Caring Professionals

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Ivey

Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine

Physical Therapy Treatments

Every time we move, we depend on some muscles to hold us steady, and other muscles to actually move us. Core stabilization is the general term for how the muscles of your trunk keep your spine and body stable. This helps you stay balanced when you move.  If your core muscles are strong and they contract when they should:

    * Your posture is better.
    * Your body is balanced.
    * Your movement is more efficient and powerful.
    * You are less likely to be injured.

Core stability benefits everyone, from older people to top professional athletes. Exercises for core stabilization should be part of every conditioning program, along with flexibility, strength, and aerobic training.  more...

Hands on Techniques

Manual Therapy

Manual therapy is a general term for treatment performed with the hands and not with any other devices or machines. The goals of manual therapy include relaxation, decreased pain, and increased flexibility.

Soft Tissue Mobilization

Soft tissue mobilization is utilized to help loosen muscles that affect the joints.  A physical therapist will use his or her hands to twist, pull or push muscles into optimum position for healing.

Joint Mobilization

Joint mobilization involves the movement of the joints or bones in a slow and controlled manner.   This techniques helps to loosen joints and reestablish the correct functional position of the joint.

Range of Motion

Range of motion refers to working a joint through the normal range that it may be used.  Range of motion may include the therapist moving the joint (passive range of motion), assisting the joint through a range using a pulley or the opposite limb (active assisted range of motion) or the patient moving the joint on their own (active range of motion).

Muscle Energy Technique (MET)

Muscle Energy Technique focuses on joint range-of-motion limitation, and uses light (generally grams or ounces) to moderate force muscular contractions precisely controlled to affect a specific joint, to restore normal joint motion.  The physical therapist will position the patient in a manner such that the specific joint will be affected.  The patient is asked to effect a muscle contraction to assist in the procedure.

Modalities

Iontophoresis

Ice

Ice and cold packs are used in physical therapy to relieve pain, swelling, and inflammation from injuries and other conditions such as arthritis. Ice can be used for 10 to 20 minutes at a time, several times a day.  more...

Heat

Heat can help relax and heal your muscles and soft tissues by increasing blood circulation. This can be especially helpful if a joint is stiff from osteoarthritis or from being immobilized, or to relax the muscles before exercise. However, heat can also increase swelling in an injured area if it is used too soon after the injury. Most experts recommend waiting at least 48 hours after an injury before using heat.  more...

Ultrasound

Ultrasound therapy uses high-pitched sound waves to ease muscle spasms and relax and warm muscles before exercise, help relieve pain and inflammation, and promote healing.

Electrical Stimulation

Electrical stimulation is the general term that describes the use of electrical current to create an effect in the body. Physical therapists sometimes use electrical stimulation at low levels to reduce the sensation of pain. It may work by either "scrambling" pain signals to mask feelings of pain, or by causing the body to produce natural pain-killers called endorphins. This use of electrical current is called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).

Physical therapists can also use electrical stimulation to cause muscles to contract (tense). This type of therapy can help maintain muscle tone when muscles would otherwise lose strength. Examples of this type of therapy include:

    * Electrical stimulation after a stroke to maintain some tone in the shoulder muscles so they hold the joint together better and prevent pain.
    * Electrical stimulation to maintain leg strength in a person with severe arthritis of the knee whose pain increases with exercise.

Mechanical Traction

Mechanical traction uses a hydraulic or air powered device to gently stretch your back or neck.  Traction may help to relieve pressure on compressed nerves in the spine.

Exercise

Therapeutic Exercise

Therapeutic exercises are specific exercises designed to help you with your specific injury or condition.  These exercises will help you to retain the gains that you achieve during your treatment session, strengthen weakened muscles and retrain muscles that may have been functioning incorrectly. 

Aquatic Exercise

At times it may not be beneficial for someone to support their full weight as a result of an injury.  However, it is important to begin moving that body part through a normal range of motion and exercising to strengthen and retrain muscle.  Aquatic exercises are designed to take advantage of the buoyancy effect of water in order to exercise in a effective and safe manner.  Exercising in the water improves balance, decreases swelling due to hydrostatic pressure, may improve cardiovascular endurance and is safe.  Because the water in the pool is shallow there is no need to know how to swim to safely exercise.

Cardiovascular Training

Cardiovascular training helps to improve the efficiency and ability of the heart and lungs to supply the oxygen necessary for muscles to function as well as get rid of metabolic waste.  Exercises that stimulate the heart to beat faster and respiration to increase are effect at training the cardiovascular system.

Plyometrics

Plyometrics is a form of exercise training that involves jumping and skipping type activities.  Plyometrics helps to improve a persons jumping ability, initial acceleration and ability to change direction quickly.

Resistance training, also known as strength training and weight training, refers to the use of an external resistance such as dumbbells to provide resistance through a range of motion.  This resistance stimulates the muscles and joints to adapt and get stronger.  Resistance training plays an important role in physical therapy because it helps to restore strength and function to muscles that have become weak because of lack of use or injury.

Resistance Training

Core Stabilization

Iontophoresis is a method of delivering anti-inflammatory medication through the skin using electrical current.