Manual Therapy
As physical therapists, we are best known for our advanced manual therapy methods. Typically, we find areas of your body that are tight and restricted that are very hard for you to free up on your own. With our training, we know how to press in the right spots, in the right direction, and at the right time specifically mobilize these areas in your muscles, joints, and deep connective tissue. Next, we activate your muscles and nervous system to fire appropriately and efficiently. Our skills continue to grow as we are involved in teaching manual therapy continuing education programs to other physical therapists nationally as well as within our community and in physical therapy education programs at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Marquette and Concordia Universities. Click on the following videos to see brief examples of some manual therapy techniques:
Knee Mobilization After Meniscectomy
Hip Mobilization to Improve Your Golf Game
Thoracic (Mid/Upper Back) Mobilization
Therapeutic Exercise and Home Exercise Programs
If you have been spending months, or even years getting your neck or back "cracked" or "rubbed" by a practitioner and have become reliant on this as your only source of relief, it may be time for a new approach! The exercises that we teach you will be unique to your problem and not the usual pre-printed routine that is ineffective. We often prescribe only 2-4 exercises using simple equipment (provided), which helps with compliance and effectiveness. Be advised that your consistency will make or break the success of treating your problem. Celebrate the idea that you will be in control of your pain, instead of your pain controlling you. Many clients find that their injury resolution is an opportunity to start some healthy new habits and routines that keep them feeling great. It's easy to stay consistent if you can tell it is helping you!
CLICK HERE for 3 simple exercises to counter the harmful effects of prolonged sitting. If these hurt at all, we may need to fix some things first, so call and come see us!
Posture and Movement Training
Well-aligned, efficient posture and movement is not something that should be painful or a lot of effort. When your muscles, joints, and connective tissue are tight and restricted, merely existing in a field of gravity drains your energy and effectiveness. Our process involves freeing your restrictions, strengthening weak areas, and training your awareness with cues. Our patients tell us that they have never been taught the relatively easy and effective ideas and hints that we share with them. There is alot of misinformation about creating healthy, painfree habits around how you position and move your body. You probably won't make a difference from an general information pamphlet at your doctor's office or from a high volume physical therapy or chiropractor's office that doesn't take individual time with you. (Hint: It's not simply pull your shoulders back and suck in your stomach.)
Click here to watch a brief, practical sitting posture video.
Click here for info and sign up for "Sitting Fit & Fine" our popular 4 session on-demand webinar!
Dry Needling (Intramuscular Therapy)
Trigger points are tender, tight areas around muscles and tendons that cause pain and make movement inefficient. To relieve this pain and help you restore ease of movement, we gently stimulate trigger points with sterile, thin (very small diameter), solid filament needles which help relax your muscles and surrounding connective tissues. This is non-traumatic to the tissue and there is rarely even any bleeding as the needle is so small. We typically use dry needling (dry means nothing injected) in combination with other techniques including manual tissue manipulation, joint mobilization and manipulation, and therapeutic exercise. We were among the first physical therapy groups in the state of Wisconsin to be trained and certified in these methods. We continue to be amazed by how much dry needling helps our patients get better faster.
Read more about dry needling here.
Read a couple case examples of dry needling successes here.
AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill
With the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill, located in our downtown and Pewaukee clinics, you can add speed, add volume, train through injury or recover because the AlterG “unweights” you allowing you to exercise between 20 and 100 percent of your body weight. Learn more here.
Cyclist-Specific Services
Gregg Fuhrman is our physical therapy cycling expert that can help you feel your best on and off the bike. Cyclists, whether weekend recreational riders or elite racers, should be as comfortable and as efficient as possible when riding. While many local bike shops offer the latest in bike fit technologies, most lack a physical therapy approach to their fit services. Our Integrated Cycling Evaluation starts with a thorough exercise and medical history. Next, with musculoskeletal screening, we assess your flexibility, strength, and balance. Then we begin the bike fit process and analysis. We do more than move your seat up and down, or shift you forward or back. As we observe your body’s own need for adjustments, we perform manual physical therapy to improve how you move, and show you what you can do on your own so you can enjoy flying on your bike.