Physical Therapy

 

Manual Therapy

Manual therapy is a treatment used by physical therapists and other health care providers in which the therapist's hands are used to apply pressure onto muscle tissue or to manipulate joints in the body.  There are three techniques used primarily in manual therapy that help to relax muscles and mobilize restricted joints with the goal of decreasing pain and improving functionality.  Soft tissue mobilization is similar to massage in that the therapist uses their hands to apply pressure to muscles, ligaments, and tendons to relax the muscle, improve circulation, and relieve pain.  Joint mobilizations are used to improve a joint's mobility.  These are often done with an oscillating movement or pressure to the joint.  Finally, joint manipulations use a small, strong thrust to a joint to help improve joint function.  Often, there's a popping sound associated with manipulations, called a cavitation, when gas is released from the joint space.


Dry Needling

Dry needling is an instrument-assisted therapy technique used by physical therapists to treat pain and improve movement that has increased in popularity in recent years.  A manual assessment by a physical therapist might indicate the use of dry needling along with other manual therapy interventions to reduce muscular pain and tightness.  A dry needle (a needle without medication or injection) is inserted through the skin to target trigger points in the muscle.  A trigger point is a tight or inflamed area of a muscle or connective tissue that can become tender and painful to touch.  Sometimes, electrical stimulation is used in conjunction with dry needling to accelerate the healing process.  The electrical currents are transferred through the needles to directly stimulate a local twitch response in the muscle fibers, promoting blood flow and producing longer-term pain relief. 


Sports Rehabilitation

Physical therapy catered to the demands of your sport.  Whether you are a weekend warrior or a professional athlete, you want an expert that knows the demands of your sport with experience rehabilitating athletes.  With our facility, not only will you receive the expertise you need, but you will also have the equipment to continue your recovery.  Schedule an initial consult to return back to your previous level of sport.