic symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA), the most common type of more than 100...
Unlike common headaches, migraine attacks are episodes of complex neurological symptoms that unfold in as many as four phases. You may not experience all four, and the combination of symptoms you experience may vary, but one thing you have in common with all people who suffer a migraine attack —...
When you have cancer, you expect to face the aftermath of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, but there’s a common complication that many people don’t anticipate — pain. One in three cancer patients experiences chronic pain related to the disease or the treatment, making it the most common and lasting side effect. Unfortunately, up...
You consciously call on your muscles when you want to make big, whole-body movements like leaping over a puddle, and you subconsciously rely on them to keep your heart beating and your blood circulating even when you're not thinking about it. Either way, your mind and nerves are in control....
As an Iowan, you have rights and laws that protect you in the event of a work injury. Whether you need to take a few days off to heal from a minor problem or you can never work again because of a major injury, the Iowa Division of Workers’ Compensation has...
With more than 150 different types of headaches, narrowing down exactly what’s causing your head pain may seem daunting. So, when headache pain stumps you, you need an expert who studies, diagnoses, and treats debilitating head pain for a living. Dr. Stanley Mathew, MD, at American Rehabilitation Medicine, with offices in...
When your body hurts, you tend to lay low and avoid any movement that may cause more pain. And that instinct is helpful after an acute injury because rest promotes healing. But if chronic pain has kept you inactive for weeks, months, or years, rest has the opposite effect —...
In private industries alone, more than 2.7 million nonfatal injuries occured in the workplace in 2020. From trips and falls to crashes and collisions, all work environments — even desk jobs — can put you at risk for illness or injury. If it happens to you, it’s best to know...
A shocking 40% of Americans live with some form of chronic pain, which explains a larger part of the crushing opioid epidemic in this country. When traditional treatments don’t work, patients often turn to these powerful drugs to alleviate their pain, and end up with a substance-use problem in addition...
Fibromyalgia and its widespread pain, chronic fatigue, and cognitive challenges once stumped patients and doctors alike, but ongoing research has shed light on this mysterious condition in recent years. While the cause is still largely unknown, many researchers point to repetitive nerve stimulation, which triggers changes in the brain and...
Any person with migraine can attest that migraine attacks are much more than ordinary, run-of-the-mill headaches. Often, migraine symptoms begin before the actual attack (the prodrome phase), knock you out of commission with pain, blurred vision, and nausea for hours or days (the attack phase), and leave you feeling weak,...
When chronic pain plagues you day and night, and nothing you’ve tried stops it, the last thing you want to hear is “it’s all in your head.” But the truth is, some of it may be. That’s not to say you’re imagining your pain, but rather that your mind plays...
For many years, fibromyalgia was misunderstood, even among medical professionals. And despite clinical research and a broader body of knowledge, there are still a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding this mysterious condition, which makes it difficult to diagnose and tricky to explain to loved ones. One thing we do...
Tight muscle knots that cause localized and radiating pain are called trigger points, and the name couldn’t be more apt. These painful areas trigger a variety of painful symptoms and can lead to a chronic condition called myofascial pain syndrome. Here, Dr. Stanley Mathew, our triple-board-certified pain medicine specialist at...
Botox®, best known for tackling tough dynamic wrinkles and facial creases, owes its success to a serendipitous beginning. Here, Dr. Stanley Mathew, our expert physiatrist at American Rehabilitation Medicine in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, Iowa, offers a look back at Botox’s origins to give you a better look at its...
Workplace accidents can happen to anyone in any type of job. From a minor cut or bruise to the loss of limb or life, the range of possible illnesses and injuries spans a broad spectrum of conditions. The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 2.8 million...
There are many different types of headaches, but most of them are symptoms of something else. For example, if you have an illness, a vision problem, a concussion, or have been exposed to a toxin, you may experience what’s called a secondary headache. A primary headache, on the other hand,...
Being young comes with many inherent perks. Your skin is soft and supple, you have the energy to get through the day, and your body performs its functions flawlessly. At least, that’s how it should be. Unfortunately, even in your prime, diseases, illness, and other health problems can affect you...
How long do you expect to live? It may be longer than you think. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), life expectancy in the United States has been steadily increasing since data have been collected on the subject, and today the average American lives to almost...
Pain can be deceptive — it’s not always an accurate indicator of the injury location. A good example is cervical radiculopathy, where an injury occurs in your neck, but you feel the pain in your arm. Cervical radiculopathy’s odd behavior can be frustrating, so it’s a good thing it’s somewhat...
Like the hinges on a door, the joints in your body enable movement and a change of position and angle. The difference is that your joints work all day long under great pressure. And unlike their inanimate counterparts, your joints rely on living tissues to bend and extend, and when...
From disease to genetic conditions to traumatic spinal injuries, the list of possible back problems is long. But sometimes, the culprit is far simpler — your posture. These days, with so many computer-based jobs and so many people working, shopping, and conducting daily business in front of a screen, we...
Everyone has muscle pain now and then, but there’s a difference between normal aches from overuse and long-term pain that takes on a life of its own. Muscle pain that plagues you for three months or more may be a sign of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS), chronic inflammation of the...
You likely lived with your fibromyalgia for years before you actually got diagnosed. You suffered from unexplained pain all over your body, difficulty sleeping, and constant fatigue. You may have visited multiple doctors in a desperate search for an explanation. Now that you know what it is, you feel relieved...
Throughout history, men and women have lived in fear of illnesses and injuries that interfere with their ability to work. One serious accident or medical condition can change your world forever and, in some cases, can plunge a whole family into dire times. Today, we have federal safety nets for...
If you’re one of the 39 million Americans who suffers from migraine headaches, you know they can stop you in your tracks and shut down your day. They can last from a few hours to a few days and leave you feeling spent. But if you learn the warning signs...
Knee pain is extremely common. It affects millions of people of all ages, and it tends to become more prevalent with age — 18% of men and 23% of women over the age of 60 report knee pain. But what exactly is knee pain, what causes it, and what can...
When you’ve been injured or made ill as a direct result of an on-the-job accident or the environment in your workplace, you’re entitled to medical care and financial assistance (not to exceed 80% of your weekly net income) under Iowa state law. Known as workers’ compensation, your employer is responsible...
Your body is resilient and strong, but it has limits. While regular exercise is good for your body, pushing it past those limits can cause it to break down over time or experience a sudden, acute injury. Whether you’re an athlete who practices and competes daily or a person who...
Botox® has become synonymous with anti-aging treatments that rid your face of fine wrinkles and deep lines, but many don’t realize that it got its start as a remedy for crossed eyes (strabismus) in the 1970s. A series of bold experiments and discoveries led to a better understanding of how...
Back pain can be caused from multiple conditions, including problems with your vertebrae, your discs, or your nerves. Or it could just be a good, old-fashioned muscle spasm. When your muscles get tight, they form painful knots of tissue called trigger points, because when you press on them, they trigger...
Whether you spend your day at a desk, stocking shelves, or braving high seas in the open ocean, accidents happen. Even if you’re careful, and even if your employer is diligent about safety, you can easily join the three million Americans who experience work-related illnesses and injuries every year. So...
Joints are complex mechanisms that require multiple parts to work together flawlessly. When one of them malfunctions, they’re all affected. That’s why joint pain is so common and why there are so many different conditions that cause it. If you have joint pain and live in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa,...
If you’re among the 12% of Americans who suffer from migraines, you know it’s far more than just a headache. Migraines often have no single defining cause, can be triggered by a myriad of seemingly unrelated situations or events, and cause symptoms so severe that functioning can seem an impossibility....
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 to 40 percent of adults in the United States suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain may limit an individual’s ability to walk or move, which interferes with daily activities. Patients become depressed or irritable from living with ongoing discomfort. Many rely...
Chronic pain is the worst. It’s always there, running in the background of your life. It slowly drains your energy, wallet, and sanity. You go from professional to professional, seeking help, with mixed results. Some things help, but it feels like most of them don’t. A lot of times, people...
Opioids are by far one of the most effective methods for treating chronic pain, regardless of whether it is moderate to severe. Unfortunately, however, opioids are extremely addictive and they can also lead to long term health problems if they are abused or taken at high doses. Thankfully, there are many...
Chronic back pain can be debilitating for many individuals. Having chronic back pain can put a halt on many activities you enjoy doing every day. Managing your pain in your daily life is a constant struggle, but there are a number of ways in which you can alleviate your pain...
Migraines can be a painful and debilitating illness for people who suffer from them. Currently, there is no long-term cure for migraines but there are a multitude of options to choose from to alleviate immediate or impending symptoms. In this article, we will discuss some of the ways migraines start...
If you have been paying attention to diet trends within the last few years, you may have already heard of, or even tried, Intermittent Fasting. Intermittent Fasting is a relatively new concept that took on some popularity back in 2012. Some health professionals say that Intermittent Fasting can help you...
There are a number of prominent benefits of doing an activity such as walking. Walking is free and extremely easy. Although walking may not seem like a good form of exercise it has several health benefits both physically and emotionally. Here we will talk about some of the most common...
Recently, you may have heard of people using mindfulness inlife to help them get through the day. The concept and practice of mindfulness has been growing rapidly in many different health circles. What is it about mindfulness that is making it a rising health trend among individuals? How can you...
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has become an increasingly popular term over the years. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT is used to help people who may be suffering from psychological disorders. CBT does this by helping people change the way they think and focusing on more positive and uplifting thoughts as to...
Spasticity is defined as uncontrollable continuous contractions in muscles. Spasticity affects more than twelves million people around the globe. Many of the people affected by spasticity suffer from cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. Treating spasticity can be difficult, but physiatrists have the ability to treat spasticity without the use of...
Nowadays there are so many apps and programs that people can download that will help them reach and stay healthy. Depending on what your health goals are, there is most likely a piece of technology that can help you get there. Different health devices are constantly coming out on the...