Physical Therapy

Injuries can occur at any time, even during common activities such as driving, playing sports, exercising or just being at home. Without immediate medical attention, these injuries can lead to serious impairment of function. Physical Therapy is a unique medical science that combines a variety of non-invasive treatment programs to help patients with limited physical functions or movement disorders recover their full range of movement and independence.

Modalities Used:

• Customized therapeutic exercise
• Manual therapy
• McKenzie Back Protocol
• Specific body massage
• Electrical stimulation to relieve pain
• Flexion Distraction
• Joint and Soft Tissue Mobilization

Detailed Information on Specific Techniques and Modalities

• Ultrasound
• Electrical Stimulation
• Craniosacral Therapy
• Low Level Laser Therapy

Ultrasound

Most people are familiar with “diagnostic” ultrasound, which is a non-invasive method that capture images of organs within the body, without radiation. Less common is the awareness of this technology as a therapeutic tool. Diagnostic ultrasound uses sound waves to create an image, whereas therapeutic ultrasound uses sound waves as the treatment.

Therapeutic ultrasound has been used in the health care industry for several decades. While once used mainly in sports and athletic rehabilitation, its use has become commonplace for the treatment of musculo-skeletal conditions, back and joint conditions, soft tissue injuries, decreased range of motion problems and for certain chronic conditions. This treatment increases blood flow, relaxes muscle spasms, repairs damaged tissue and speeds the healing process. It also assists in the repair of both hard and soft tissues and can be used to break up scar tissue and adhesions while also reducing nerve root irritation. Its effectiveness has been enhanced over the years by studies that helped determine optimum techniques for application.

Ultrasound treatments are administered directly to the skin of the affected area with the use of gel as a conduction medium. It also can be performed by immersing the affected area in water. The water immersion method is best suited for hands and feet and other small, bony areas. Both methods provide a painless rehabilitative therapy.

As with any medical treatment, therapeutic ultrasound should only be administered by a trained practitioner to assure its safety and effectiveness.

Electric Stimulation

Electrical muscle stimulation is a therapeutic treatment that is used in pain management and physical therapy protocols for rehabilitation. It is a non-invasive procedure that uses interferential current. The average treatment time is 15 minutes.

It is used to treat tendons and ligaments as well as muscles, deep joints and viscera and has been clinically proven to increase muscle tone, blood flow and lymphatic flow as well. It stimulates endorphin release and encephalin production.

It has proven useful in the treatment of the following conditions: bursitis, capsulitis, disc syndromes, edema, facet syndrome, frozen shoulder, heel spur, low back pain (lumbago), migraine, myalgia, neuroma, osteoarthritis, sciatica, shingles, trigger points, muscle spasm, strains and sprains, stiffness, tendonitis, and TMJ dysfunction. (This is not a complete list of indications).

It is a painless procedure and many patients report they experience a pleasant sensation when being treated.

Craniosacral Therapy

Cranio sacral (cranial sacral) therapy is a holistic healing practice which employs extremely light finger pressure focused primarily on the head, spine and sacrum.

The History of Craniosacral
The laying on of hands for healing is as old as humanity. The earliest written reference to “movement of spinal nerves” and its importance is found in the I-Ching, the Chinese Book of Changes that dates back 4000 years. The ancient Chinese called cranio sacral work “the art of listening.” In the middle ages it was the bone setters that sensed the fine movements of the body to assist healing and to treat headaches. In modern times, an American osteopath and biomedical genius named William Sutherland spent 50 years detailing the individual movements of the human cranium (skull) and pelvis. He called his work “Cranial Osteopathy”. This was a tremendous contribution to the healing arts.

How Does It Work?
The cranial bones are connected to the sacrum by a continuous membrane system of connective tissue that houses the brain and spinal cord. The spinal fluid is pumped through the membranes, creating a rhythm which can be monitored and balanced. The rhythm, or cranial sacral pulse, is similar to the heartbeat, but it results from the rhythmic pumping of the spinal fluid in the head and spinal column. The whole body expands and contracts with this rhythm, but the cranial pulse can be felt most easily on the head. The core of your being, motor function, learning patterns, emotions, and ways of perceiving the world are affected by the balance of your Cranial Sacral system.

The therapist places their hands gently in different positions on the skull, spine and sacrum. As your Cranial Sacral system comes into balance, you will usually feel a release of accumulated stress and a general sense of well-being. Some specific complaints and physical problems will also clear up with Cranial Sacral work.

Cranial Sacral Therapy can be effective in shifting emotional holding patterns and draining accumulated stresses in the nervous system. Clients often experience relief from headaches and other problems located in the head, jaw, neck, pelvis, and diaphragm. Conditions as diverse as learning disability, poor concentration, biomechanical dysfunction, and palsy can start to clear up using Cranial Sacral Therapy. It can be used on newborns through geriatrics.

Low Level Laser Therapy (a.k.a. “Cold Laser”)

Low level laser therapy is a painless, sterile, non-invasive, drug-free treatment which is used to treat a variety of pain syndromes, injuries, wounds, fractures, neurological conditions and pathologies. Laser therapy can be used any time a patient requests or needs a drug-free procedure for the control of pain, when conventional therapies have been ineffective, or when the acceleration of healing from injuries is desired.

The theory for the creation of laser light was proposed by Albert Einstein in 1917, but is was not developed until 1960. It was in the late 1960’s that Professor Endre Mester of Budapest, Hungary first reported his experience using laser light to treat non-healing wounds and ulcers in diabetic patients. Mester’s 70% success rate in treating these wounds lead to the development of the science of what he called “laser bio-stimulation.”

Around the world, laser therapy is rapidly becoming a popular therapy that can heal wounds and fractures up to 60% faster than without therapy and also reduce the cost of treatment for many conditions. In the U.K., low level laser therapy has become the treatment of choice for soft tissue “whiplash” injuries and for the treatment of painful neuralgia (shingles pain).