Come To A Doctor Of Physical Therapy For Low Back Pain In Newark, Granville, And Pataskala, Ohio

Posted on September 17, 2016March 24, 2017 by Dan

Who is your doctor? Think about that. When you have low back pain or some other kind of pain the first thing most people do is wait to see if the pain will go away. When the pain does not go away the next action on the list is to call your doctor to get an appointment. This is an “old school” way of thinking in today’s healthcare model, and this is how people with low back pain or other kinds of pain get stuck and never get help. In a study by Fritz and Childs {Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 Dec 1;37(25):2114-21)} it was determined that only 7% of people who went to their doctor for low back pain were given a referral to physical therapy despite the evidence that physical therapy drastically reduces total costs of care and recovery time for the patient. That is amazing to me! Think about that, only 7% of people were ever given a referral to physical therapy even though the stats show that physical therapy lowers costs and recovery time for the patient. Therefore 93% of people were most likely given pain meds or told to give it more time to see if the pain would go away. This is how healthcare fails.

I am trying to get a change in thinking so that is why I asked, “Who is your doctor”? I am a doctor of physical therapy, therefore I am a doctor. Most of the time when people say they are going to the doctor because of low back pain or some other injury type pain, they really mean their primary physician. This needs to change. As the study by Fritz and Childs notes above, low back pain sufferers are only sent to physical therapy 7% of the time by their physician even though recovery time and costs are reduced with physical therapy. As a physical therapist I am the expert in pain, tissue healing, and musculoskeletal injuries. I have a doctoral degree that justifies me being the first person to care for low back pain and other painful injuries. When I think of going to see a physician it is for broken bones, diseases, or for being sick. When someone goes to the doctor for low back pain or some other painful injury the only action that can be taken is to be given pain meds, which in its self is a problem, or to be given a script for physical therapy. We know based on the research only 7% of low back pain sufferers are given a script for therapy even with all of the known benefits. Going to see a physician is not necessary anymore. In Ohio and throughout the rest of the states, there is something called direct access. This is the ability for someone to come directly to physical therapy without a physician referral. This law is very powerful and very important because it allows the experts in the field of pain, healing, and injuries to work autonomously, which we know helps reduce costs and speeds up healing time. So when someone has low back pain or some other painful injury, why be in the 7%. I am your doctor. I am the expert in healing of low back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, and any other musculoskeletal injury. Why wait and see a physician when you can come to Wright Physiotherapy.

Treating high school athletes for improved performance and post game healing

Posted on August 20, 2016March 24, 2017 by Dan

high school football

High school athletics are very demanding and can take a toll on the body. A season of wear and tear and injuries leads to underperforming and a less successful season. No athlete wants to underperform especially when the raw talent is present. Performing at the highest level is every athlete’s goal. Most athletes perform conditioning and weight lifting to prepare for and stay strong during the season, but they are missing ONE BIG COMPONANT when it comes to staying healthy. Trainers and conditioning coaches are good at pure strength and endurance exercises but they do not have the education and the ability to evaluate, make assessments, and treat dysfunctions/injuries an athlete may have before and during the season that is limiting the athletes ability to play at the highest level. There is no reason to miss out on the ONE BIG COMPONANT that can lead to a much more successful and healthy season. And what is the ONE BIG COMPONANT? It is having a total body movement evaluation from Wright Physiotherapy to look for problems the athlete may have in muscles and joints that is limiting the highest level of performance. Then the appropriate hands on manual therapy will be performed to correct any dysfunctions that are present. At the end of the session a group of exercises will be given to specifically strengthen the body and deficits that were found. During the season, manual therapy and hands on treatment techniques can be used to heal injuries such as sprains, strains, back pain, knee injury, shoulder injury, hip injury, and injuries of all kinds to keep the player on the field or court throughout the season. Wright Physiotherapy can keep you healthy, so you can be an all-star performer. Give me a call for a healthier and more productive season!

Osteopathic correction of lumbar and sacrum

Posted on August 7, 2016September 17, 2016 by Dan

Left on right sacral torsion correction

LEFT ON RIGHT SACRAL TORSION CORRECTION 7/17/16

This is an osteopathic manipulation technique for a sacral dysfunction. More specifically a sacrum that is rotated left on the right oblique axis. This dysfunction can cause intense pain in the low back and/or down the legs. This is one of the problems people often have if they have had therapy or chiropractic care in the past without much help. Unless the dysfunction is corrected, the pelvis and lumbar spine will never move appropriately and pain may never go away. Manual therapy is very helpful in correcting these dysfunctions.

Preparing for Right FRS at L5 correction

RIGHT FLEXED, ROTATED, SIDE BENT L5 (R FRS L5)

When a sacral torsion is present, their is also ALWAYS a dysfunction at the L5 vertebrae. This is due to how the sacrum and lumbar spine interact with each other. The picture shows the set up for the right FRS L5. This has to be corrected out before the torsion is corrected. Again, an easy diagnosis and treatment for someone trained in osteopathic treatment techniques specializing in manual therapy.

Right ERS dysfunction set up for treatment

RIGHT EXTENDED, ROTATED, SIDE BENT L3 (R ERS L3)

This is another dysfunction that can occur at the lumbar spine. Instead of the spine having an FRS dysfunction, it can also have an ERS dysfunction. These dysfunctions are also easily corrected by manual therapy and can also occur in the presence of a sacral torsion and an FRS in the lumbar spine. When the ERS is at L5 vertebra, their is often a posterior unilateral sacral nutation also present.

Rotator cuff pathology

Posted on August 7, 2016March 24, 2017 by Dan

ROTATOR CUFF PATHOLOGY 4/12/16

As a physical therapist I see a lot of shoulder pathology. This can be pain anywhere in the general shoulder area, lateral arm, or deep inside the joint. Generically, patients think they have a rotator cuff problem when they have shoulder pain, which it can be, but often times it is much more complicated than that. Let’s say someone has a non-traumatic shoulder pain. Meaning pain is occurring in the shoulder without having any kind of accident or trauma. The question has to be asked, “Why is the pain occurring and what can be causing it?” The shoulder joint needs to be looked at for range of motion (rom) and how it moves. Is it restricted or can it move through a full range? Usually the rom is restricted due to capsular tightness and this needs to be addressed. The rotator cuff muscles tend to be weak. The scapula is usually not moving in a normal upward rotation, and this can be due to inhibited low trap muscle and serratus anterior muscle. Posture is often times poor with a tight pec minor muscle and levator scapulae on the same side that has an increase in tone. All of these issues cause a poor functioning shoulder from abnormal movement mechanics, and leads to pain over time without an accident or trauma.

As a manual physical therapist what would I do that you would not get from going to typical physical therapy? First I would perform osteopathic manipulation of the thoracic spine that is causing the inhibition of the low trap and serratus anterior. Then the increased tone of the pec minor and levator scapulae would be addressed with manipulation and myofascial work. Followed by joint mobilization to specifically stretch the shoulder joint capsule to start to normalize rom. I would then finish off the treatment by giving rotator cuff strengthening, postural strengthening, and at home stretching. Usually 2-4 visits of this will completely resolve the issue over the period of a 4-6 weeks. If you have shoulder pain and would like to be treated quickly and efficiently, please give me a call or email me at my website wrightphysiotherapy.com.

Treating low back pain

Posted on August 7, 2016September 17, 2016 by Dan

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.

Posted on August 6, 2016September 17, 2016 by Dan

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.