News

Did You Know: Motor Vehicle Accidents

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Did you know each year, 2 million people suffer from whiplash related to motor vehicle accidents in the United States alone?

Physical Therapy after a MVA:
Early rehabilitation helps to prevent chronic pain and disability after a MVA. Physical Therapists typically apply both passive and active treatment plans.

Passive modalities include the application of heat, ice, electrical stimulation, massage, myofascial release, and traction. Passive modalities are often used to decrease pain or inflammation and to facilitate participation in an active rehabilitation program, which often involves stretching and strengthening.

Active treatment refers to therapeutic exercises that are aimed at improving the patient’s strength, endurance, flexibility, posture, and body mechanics. The goal is to obtain an independent home program or community fitness program at the conclusion of formal physical therapy.

NorthSound Physical Therapy has physical therapists specifically trained to evaluate and treat your injuries after a MVA, and we have 20 years of billing experience working with insurance companies.

Staff Member Spotlight: Tony Travanti, PTA

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NorthSound Physical Therapy would like to recognize the tremendous work that Tony Travanti has provided for the company, most recently at the Marysville Clinic, since his hire in 1999.

Tony is a graduate of Whatcom Community College with an Associate of Science degree. He is a licensed physical therapist assistant and has been recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association, qualifying for their Advanced Proficiency in Musculoskeletal Physical Therapy Achievement. He was born in North Dakota, but has lived in the Puget Sound area for the majority of his life. When asked what attracted him to physical therapy, Tony said, “I became interested in the field of physical therapy after dealing with personal sports injuries, playing soccer and baseball in high school. Outside of that, I knew I wanted a job that would provide opportunities to make a difference in the quality of people’s lives.”

John Bielser, PT and Co-Owner of the Marysville clinic has nothing but great things to say about Tony. “Tony has been an exemplary employee that constantly explores additional ways to expand his knowledge of the physical therapy field. He assists with many in clinic tasks of scheduling staff, patient scheduling, organizing functions, and assisting other PTA’s with their educational tracks. He is consistently complimented by the staff, patients and their family members regarding his treatment skills and calm demeanor. He has excelled both in and out of the clinic with his education, and personal skills. Tony is truly an asset that NorthSound Physical Therapy is proud to have representing them so well.”

The entire team at NorthSound Physical Therapy greatly appreciates the great work and positive demeanor that Tony brings with him to NorthSound everyday. Thank you for your loyalty to our company and we hope for many more great years to come.

A Physical Therapist’s Guide to Headaches

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Pain of any type that occurs in any part of the head is called a headache. There are many different types of headaches, with just as many causes. The International Headache Society describes several different categories of headache:

     –Tension-type

     –Migraine and cluster

     –Secondary headaches from an underlying condition, such as fever, infectious disease, sinus disorder, or in rare cases, a tumor or more serious illness

     –Cranial neuralgias, facial pain, and other headaches

Most headaches are harmless and resolve on their own, although severe headaches that recur frequently can affect your ability to do your daily activities and can reduce your quality of life.There is effective treatment for almost every type of headache. The challenge lies in determining the type of headache, its cause, and in developing an appropriate treatment plan that will reduce both its frequency and intensity. Physical therapists can help determine the type of headache you have and are experts in managing pain from tension-type headaches.

Your physical therapist will work with you to correct the problems that are causing your pain and will help you learn to prevent headaches through simple changes in your posture and lifestyle:

Improve neck mobility. Physical therapists use a specialized technique called manual therapy to increase movement and relieve pain and to stretch the muscles of the back of the neck.

Improve your strength. Your physical therapist will teach you exercises to increase the strength of the muscles that help stabilize your upper back and neck to improve your posture and endurance and make it easier for you to sit or stand for longer periods of time without discomfort.

Improve your posture. Physical therapists will teach you to ways to improve your posture. Whether it is simply pushing your chest out or pulling your shoulder blades backward and together, slight modifications to everyday living can make a vast improvement in posture.

Modify your workstation or home office. Tips may include:

     –using a headset instead of a regular phone

     –adjusting your computer screen so that it is no lower than the level of your eyes

     –finding an appropriate desk chair

     –adjusting the position of your computer mouse

If you are suffering from chronic headaches, contact a physical therapist at one of our five locations to see how we can help you.

Getting Back into Running Form

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Spring and summer are rapidly approaching in the northwest. Knowing that this brief appearance from the sun may not last long, we try to fit in as much as possible. Every year about this time runners come into the clinic with injuries that are preventing them from enjoying that brief but brilliant visit from the sun. Some are people who decided it would be a good way to get into shape or a nice break from their previous activities. Others run on a regular basis but have increased their mileage recently. Either way, they now have nagging injuries that are holding them back from enjoying these activities.

The medical field has done a tremendous amount of research over the past decade into running mechanics and injuries. We now have a much better understanding of what makes “good” running form and how running in this manner will help reduce the risk of injury. Utilizing a combination of slow motion video analysis, evaluation of the individual’s strength, mobility, and balance, and the knowledge of the biomechanics behind running form, we are able to identify the various causes of the injuries and provide the patient with the tools to correct these problems.

The legendary running coach Bill Bowerman once said “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.” In the northwest we only have 8 weeks of good weather before we have to decide if we want to challenge his thoughts. Don’t spend those weeks on the sideline with an injury.

Tony Johns

 

Tony Johns, PT
Marysville Clinical Manager
tony.johns@northsoundpt.com
(360) 658-8857

New Year, New Website

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NorthSound Physical Therapy is proud to announce the unveiling of our completely re-designed website. We have been working hard to create a new look, provide new features, as well as brand new pictures of each clinic and headshots of our therapists and assistants.

-If you missed a past newsletter, you can check out the “News” section where all of the articles will be posted for you to read.
-We also added an “Ask an Expert” section where you can email a PT directly from the website and expect a timely response.
-You can download your registration forms, fill them out on your computer, then print and bring them with you to your appointment to make the process run smoother and get you the care that you need faster.

Please check out the new site and let us know what you think. If you have any suggestions for a possible feature that could be added, or any other additional comments, we would love to get your feedback. We will continue to improve the website and utilize it as a valuable resource for patients and physicians.

Smokey Point PTA Celebrates 10 Years with NorthSound PT

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Please join us in congratulating Dan McBride on recently celebrating his 10th year with NorthSound Physical Therapy. He is currently a PTA at the Smokey Point clinic.

Dan has worked at all five of NorthSound clinics since he joined the team. He is inspired daily by his mentors and co-workes over the years including Marty Stanton, Tony Johns, and Tracy Hartley. Dan explained, “They have taught me how to be the best physical therapy assistant that I can be and treat the patient as a whole”. Dan is also thankful of the support from his wife and daughter, and appreciates each and every patient that he has had the pleasure to work with over the years.

Dan has also recently started the Aquatic Therapy program back up at the Stillaguamish Athletic Club in Arlington on Tuesdays, and finds it to be an enjoyable challenge.

The entire team at NorthSound Physical Therapy greatly appreciates the tremendous work and infectious personality that Dan brings to the company. Thank you for the past 10 years, and hopefully many more years to come.

Workplace Wellness

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Working at a computer work station all day can take a toll on the body. Repetitive activities and lack of mobility can contribute to aches, pains, and eventual injuries.

Sitting at a desk while using the keyboard for hours on a day to day basis can result in poor circulation to joints and muscles, it can also create an imbalance in strength and flexibility of certain muscles, and muscle strain. These issues can be easily remedied by taking frequent short breaks, or “micro breaks,” throughout your day.

-Get out of your chair several times a day and move around-even for 30 seconds

-Roll your shoulders backwardsTurn your head side to side

-Stretch out your forearms and your legs

-Additionally, specific guidelines for your work station can help maximize your comfort and safety.

(To find out the how to maximize your workstation and to watch some videos that explain workplace exercises, click on the link below)

To read the rest of the article, visit MoveForwardPT.com

Patient Gift Card Drawing

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Congratulations to the three winners of a
$50 Starbucks Gift Card!
Linda Weston – Marysville
Susan Queirolo – Camano Island
Kelly Stadum – Marysville

These three lucky contestants were randomly selected from our mailing list. To be eligible for future prizes like these, please ensure that you remain on the list and continue to receive our monthly newsletters.

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Smokey Point Clinic
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