Specialty Services

Therapeutic exercise is the most powerful tool used to help in your recovery regardless of your injury. Patients will be instructed in specific exercises for their condition in order to reach therapy goals.  Therapeutic exercise can be used to:

• increase range of motion
• decrease pain
• increase muscular strength
• improve balance
• increase joint stability
• return to daily activity
• return to sports

Patients will also receive written instructions for exercises to complete at home.

Manual therapy is a broad term that refers to the "hands-on" treatment that is administered by a physical therapist. Each patient is carefully evaluated for conditions such as trigger points, range of motion restrictions, and compensatory movements and the most appropriate manual therapy techniques.

Patients often benefit from these manual therapies:

• Passive Range of Motion
• Joint Mobilization
• Soft Tissue Mobilization
• Myofascial Release
• Passive Stretching

Manual Therapy aids in the healing and recovery process and can be used to treat all kinds of acute and chronic symptoms related to musculoskeletal conditions. They are used to decrease pain, improve mobility, and restore normal tissue function.

Dry needling

Dry needling is a treatment modality used to improve pain and movement disorders that accompany a patient's injury that could be hindering proper recovery and it functions as a part of the comprehensive treatment plan for patients.  Dry needling is often used to treat trigger points (taut, hypersensitive bands of muscular tissue) associated with other injuries and conditions.  Inserting a solid, flexible needle directly into the affected tissue has been shown to relieve this tension and promote healing and recovery.

What type of problems can be treated with dry needling?

• neck/back/shoulder pain
• tennis elbow
• carpal tunnel
• golfer’s elbow
• tension headaches and migraines
• jaw pain
• sciatica
• hamstrings strains
• calf tightness/spasms

Read more about dry needling here.

Cupping therapy is a treatment option that may be used to assist in the goals of decreasing pain and inflammation and increasing function and range of motion during your physical therapy. A plastic cup is place upside-down on the skin and a vacuum is created using a small pump. The skin under the cup becomes raised and red. The goal of cupping therapy is to decrease tissue restrictions between the layers of skin, fascia and muscle. After the treatment you can expect the redness to persist temporarily.

Vestibular therapy is an umbrella term that encompasses therapies used to treat conditions affecting balance and the vestibular system. Although balance problems can be a complicated issue, often times the symptoms can be treated very effectively. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a common condition that can be treated with simple procedures. Jill Mathis has a particular interest in helping patients deal with their balance and vertigo related issues.

Traction is a therapy used to decompress the spine.  Force is applied along the length of the spine to increase space between spinal segments in order to relieve symptoms.  Traction can be applied either to the neck (cervical) or the low back (lumbar) and the force can be applied either by the therapist (manual) or by a specific device (mechanical).  Traction can be used to treat the following conditions:

• herniated discs
• pinched nerves
• degenerative disc disease
• sciatica
• spinal stenosis
• low back pain

Iontophoresis is a therapy used to deliver a medication (typically a steroid like dexamethasone) directly to affected tissues to decrease pain and inflammation.  During this treatment:

• a medicated patch is applied to the area
• a small device (similar to a TENS unit) is used to stimulate the medication
• you may feel a strong tingling sensation
• you may be asked to continue wearing the patch after the treatment session

Electrical stimulation (e-stim) uses gentle electrical currents to produce a therapeutic effect.  The type of e-stim used during treatment can vary based on your condition or the goals of the therapy session.  E-stim is most commonly used to:

• promote muscle relaxation
• increase circulation
• decrease pain
• reduce swelling
• muscle reeducation

Electrical stimulation is often combined with hot or cold therapy towards the end of your treatment session.