Prioritizing Health in 2026: Your Best Year Starts Now

As the year winds down and the holiday lights start twinkling (and our schedules mysteriously fill up with cookies), it’s the perfect time to pause, reflect, and look ahead.

While 2025 gave us plenty to learn from, 2026 is calling and it’s asking one big question: Are you ready to put your health first… or at least stop putting it off until “after the holidays”? At Rehabon, we believe health isn’t just a resolution it’s a lifestyle. What a better time than the holidays to start setting the tone for a healthier, happier year ahead? (Yes, balance still allows dessert.)

Health in 2026: More Than Just “Eating Better”

Let’s be real, health isn’t about perfection. If it were, most of us would’ve been disqualified somewhere between the holiday parties and the leftovers. Health is about progress.

In 2026, prioritizing health means:

• Listening to your body (it’s smarter than we think, and surprisingly honest)

• Moving with purpose, whether that’s stretching, walking, or strengthening. No extreme routines required

• Taking care of your mind, not just your muscles (stress needs recovery too)

• Recovering properly, because rest isn’t a reward, it’s part of the process

Health is personal. It looks different for everyone, and that’s exactly how it should be.

Small Steps, Big Wins

You don’t need a dramatic makeover to make meaningful change. Some of the most powerful habits are the simplest:

• Standing up and stretching more (your back will notice)

• Choosing consistency over intensity (burnout isn’t a goal)

• Asking for help when your body needs support

• Celebrating progress, no matter how small

These little wins add up. Before you know it, you’re stronger, more confident, and moving through life with a little more ease, and a lot fewer “why does that hurt?” moments.

Enjoy the Holidays (Yes, Really!)

The holidays aren’t about guilt, they’re about joy, connection, and balance. Enjoy the treats, the laughter, and the moments that matter. Health includes happiness too, and no one ever improved their well-being by stressing over one extra cookie. Taking care of yourself during the holidays helps you feel even better when January rolls around.

Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year!

As we close out the year, we want to say thank you. Thank you for trusting us, supporting us, and being part of the Rehabon community. We’re grateful for every step, stretch, and success we’ve shared with you. May 2026 bring you strength, resilience, and plenty of reasons to smile. We can’t wait to keep moving forward together.

Cheers to health, healing, and a brand-new year!

Discomfort and soreness are a part of life. What is not normal is living with pain. If you are still experiencing that pain, it's time to talk to your physical therapist or primary care physician.

Try to stay away from narcotics, injections and knife happy surgeons as a primary option for your treatment. There are no magic bullets, but majority of pain symptoms can be resolved with conservative measures like exercises, manual therapy and pain management.

• Irfan Ibrahim is an Owner/Physical Therapist at Rehabon Physical Therapy, Downers Grove IL 60515. He enjoys sunshine and rainbows with his three children. Loves hiking, biking and golfing but he has accepted to live with his mediocre skills. Questions??!! Email him: Irfan@rehabon.com  follow him on Facebook

  
  

• Aimee Cervantes, Rehab Tech at Rehabon Physical Therapy. Aimee is a PTA graduate and has experience at different settings of Physical Therapy. She is currently studying for her licensure exam! Aimee's hobbies are crafting and graphic design. She enjoys seeing her ideas come to life!

Don’t Let Halloween Haunt Your Health: PT Tips for a Spooktacular, Pain-Free Night!

Halloween is a fang-tastic time of year! Costumes, candy, haunted houses, and plenty of laughs. Between all the decorating, trick-or-treating, and party hopping, your body might start to feel more like a zombie than a human! Thankfully, a few simple physical therapy inspired habits can keep you moving like a well-oiled skeleton (get it?).

Warm Up Before You Creep Out

Before you head out to collect your candy bounty, give your muscles a little attention. Try some light stretches or a brisk walk to get your blood flowing. Think of it as a “boo-t camp” for your body. Your future self will thank you when you’re not groaning like Frankenstein the next morning.

PT Tip: Focus on dynamic stretches like leg swings, shoulder rolls, and gentle torso twists. Static stretching before activity can actually reduce performance, so save the long holds for your cool-down.

Carry Candy with Care

Those trick-or-treat bags can get real heavy after a few houses (especially if you’re “helping” the kids with their candy). Remember proper lifting form: bend your knees, not your back, and keep the bag close to your body. You don’t want to wake up with a backache that’s scarier than a haunted house!

Posture Potions and Spellbinding Stretches

If you’re working on Halloween crafts or carving pumpkins, don’t hunch over like a witch stirring her cauldron! Sit or stand tall, keep your shoulders back, and take breaks every 20–30 minutes to stretch. Your spine deserves a treat too, not just your sweet tooth.

PT Tip: Try the “pumpkin roll” stretch, gently roll your shoulders back and down 10 times. It’s the perfect potion for preventing neck tension.

Don’t Be a Candy Vampire

Enjoy the sweets! Halloween only comes once a year, but moderation is key. Too much sugar can lead to inflammation, fatigue, and sluggish recovery if you’re healing from an injury. So maybe trade a few candy bars for some fruit or protein snacks. Your muscles will be un-boo-lievably grateful.

Cool Down Before You Coffin (Call It a Night)

When the fun’s over, do a few gentle stretches before bed to help your body unwind. Try calf stretches, hamstring reaches, or child’s pose to keep your joints loose. You’ll sleep better and avoid waking up feeling like a mummy that forgot to stretch.

Final Frighteningly Good Reminder

Physical therapy isn’t just for when you’re hurt, it’s about keeping your body strong, flexible, and ready for anything, even a night of spooks and sweets. So treat yourself (not trick yourself) to a little self-care this Halloween.

Because the only thing that should be stiff this season… is your candy corn.

Discomfort and soreness are a part of life. What is not normal is living with pain. If you are still experiencing that pain, it's time to talk to your physical therapist or primary care physician.

Try to stay away from narcotics, injections and knife happy surgeons as a primary option for your treatment. There are no magic bullets, but majority of pain symptoms can be resolved with conservative measures like exercises, manual therapy and pain management.

• Irfan Ibrahim is an Owner/Physical Therapist at Rehabon Physical Therapy, Downers Grove IL 60515. He enjoys sunshine and rainbows with his three children. Loves hiking, biking and golfing but he has accepted to live with his mediocre skills. Questions??!! Email him: Irfan@rehabon.com  follow him on Facebook

  
  

• Aimee Cervantes, Rehab Tech at Rehabon Physical Therapy. Aimee is a PTA graduate and has experience at different settings of Physical Therapy. She is currently studying for her licensure exam! Aimee's hobbies are crafting and graphic design. She enjoys seeing her ideas come to life!

Falling in Love with Your Health Again

As the air turns crisp and the leaves begin their golden transformation, fall invites us to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with nature, with ourselves, and with our health.

It’s the perfect season to fall in love with your health again.

Move More, Stress Less

Sometimes the best medicine is as simple as a walk outside. This season, challenge yourself to:

• Walk more – Even a 15-minute daily stroll can boost circulation, improve mood, and ease stiffness.

• Soak up some sun – Natural vitamin D helps regulate your immune system and lifts your spirits.

• Pick an outdoor activity you enjoy – Whether it’s hiking, biking, or just raking leaves while listening to music, find joy in moving your body.

Fall gives us so many ways to move while enjoying the beauty around us, such as apple picking, nature trails, or a weekend at the farmer’s market.

A Little Treat Doesn’t Hurt

Let’s be real, a warm apple cider donut or fresh from the tree apple is hard to resist, and you don’t have to! Healthy living is all about balance. So go ahead savor the season’s flavors. Just don’t forget to keep your body moving and recovering well.

Stay Active, Stay Comfortable with Freezpain

We know that aches and pains can sometimes get in the way of enjoying fall activities. That’s why we recommend Freezpain ice gel packs, our go to solution for natural, fast-acting pain relief.

Whether you're managing:

• Post walk soreness

• Old injuries flaring up in colder weather

• Back pain from raking or lifting

Freezpain helps reduce inflammation and discomfort so you can keep doing what you love without slowing down.

Developed and created by Dr. Ibrahim and used right here in our clinic.

This Fall, Reclaim What You Love

Health isn’t just about workouts and nutrition it’s about feeling good in your own body and enjoying life fully.

So this fall:

• Take that walk.

• Say yes to the apple orchard.

• Laugh more, stretch more, and feel good doing it.

And remember, if pain pops up along the way, your wellness team is here to help with personalized physical therapy and the power of a Freezpain gel pack.

Here’s to a fall full of movement, flavor, and feeling great.

Fall in love with your health again. You deserve it.

Discomfort and soreness are a part of life. What is not normal is living with pain. If you are still experiencing that pain, it's time to talk to your physical therapist or primary care physician.

Try to stay away from narcotics, injections and knife happy surgeons as a primary option for your treatment. There are no magic bullets, but majority of pain symptoms can be resolved with conservative measures like exercises, manual therapy and pain management.

• Irfan Ibrahim is an Owner/Physical Therapist at Rehabon Physical Therapy, Downers Grove IL 60515. He enjoys sunshine and rainbows with his three children. Loves hiking, biking and golfing but he has accepted to live with his mediocre skills. Questions??!! Email him: Irfan@rehabon.com  follow him on Facebook

  
  

• Aimee Cervantes, Rehab Tech at Rehabon Physical Therapy. Aimee is a PTA graduate and has experience at different settings of Physical Therapy. She is currently studying for her licensure exam! Aimee's hobbies are crafting and graphic design. She enjoys seeing her ideas come to life!