A Physical Therapist is a specialist trained to work with patients to restore their activity, strength and range of motion following an injury or onset of pain.  They teach patient specific exercises, stretches and techniques using specialized equipment modalities to relieve pain, minimize the impairment, and improve function. 

Our Physical Therapy Staff has expertise in treating chronic pain patients and has a thorough understanding of the unique problems of the chronic pain patient which may require special physical therapy treatment considerations.

Our Physical Therapy Department has many rehabilitation tools available, some specific aspects of physical therapy which you may encounter here include:

Strengthening:  Strengthening exercises are performed to help patients improve the function of their muscles.  The goal is to improve strength, increase endurance and maintain or improve range of motion so patients can perform normal every day activities with less effort and pain.

Stretching:  Stretching is vital to maintaining good range of motion around joints.  If a patient has stiff joints, normal activities such as opening a jar or climbing stairs can be severely affected.  By proper stretching, these functions can be preserved with less pain and effort.

Home Exercise Programs:  This is the program, that physical therapists develop with the patient to meet their specific needs for strength, range of motion, posture, body mechanics, etc.   Patients perform this program at home in between therapy sessions to maximize the results and benefits of each therapy session.  At the end of physical therapy patients will have a specialized program that they will continue to do at home to continue to make improvements and/or maintain gains made with therapy.

Heat and Ice Treatments:  These modalities can stimulate blood flow and decrease swelling and inflammation due to arthritis, muscle strains, sprains and spasms.

Ultrasound:   Is a modality that uses high frequency sound waves (sound waves not within the range we can hear) to stimulate the deep tissues within the body.  The deep tissues are stimulated by the vibrations of the sound waves, this leads to warming and increased blood flow to these tissues which in turn helps to decrease muscle tightness and pain.

Cervical and Lumbar Traction:  Traction gives a gentle stretch to the spine to reduce stress on the nervous system which decreases muscle tension and pain.

Soft Tissue Work:  Encompasses a variety of manual techniques such as myofascial release, cranial sacral therapy and trigger point release all of which assist the tissues of the body (muscle, fascia, connective tissue, etc) in the release of chronic holding patterns, muscular pain and dysfunction through manual manipulation of the tissue.

TENS:  A TENS unit stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.   It is a small battery operated machine that uses electrical transmission to decrease pain.  Electrodes are applied to the affected area.  The machine is turned on and an electrical current is sent through the electrodes.  A tingling sensation is felt in the underlying skin and muscle.  This signal disrupts the pain signal that is being sent from the affected area to the surrounding nerves.  By breaking this signal, the patient experiences less pain.

Electrical Stimulation:  E-Stim passes an electrical current to an affected area.  Nerve conduction within the region is altered, which generates a gently muscle contraction.  The contraction of the muscle promotes muscle relaxation and increase blood supply to the area that assists in healing.  Patients often experience diminished pain after this type of treatment.