Client Services

The techniques described below are often used in conjunction with each other. Each patient’s rehabilitation has an individualized approach and not everyone receives every technique. Most treatments end with stretching, exercise, or balance/neuromuscular training to help maintain what is gained during each therapy session. Each patient is given a home exercise program to promote tissue healing, maintain range of motion and to progress their rehabilitation.

There is no extra cost for any of these offerings - they are included in your physical therapy care.

Dry Needling

The APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) defines Dry Needling as “a skilled intervention that uses a thin filiform needle to penetrate the skin and stimulate underlying myofascial trigger points, muscular, and connective tissues for the management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments.” Dry Needling in Pro Motion Physical Therapy is used for many different purposes. It is mainly used to release active and latent trigger points to decrease resting tone of the muscle, restore proper function and decrease pain in the muscle. By puncturing the tendon and/or muscle we are creating bleeding in the area which stimulates the healing process in that area. Finally, Dry Needling can also be used to internally to manipulate scar tissue and fascia to help promote tissue movement.

The typical sensation of getting dry needled is a slight prick at the skill when the needle is inserted and then a dull "tooth ache" sensation when the needle inserts into the trigger points. During the entire time the therapist is engaging to make sure everything is appropriate.

Conditions that would benefit from Dry Needling include:

Low back and neck pain
Shoulder impingement
Headaches
Tendinitis
Sciatica
Sprains and strains
Plantar fasciitis

Manual Therapy

This is a very broad term used to describe any hands on treatment from a practitioner. Here at Pro Motion Physical Therapy, we describe it as specifically mobilizing a joint, muscle, or fascia in a particular restricted pattern with the intent of increasing mobility and range of motion. Each physical therapist has the in depth knowledge of every joint in the body, knows the specific anatomy of each muscle and understands the quality of movement expected from each joint and tissue. By identifying what is limited in movement or what display dysfunctional movement patterns, we are able to specifically mobilize the tissue in the specific limited direction. This is a great technique to restore proper movement then follow up with specific exercises to train the muscles to maintain what was gained in each session. Without restoring proper mechanics and only doing exercises and stretches you are in a way training your joint or tissue to work in a dysfunctional pattern.

Conditions that would benefit from Manual Therapy include:

Low back and neck pain
Tension headaches
Osteoarthritis
Sciatica and radiculopathies
Ankle and foot injury/pain
Knee pain
Rotator cuff and shoulder injury

Cupping

Cupping therapy is based on creating a negative pressure and drawing body tissues outwards by applying special cups to the skin. Cupping may help to increase local circulation, improve lymphatic flow, release scar tissue/fascial adhesions, relax muscles, release trigger points, and decrease swelling and pain. Most clinicians use the traditional method of cupping by applying multiple cups to an area and keep them in place for a long period of time. This leads to the typical circular bruising you commonly see. Here at Pro Motion we use the cups to create a different dimension to manipulate the tissue. With traditional massaging you can only push down into the tissue. The cups allow us to pull the tissue up and separate adhered tissue. We move the comes as well as having the patient perform movement patterns to free up restricted areas. Rarely is there bruising with our technique of cupping.

Conditions that would benefit from Cupping include:

Low back and neck pain
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Knee OA
Post surgical patients – total hip and total knee
Scar tissue/fascial adhesions
Tight muscles

Blood Flow Restriction

Blood flow restriction, BFR, therapy is where a restriction cuff is used to form a sort of tourniquet around either your arm or leg to prevent blood from leaving you limb but allowing blood to enter. So a proper amount of pressure is used to fully occlude the venous output but not enough pressure to occlude the arterial inflow of blood. This causes a pooling of blood in your limb while exercising. This gorging of blood while wearing BFR cuffs during physical therapy allows the muscle to get stronger and increase muscle size while only using low resistance exercises. Studies show that within 1-3 weeks patients see strength gains similar to high resistance exercise while hypertrophy or muscle growth occurs even sooner. This is great for patients who recently had surgery and aren’t able to do more aggressive strengthening done later in the rehab process. PT can get the same muscle strength gains by using BFR and doing low intensity exercises. This will progress your rehab faster and get you to tolerate the more complex exercises sooner. It is also great for the older population and patients not in as good physical shape. By using BFR you can fatigue the muscle and get stronger faster without the soreness most people have after going the the gym. This allows you to be more active with less rest days between exercising and you don’t have to be in pain from the soreness. There is no extra charge for blood flow restriction at Pro Motion PT. If you are interested in using BFR please let your therapist know. Each patient is different, the therapist might not feel BFR is right for you or there could be more important aspects that need to be address prior to BFR. We encourage our therapist as well as our patients to have an open dialect throughout the rehab process to insure the best care is being provided.

Conditions that would benefit from BFR include:

Post surgical patients - both upper and lower extremity
Chronic tendinitis
General weakness and decondition
Difficulty with walking and/or balance

IASTM

IASTM stands for instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization. Following an injury, inflammation and new cell growth occurs forming new scar tissue. This reduces tissue elasticity and may cause an adhesion leading to soft tissue dysfunction and pain; in particular, oxygen and nutrients are restricted in this area, which may cause incomplete recovery. The goal of IASTM is to cause a microtrauma to a specific tissue by using different instruments. This will stimulate a local inflammatory response which restarts the healing process by removing scar tissue and releasing adhesions, increasing blood flow and nutrient supply, and facilitating remodeling of the soft tissue leading to improvements in range of motion, decreased pain, and tissue healing. IASTM resolves chronic conditions and may reduce the need for anti-inflammatory medication.

Conditions that would benefit from IASTM include:

Chronic low back pain
Strains and sprains
Scar tissue/fascial adhesions
Tendinitis

We accept many insurance plans, which you can view on our Client Information page. We also offer our services for $90 if you prefer a cash-based option.