Physical therapy in Newark, Granville, and Pataskala, OH Areas

IMG_0166Are you looking for physical therapy or a physical therapist in Newark, Granville, or Pataskala, OH? If you answered yes to this, then you have come to the right place. Dr. Dan Wright is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a physical therapist in the Newark, Granville, and Pataskala, OH area. He is a specialist in relieving pain and improving movement problems, and he can help you return to the activities you enjoy. Call us today to schedule an appointment 740-707-0354 or to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Importance of manual therapy

WHY MANUAL THERAPY WITH OMT IS IMPORTANT 7/4/16

Medical science has grown by leaps and bounds with the discovery of new drug treatments, surgical procedures, and even improved diagnostic testing. This is all wonderful and has been able to help improve the lives of many patients, but what about patients who do not need surgery and medication is not helpful? It is often forgotten that what some patients really need is a healing touch. OMT (osteopathic manipulation technique) is a hands on manual medicine approach using hands to diagnose, treat and prevent injury. Physical therapists providing OMT will use specialized treatment techniques to stretch muscles, move joint, and relieve pain with gentle pressures. Sometimes OMT can prevent the need for surgery and the use of pain medications. People of all ages and backgrounds can benefit from OMT manual medicine to reduce pain, increase rom, and improve mobility. It works extremely well for patients that have muscle and joint pain also known as musculoskeletal injuries.

Here is an example of how OMT manual therapy can be very helpful. I recently had a gentleman with a shoulder problem. He had a hard time being able to lift his arm up over his head, and it was painful when trying to do so. He was told surgery was his only option. During his first visit I told him not only would I be able to help him but I could do it in 2 visits. I evaluated his shoulder using my hands to touch and feel what was wrong and was able to immediately start treating. His shoulder lacked the normal mobility it should have, which created pinching on his rotator cuff causing pain. I used OMT manual therapy to stretch and normalize his shoulder movement over 2 visits which allowed for complete resolution of symptoms. He now has normal use of his shoulder without pain. Remember, he was told surgery was his only option, and I fixed him in 2 visits that last 1 hour each. That is the power of OMT. Another example is a lady came to me due to having extreme pain in her low back and right hip for 4 years. She works at Walmart and has a physical job. She was sent for therapy and she, luckily, decided to come to Wright Physiotherapy because other therapy had not helped in the past. After examining her I began to treat her low back and hip using, again, OMT manual therapy. She had abnormal rotations in her lumbar spine and sacrum that needed to be corrected out. She came back the next week with almost 100% relief. She said she noticed significant pain reduction the night of the first visit. She came to therapy 3 visits and was ready to be on her own. Wow, complete relief after only 3 visits of physical therapy. It can be amazing! Those are just a couple examples of how manual therapy using OMT can be very helpful and life changing. If therapy has not been helpful in the past then it is time to try Wright Physiotherapy for better results!

Piriformis syndrome

FIXING PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME NOT ONLY WITH PHYSICAL THERAPY, BUT MANUAL THERAPY 5/6/16

Have you ever had pain in your rear end, or a tingle down the back of your leg that tends to get worse with pressure on the back of the leg, such as with sitting or even with walking? This can be occurring due to a condition called piriformis syndrome. The piriformis muscle is located in the rear end area and functions to extend, externally rotate, and abduct the hip. It is involved in providing stability to the hip. The sciatic nerve can run underneath or directly through the piriformis and can also be involved if the piriformis muscle becomes dysfunctional.

What can be done to help alleviate the pain from piriformis syndrome? Strengthening and stretching of the piriformis and hip is a typical treatment in physical therapy along with modalities such as electrical stimulation and ultrasound. This may or may not be helpful. What needs to be looked at is WHY the piriformis is dysfunctional. The piriformis becomes dysfunctional due to over use that occurs from abnormal function of the hip and low back. When the glute max and glute medius hip muscles are inhibited and aren’t doing their job because of somatic dysfunction of the low back, the piriformis is one of the muscles that becomes overworked to help stabilize the hip and pelvis. This creates the overuse syndrome of the piriformis, and since the sciatic nerve runs underneath or through the piriformis muscle it can be aggravated causing sciatica down the leg.

Training in osteopathy and manual therapy is imperative to getting proper diagnosis and correction of the pathology. This is due to the spine needs to be looked at for abnormal movement mechanics that causes the glute max and medius muscles to shut down. Explained earlier, when these muscle shut down the piriformis becomes overused, dysfunctional and painful. What will be done at wrightphysiotherapy is the spine dysfunction will be diagnosed and treated using manual therapy. This will let the glute max and medius muscles start working correctly, and then the appropriate exercises will be given to maintain the corrections and to strengthen the system promoting the continued appropriate function of the muscles. When this is done, the piriformis muscle use lessens, letting it relax and calm down. This reduces irritation and the symptoms go away. Unless hands on manual therapy is performed, the body has a very hard time allowing symptom reduction to occur. Manual physical therapy at wrightphysiotherapy is the best option for pain reduction fast!

Treating low back pain

WHAT DO I LOOK FOR WHEN TREATING LOW BACK PAIN? 4/10/16

Low back pain is very common in today’s society. Most people have dealt with low back pain themselves or at least know multiple people with low back pain. It can be very debilitating and life changing, especially if the pain does not go away. Treatment for low back pain in physical therapy is usually mediocre at best due to the difficulty in being able to properly diagnose where the pain is being generated. Pain can come from the discs, nerve roots, facet joints, and abnormal muscle use. Having a good understanding of how the spine moves and functions, and how abnormal spinal movement affects the body is key to successful treatment in physical therapy.

What do I look at when evaluating a low back? I look for specific weakness in the glute max and med muscles. They are very important in lumbar spine and pelvic stability. The hip flexors are often times very tight, therefore specific manual therapy releases have to be performed along with stretching. Transversus abdominal and deep low back muscle called the multifidus also need to be retrained appropriately. I also look at very specific movement of the individual lumbar spine vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, and sacrum. If the vertebral segments are not moving the way they should, osteopathic manipulation is performed to help correct the movement. I use a lot of osteopathic manipulation (OMT) called muscle energy techniques (MET). Uncorrected vertebrae will cause muscles to shut down and not do their job. This is where the skill of a movement expert and manual therapist comes into play to be able to find and correct the abnormal spine movement or lack of movement. The abnormal spine movement is called a somatic dysfunction which will be discussed in another blog. Using those basic guidelines is how I have been able to be very successful in fixing low back pain be it chronic or acute. Acute low back pain is much easier to fix with usually only needing 1-2 treatments over a 2-4 week period. Chronic low back pain is more difficult to fix but can usually be done over a 6 week period and a total of 4-6 visits. Come give physical therapy at Wright Physiotherapy a try and you will be amazed at your new pain-free way of life! Go to the contact page and send me an email to schedule an appointment or give me a call.

Physical therapy using manual therapy for treatment of pain.

Hands on manual therapy using osteopathic manipulation techniques is the most effective way to treat orthopedic pain!  The philosophy of osteopathy is to treat the body using manipulation to get the body to function as efficiently as possible, and then work on appropriate strengthening exercises to prevent the pain from returning.  For example, with low back pain the movement of the individual vertebra in the low back need to be improved for normal function and then appropriate core strengthening and stretching needs to be done to allow the body to heal efficiently.