New office manager at Practice of Pain Management

As of today Ashlee Romero will be our new office manager.

Both Scott and I welcome Ashlee on board and I sure hope all our patients will do the same.

We are happy for Paula as she moves on to a better career opportunity, though we'll miss her!

Paula has ran the clinic like clockwork and has made life much easier for Scott and I.

All indicators have me believe Ashlee will do the same.

IronWoman Linsey Corbin at Practice of Pain Management

Proven IronWoman Linsey Corbin  made a stop in Lafayette, La
in preparation for the New Orleans 70.3 Ironman.

During her visit she made several stops at Precision Bikes, Red Lerille's and 

I had the honor and privilege tweaking her body for the 70.3

Linsey and her husband Chris are truly 'first class' people and I'm glad to know them!

Christmas-New Years Outing

Paula, Scott and I had a nice dinner at the Blue Dog, celebrating the Holidays, thankful for a great year at the clinic. The food was great, the company even better! Thanks Paula and Scott for your great contributions to our clinic!

Killer Miller subject to pain...

Aside of the 'Chronic Pain Patients', athletes frequent my clinic in order to fine-tune their 'machine'.

This morning it was stellar athlete Mark "Killer" Miller that was in need of some pain relief. Mark is well deserving of the title "Killer", his triathlon/ironman career spans 3 decades and Mark has finished 20 Ironman competitions in that span, not to mention the half-ironmans, triathlons, marathons and centuries! It is always an honor and privilege to work with Mark. I feel blessed with our friendship!

TGIF!

The clinic will be closed on Friday June 18 2010
Even the most dedicated physiotherapists deserve a long weekend once in a while;) Hup Holland Hup!!!

Healing Hands

Help me as I care
for my patients today,
Be there with me,
O Lord, I pray
Make my words kind
--it means so much--
And in my hands place
Your healing touch
Let your love shine
through all that I do,
So those in need
may hear and feel You.

Memorial Day

We will be closed on Monday, May 31st 2010 for Memorial Day.

Happy MothersDay;)

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

Just a little post, to share my gratefulness for Paula.

Paula has just started working at the clinic in the capacity as office-manager, 

yet it feels like she has been part of the team for a long time!

She makes life so much easier for Scott and myself, 

the patients love her and the front-office runs smooth.

I surely hope Paula knows how much she is valued...

Chris "Macca" McCormack visits Vuijsters Physical\Manual Therapy

It's not often I have World Champions come through my clinic,
subjecting themselves to my treatment, hence this posting of Macca's tweet!
(for those not familiar with my personal blog,
my nickname on the blog and also on twitter is 'wielrennerke',
which directly translated means 'wheel runner' or bicycle-racer.)
This is the second year in succession Chris McCormack honors
Lafayette, LA with a visit,
while he's getting ready for the New Orleans 70.3 Half Ironman.
Chris has a great support in Lafayette from Mark Miller's Precision Bikes!

It is an honor and a privilege to work with Chris, who not only is a stellar athlete,
but also a great person with a phenomenal story.
His body is truly like a machine and it takes a good 1 1/2 hour to fine-tune it!
____________

The 'wall of fame' at my clinic has expanded once more...
This time with a personalized\autographed world-championship jersey,
identical to the one Macca sported in the 2009 , Ironman Hawaii.

QUALITY SLEEP equals QUALITY RECOVERY

In this day and age we are so goal oriented and have so many projects on our list. It makes it easy to consider sleep, a 'wasted time' and try to fill our evening with, watching the news or realty shows on TV.

It is a phenomena I see in patients and athletes alike. For both categories sleep should be their best friend. While for patients pain and suffering depletes their energy levels, the same applies for athletes, with their rigorous training- and race schedules. Sleep deprivation does more than make people drowsy. Sleep-deprived individuals gain weight, experience more pain, stiffness and musculoskeletal injuries. Hypertension and glucose levels are related to sleep disturbance. Sleep disturbance in athletes can slow glucose metabolism by 30% to 40% and increase levels of cortisol, impairing physical performance and recovery. Lack of sleep can affect motor and cognitive skills at the same level of 3 to 4 coctails!

It is well known that sleep is the time when all body systems/cells repair/replace themselves.

SLEEP equals HEALTH!

Heart rate slows during sleep, allowing for repair of 'worn out' cells, bone-tissue adds calcium, among other minerals during your sleep. Muscles replace contractile cells, that've been targetted all day. The brain rests and repairs transmission networks during sleep.

Adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, teenagers need 8 to 9 hours of sleep in order to be rested and healthy the next day. 4 to 6 hours of sleep, (even though it gives us more time we feel needed, in order to accomplish our activity goals), is not sufficient for long-term health!

Some tips to establish a healthy sleep pattern:

Regular sleep schedule.

Regular bedtime routine.

Stable sleep environment.

Healthy food/drink.

Regular exercise routine.

Healthy bladder/bowel routine.

Setting a regular bedtime and awake time is a first step. Slowing down activities about 30 minutes prior to going to bed, allows the brain/mind to 'unwind' and get ready for sleeping. Sleep environment stability includes darkness, quietness, stable temperature, and layered covering of your body. Healthy food and drink includes, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, as well as eating late evening. A small snack of protein, calcium and carbohydrate can promote sleep and at the same time prevent nighttime hypoglycemia. Moderate exercise, at least 4 to 5 hours before bedtime, improves both sleep -quality and-duration.

Sleep equals Health.

Quality Sleep equals Quality Recovery.

Quality Recovery equals Quality Performance;)

Nothing substitutes the Human Touch

In spite of so many inventive technological modalities, there is nothing that substitutes the 'human touch'. The 'hands-on' therapy provides for a 'non verbal' communication between therapist and patients. It is a form of therapy, dating back thousands of years and in my books, still the best form of therapy! Whether applied as deep tissue mobilization or in the form of manual mobilizing bone structures, in order to restore funtional mobility/flexibility.

Vuijsters Pain Management Dime Tour

This dime-tour has been made possible with iPhone camera!

Photo credits: Ruud Vuijsters

This location has been home to Vuijsters Pain Management, 
for about 5 years now. 
As you can tell from looking at the pictures, 
we strive to offer a relaxed atmosphere.

"Health is not necessarily the absence of pain,
rather the presence of a divine serenity." RJV

New Office Manager at Vuijsters Pain Management

I am pleased to introduce to you, Paula Hogan. 

Paula will take Stacey's place as the new office manager of my clinic. 

Big shoes to fill... But I'm sure she'll do just fine!

Paula has extensive experience in the field of Physical Therapy.

Prior to this she's worked in retail. 

You'd think she knows a thing or two about customer service;) 

Paula started her training today and will start full-time as of next week.

Both Scott and I welcome Paula on board and I sure hope all our patients will do the same.

Vuijsters, PT Co-Sponsor of 'Bringing Macca back to Lafayette'.

Ruud Vuijsters, PT  Practice of Pain Management,
feels honored to co-sponsor this event, 
in collaboration with  
Precision Bikes and Smitty Smith.
_______________________________________________________

Chris McCormack (born 4 April 1973) is an Australian triathlete, known affectionately to the triathlon community as Macca. McCormack began competing on international-distance courses in 1996, winning both the 1997 Triathlon World Championships and the 1997 ITU World Cup Series; to date, no-one else has won both titles in a single year.

After shifting focus to longer distance racing he displayed exceptional aptitude for the distance winning many races. McCormack won Ironman Australia in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Twice he has finished the Quelle Challenge Roth, an Iron-Distance triathlon in under 8 hours, a feat only 5 other athletes have completed.

In 2007 he won the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii after 6 attempts at the race coming as close as second, within 2 minutes of the winner, in 2006.

Last year's planned event, to have Chris "Macca" McCormack speak at Red's,

had to be canceled due to inclement weather.
Macca was held up in Dallas, TX and ended up flying in late that night.
He still got some swim-bike-run training in, here in Lafayette,
after which he came over to my clinic, where I had the honor of fine-tuning his body.
Macca then went on to compete in the first New Orleans Half Ironman.
_________________

Well Macca is coming back to Lafayette!
He will give a talk at

Red Lerille's Health&Racquet Club

on Tuesday April 13th-2010 at 7:00PM
You don't have to be a member and there is no charge.
_____________________________

This event is made possible by:
_____________________________

____________________
And

Smitty "Mongoose" Smith.

_____________________

A heartfelt thanks to Red Lerille's for opening his doors, free of charge, for this event!

Vuijsters.com taking good form..

 Quite some changes have taken place on this site since its young inception!

For several years now I have been blogging on a personal note as "Wielrennerke", which is Dutch for "wheelrunner" or "bicycle racer"... 

For viewing of this blog, click here.

For those that don't know me, the sport of cycling has been a passion of mine since childhood, my dad and brothers Berry and Emiel didn't give me another choice!

Born and raised in the Netherlands, it goes without saying that I had to play soccer!

My soccer career spanned 20 years (from age 4 till 24).

It was ended by an 18-wheeler accident in Sweden, involving me on a motorcyle...

(click on tab "pain and suffering" at the top of this site.)  

About 5 1/2 years ago my dear friend, (and at the time year-long tennis partner),

Mark Miller opened Precision Bikes, on Johnson Street, Lafayette, LA.

It was through Mark's encouragement and Precision Bikes' great selection of bikes,

that I got involved in cycling again. Bikes are nice subjects to collect.....

I can't imagine life without riding/racing bicycles since!

I also have been honored to co-sponsor the Precision Bikes Racing Team, of which I am a proud member. My logo is found on the left sleeve of the uniforms.

(pictured from left to right: Mark Miller, Smitty Smith and Eric Bernard)

Since the beginning of 2009 I have operated as 'webmaster' for Mark Miller,

owner of Precision Bikes, which has become the "2nd to none" bikeshop in the South! 

For viewing of Mark's site, click the Precision Bikes Logo.

This is found in the side bar on the right.

Finally I have become inspired to set up a site for

Ruud Vuijsters, PT Practice of Pain Management, Inc. 

I hope in this way to promote my work

and at the same time share my insights with a broader audience.

 From time to time I'll post about pain management, physical / manual therapy,

sports-medicine, prophylaxis / ergonomics and stress-management.

It'll be interesting to see what it is like operating 3 sites, while continuing to work!

Update from the frontdesk

It is with sadness in my heart to tell you Stacey Stratton is leaving my clinic.

For two years Stacey has run my front-office with a stellar performance.

She has always been a very committed and super motivated worker,

making everybody she has to deal with feel at ease. As office manager Stacey has made life easier for me, in the sense that I got to do what I love doing: Spending time with my patients, while Stacey ironed out the kinks in the front. She's been a God sent angel!

The time has come that Stacey has to commit more time to her family,

hence her departure from Ruud Vuijsters Pain Management.
 With four kids and two grand-kids, you know she'll have a full-time job at home!

I surely wish Stacey and her family the best;)

I have been blessed finding a new office manager,

without having to go through the lengthy process of placing an add,

followed by the screening of the resumes and the numerous interviews...

During the course of next week I will post an introduction of our new office manager.

Scott Hebert, our new PT seems to be settling in at the clinic and is gradually seeing more patients. He is also starting to see some 'home health' patients on the side.

We both have faith that in near future Scott will be at full speed here.

New PT on board

I am happy to announce the joining of Scott Hebert, PT in my practice.
Scott was born in New Iberia, LA and was raised in New Orleans, LA.
He is married to Ria Hebert, PT and together they have 14 year old triplets.
Scott's background:
B.S. in the College of General Studies, with a major in Exercise Science and a minor in Psychology.
Scott worked for 8 years at Our Lady of Lourdes Health Promotion Center as Fitness Instructor.
Subsequently Scott attended and graduated in 1998 from the Hogeschool Enschede, in the Netherlands.
Ironic fact is that this is the same school I graduated from in May of 1984!
Like myself, Scott emphasizes a "hands-on approach", with Physical & Manual Therapy in order to help patients to regain function and mobility. With his background in exercise science, Scott has become an expert in the treatment of many different conditions.