We can help you return to full activity from just about any type of surgery you just had. We are experts and highly skilled when it comes to facilitating your healing process following any type of orthopedic surgery. This includes spine surgery, joint reconstruction, ligament/tendon repairs, and arthroscopic procedures.
Low back pain will affect over 80% of the population sometime during his or her lifetime resulting in loss of ability to work or perform daily activities. Neck and upper back pain is also becoming more prominent as our occupations become more sedentary resulting in prolonged sitting and slouching. If you have pain from the top of your buttocks (and sometimes running down your leg) to the base of your skull (including headaches!) then you may need spine rehabilitation! Let us evaluate your painful complaints and get you on the road to having a pain free spine!
Injuries such as these usually manifest themselves in some sort of “-itis” (tendonitis, bursitis) or “syndrome” (ITB Syndrome, Impingement Syndrome). Typically a specific area of your body hurts with active motion or resisted activity. This indicates that a particular tissue is being over worked or over used resulting in chronic inflammation. We have many modalities that will help reduce localized inflammation! At SOPT we take it one step further and determine what is the cause of the over use and devise a treatment to address the underlying cause as well!
These types of injuries are typically the result of a blunt traumatic event such as rolling your ankle (ankle sprain), coming up lame while sprinting (hamstring strain), or lifting a heavy object and feeling a pull in your back or neck (lumbar or cervical sprain). During one of these traumatic events the soft tissue (muscle, ligament, or tendon) is stretched to the point of tearing on a microscopic level. Our goal in PT is to facilitate the healing process initially while it is resting and then appropriately rebuild the tissue strength and elasticity to minimize the chances of re-injuring the tissue. It is critical that a sprain/strain be treated quickly to eliminate the possibility of scar tissue build-up as well as chronic soft tissue re-injury.
One of the most common things we hear people say the doctor has told them yet the least understood. Arthritis is very simply the degeneration of your cartilaginous joint surfaces. This process begins in all of our bodies at around the age of 10! Our joints are built for some degeneration overall and most of the time it does not bother us. However, our propensity for overusing certain joints in every day life puts increased stress on those joints resulting in increased or uneven wear. Unfortunately there is no cure for arthritis, BUT it can be slowed, controlled and managed with return to full activity in many cases with PT. This is accomplished by assessing the involved muscles, tendons, ligaments, and movement patterns to determine what is causing the isolated uneven wear and tear on your joints. Once that is determined, a treatment plan is put in place to address those issues resulting in your return to previous levels of activity!
Unfortunately there are instances when the wear and tear on your joints (especially knees and hips) is so bad it requires a replacement! Luckily you need not look any further because we at SOPT are highly experienced at rehabbing people who have undergone this procedure. Our goal is to help you re-establish your quality of life and functional levels by guiding you through your healing process while restoring your range of motion and strength so that you can return to playing golf, swimming, walking, dancing, or whatever else you may be interested in!
While it is not a joint replacement, oftentimes these types of surgeries require the most intense of rehabs! Surgeries such as these include ACL reconstructions, rotator cuff repairs, and Achilles tendon repairs (to name a few). These surgeries involve the reattachment of torn soft tissue by an orthopedic surgeon. Typically these repairs need several weeks to rest and heal to guarantee a solid repair. However, PT usually starts fairly quickly to avoid loss of ROM and disuse atrophy of the surrounding and involved musculature. Following specific instructions from your surgeon, we are able to accelerate the overall healing process by getting the involved joint moving and/or strengthening associated muscles without stressing the initially delicate repair your surgeon has performed. This has resulted in rehabilitation programs and durations being cut in half from 20-30 years ago! If you have recently had a similar type of surgery, rest assured that the staff at SOPT are well equipped and skilled to handle all of your post reconstruction / repair rehabilitation needs! We will get you back to the sport or activity you are striving for!
Breaking bones in our body is a traumatizing event and requires plenty of healing time. The good thing about fractures is usually the new bone is stronger than the original bone itself. In order for the bone to heal, it needs to rest. “Resting” that bone typically requires a cast or splint to immobilize it in a position to allow the bone to heal back together. The drawback is that the soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments) get stiff and weak from the immobilization. This is where spending some time with us to loosen and strengthen the soft tissue will help you return to previous activities at work and at play! We have many exercise programs as well as manual (hands-on) techniques that will help to loosen the tight tissues and encourage them to work correctly again.
Temporal-Mandibular Joint dysfunction typically presents as an earache (or just in front), popping with opening and closing your mouth, or “lockjaw”. While this is something your dentist may diagnose, remember the TMJ is a joint and we are experts at dealing with joint dysfunction! We have had great success dealing with this problem utilizing joint mobilization and soft tissue mobilization techniques as well as educating our clients about the importance of good posture and how it can affect your ability to open and close your mouth!
One of the biggest reasons why people have musculoskeletal pain is because they are moving improperly, known as movement dysfunction. Improper movement places more stress on particular tissues which will lead to overuse of that tissue and eventual injury and pain. While it can happen at any joint or body part the majority of movement dysfunction occurs in the ankle, hip, pelvis, spine, and shoulder. Our highly trained PT’s are experts at assessing movement dysfunction and prescribing the appropriate exercises (stretch, strength, balance) to re-educate your body to move properly. We also utilize many cutting edge manual treatment techniques to assist your nervous system and muscular system to work more efficiently.
One of the most frequent words you will hear out of the mouths of our physical therapists is “POSTURE”! Your posture is the individual position of your body that it most commonly functions in. It includes the common position you sit, stand, walk, and run with. Quite simply posture is about habit and unfortunately our relatively sedentary lives and occupations have made it easy to get into some bad postural habits. One of the most common ones is slumping and forward rolled shoulders resulting from prolonged sitting in front of computers among others. In general, poor posture results in dysfunctional movement patterns and eventual soft tissue stress and pain! Oftentimes, correcting a postural flaw will lead to proper movement patterns and improved function with less pain! During your initial evaluation, your physical therapist will assess your overall posture and determine how it is affecting your ability to function in everyday life. Various exercises are prescribed to strengthen and stretch muscles that will put you in better posture as well as the importance of improving your posture through self-correction as well.
Unfortunately there are many instances where people will get hurt while they are working. These injuries include back injuries from lifting a heavy object at work, fractures from slips and falls, as well as repetitive use injuries. Work related injuries are treated the same as any other injury with the additional goal of restoring your functional abilities to handle the physical stress of your individual occupation or job. Not only do you need to restore your motion and strength of the body part involved, but you need to regain the previous level of musculoskeletal conditioning for your individual occupation (Work Hardening). Once your physical therapist understands the physical requirements of your job, then he / she will create a program that will prepare your body for the rigors and physical stresses of your particular job. Our goal is to get you back to work SAFELY and quickly.
