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Injuring your knee and tearing your ACL can impair your ability to stand, walk, and fulfill your daily routines or favorite activities. However, physical therapy treatments can effectively relieve the symptoms of ACL tears. If you are experiencing a knee injury, you should learn about the ACL tear treatments that premier Wyoming physical therapists can provide.
 
ACL Tears
ACL tears are one of the most common injuries incurred by professional athletes and people who engage in physical activities. The best Casper physical therapy services can help identify and treat ACL tears. The ACL, or Anterior Cruciate Ligament, is an essential ligament of tissues that stabilize the knee by connecting the shin bone to the thigh bone. Many causes can facilitate tears in the ACL ligament. You can encounter the injury from twisting your leg in an awkward manner while your foot is firmly planted on the ground, from running fast and then suddenly and abruptly stopping, or from absorbing a hard blow on the leg. Additionally, at the time of the injury you also typically hear a loud and clearly audible popping or snapping sound. Certain symptoms usually accompany the injury, including severe pain, immediate swelling around the knee, and a loss of functioning in the affected leg.

Evaluation
The top Wyoming physical therapists can conduct an evaluation of your knee and determine whether or not you need surgery. The therapy experts can utilize many tests to assess the degree of the injury. The tests often enable the therapist to gently pull, bend, and maneuver your knee to assess the response of your leg. Common tests include the anterior drawer test, the lachman test, the pivot shift test, and the timed hop test. The experts then consider the results of the tests to determine if you need surgery. Many ACL patients can recover with physical therapy treatments and do not require surgery. However, some patients might require surgery if the symptoms are severe or if the injury keeps recurring. Patients that require surgery should still participate in physical therapy programs after the surgery to assist and accelerate the recovery process.   

Treatments
Many physical therapy treatments can help alleviate the symptoms of ACL tears. Premier Casper physical therapy services can implement a wide variety of ACL exercise treatments.  Strengthening exercises can rebuild the leg muscles so your knee can support the joints in your leg and the weight of your body. Balancing exercises can also help you maintain stability while standing, walking, and running. Flexibility exercises are very beneficial for ACL tears. The flexibility exercises can help expand your range of motion, increase the mobility of your knee, and restore the proper functioning of your leg.

The body mechanics advice of physical therapy experts can also help treat ACL injuries. The therapists can teach you the correct knee movements and effective leg techniques that you should use to fulfill your favorite activities and to avoid incurring knee injuries in the future. Additionally, physical therapy experts can also treat ACL tears with many technological modalities. Electrical stimulation devices are commonly used for knee injuries and ACL tears. The electrical stimulation process can restore the strength of your quadriceps muscles, stabilize your knee, and allow you to properly straighten and bend your leg.

Contact North Platte Physical Therapy to treat your knee injury. Our expert staff is revered throughout the Wyoming and Nebraska areas for providing superior and customized physical therapy services. We can handle any of your physical therapy needs, we have access to the best treatments on the market, and we would be glad to treat your ACL tear to restore the functioning of your leg and to maximize the performance of your body.  

Congratulations to the fantastic ladies of the Gillette Office!!

On Saturday, May 14th, the Annual Splash-n-Dash Triathlon was held in Gillette. We are very excited to report that the North Platte Physical Therapy team has won the Triathlon for the third year in a row! The team consisted of Kacee Pikula- Biking with a time of 54:02, Sarah Forster-Swimming with a time of 14:06, and Amanda Weber-Running with a time of 22:45. The total time for the team was 1 hour and 32 minutes. We are so proud of these ladies bringing home the trophy for a third time in a row to North Platte Physical Therapy. Way to go!

The hip consists of many bursae fluid sacs that cushion the muscles and tendons in your hip, buttocks, and thigh areas. However, middle-aged men and women occasionally experience hip bursitis, a condition in which one of the sacs in the hip becomes inflamed. The condition can be caused by incurring a hard blow on the hip, twisting your body into an awkward position, or placing frequent or excessive strain on the hip during daily activities. If you are experiencing pain in your hip, you should learn about the hip bursitis treatments that the best Wyoming physical therapy services can provide.

Rest Treatment
Rest treatments can help premier Casper physical therapists treat hip bursitis conditions. Resting your body and refraining from utilizing your hip can relieve many of the symptoms that accompany hip bursitis. The symptoms of the condition often include severe pain, loss of functioning, and swelling in the hip. The swelling is caused by blood rushing to the damaged area of your hip at an increased rate. However, alternating hot and cold treatments can reduce the swelling. For instance, the therapy experts can place hot pads and ice packs onto your hip at even increments to diminish the swelling, alleviate the pain, and prevent the injury from exasperating. Additionally, the therapists can also provide splints and braces to further help you rest and protect your hip during the recovery process.  

Exercises
The top Wyoming physical therapy services can also treat hip bursitis with stretch and exercise routines. Many stretches can help reduce the pain, increase your range-of-motion, and restore the proper functioning of your hip area. The hip rotator stretch is especially beneficial for treating hip pain. The hip rotator stretch enables you to lie on your back while the therapist moves your leg and presses on your knee to stretch your hip. You can also do various standing stretches. For instance, iliotibial band stretches consist of you standing upright or against a wall while the therapist positions your arms in ways that stretch the injured area of your hip.

Many exercise routines can also treat the symptoms of hip bursitis. Because hip bursitis can cause you to experience a depleted weakness in your hip, exercise routines can help strengthen and stabilize the hip muscles to facilitate recovery and to prevent further injuries. Although many aerobic and weight-lifting routines can help treat your condition, your therapist can determine which particular routines would be most effective for your injury and safe for your body.

Modalities
You can also have premier Casper physical therapists use technological modalities to treat hip bursitis.  Ultrasound devices are very advantageous for hip problems. Ultrasound devices can generate sound and heat waves, send the wave vibrations to your hip area, and this can stimulate and heal the soft tissues affected by your injury. Many benefits are associated with this ultrasound process. The device can circulate beneficial oxygen and nutrients to the damaged hip, eradicate detrimental toxins from the soft tissues, and relieve the pressure and strain from your hip. Numerous other technological devices can also help treat hip bursitis. For instance, TENS Units and electrical stimulator devices can distribute medical nutrients throughout your hip area to alleviate the pain and accelerate the rehabilitation process.

Contact North Platte Physical Therapy to treat your hip condition. Our expert staff is revered throughout the Wyoming and Nebraska areas for satisfying customers with our superior and customized physical therapy services. We can handle any of your therapy needs, we have access to the best treatment modalities on the market, and we would be glad to provide effective treatments that can relieve the pain in your body and maximize the functioning of your hip.

When it comes to injuries, Casper physical therapy may be needed for a full recovery. Therapy allows you to be exposed to multiple strategies to heal your issue. When it comes to soft tissue injuries, the Graston Technique has been a premier proven way to help athletes and individuals recovery from sprains, strains and tendinitis. By using this technique, time treating is lowered, less anti-inflammatory medication is needed and helps to make the injury not become permanent.

1. What is the Gaston Technique? This non-surgical technique is used by physical therapists for soft tissue mobilization that can break down scar tissue. In fact, many universities have implemented this into their athletic programs and made it a top solution. On their website, the Graston Technique explains they use specialized stainless steel instruments alongside therapeutic exercise to find and treat injuries with soft tissue fibrosis or chronic inflammation. By using this tool, the physical therapist is able to follow the kinetic chain (how joints and segments follow each other for movement) and find the problematic areas. Through this, specific painful areas are addressed. From there, this helps patients to reach a full recovery and full range of motion in the area.
2. What is Soft Tissue? In order to understand this technique, it is good to understand what soft tissue is. The Graston Technique explains soft tissue, also known as fascia, is located just under the skin. It consists of a white membrane that wraps and connects the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels of the body. To better envision what it is, they explain it is like the white fuzz on the inside of an orange peel.
3. Success Rates: Different injuries or ailments have different success rates. Definitely discuss your injury with your physical therapist to determine if the treatment will work for you to restore the quality in that area. Shoulder pain (rotator cuff tendinitis), tennis elbow and ankle pain have an over 90 percent success rate. Neck pain (cervical sprain/strain), back pain (lumbar sprain/strain) and wrist pain (carpal tunnel syndrome) have an over 80 percent success rate. Knee pain (patellofemoral disporders) and foot pain (plantar fasciitis) have an over 70 percent success rate, and Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) has an over 60 percent rate. This treatment has also been successful for those who suffer from fibromyalgia, hip pain, wrist tendinitis and ITB tendinitis.
4. Treatment and Recovery Time: The Graston Technique said recovery time varies on the type of injury. Treatments are done once or twice a week over the course of four to five weeks. Many patients begin to notice a difference within the first couple weeks. The physical therapist will work with the patient on what activities can and can’t be done during the treatment.

If you are looking for a solution for your pain, the Graston Technique may be one of the best options for you. North Platte Physical Therapy is your go-to local Casper physical therapy location experienced in this special technique. Learn more about this technique and all of our other Modality Services and fill out a contact form to get started.  

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Neck pains can be caused for a variety of reasons but it isn’t something you have to accept. Casper physical therapy can help you relieve some of your chronic pain and help you create a plan to move forward.

Causes: Neck pain can arise for a variety of reasons. Some of the top reasons are because of muscle stains due to overuse or poor posture, worn joints due to age or osteoarthritis, nerve compression due to herniated disks or bone spurs in your vertebrae, injuries such as car accidents or motions that cause the head to quickly move backward and diseases. Being such an important part of your body, it can be painful and irritable when you have neck-related issues that affect your day-to-day life.  Symptoms of neck pain can include a crick in your neck, chronic headaches, dizziness, degenerative disc or joint diseased, herniated, bulged or ruptured disks, cervical fusion, cervical laminectomies or disectomies and numbness or tingling in the arm.

What to Do on Your Own: Prior going to a physical therapist, or during treatment, there are many actions you can take to help ease some of your neck pain. One of the best things you can do is to stay hydrated. This will benefit you in a multitude of ways, but for your neck alone, will keep them hydrated. After all, did you know that the discs between your vertebrae need water? Spine Health explains that your vertebrae need water to keep disc height and spinal alignment, which removes pressure from your spine. They also say you can take topical or oral magnesium to help calm your muscles, avoid putting your head in a cradling position such as talking on the phone or having poor posture, icing your injuries to reduce swelling, try a water pillow that is soft and add swimming to your exercise routine.

How Physical Therapy Helps: A physical therapist is one of the best ways to help you find the source of your neck pain and make it more manageable. Exercises they can teach you can help reduce stiffness and strengthen the area or provide an array of services that help as well. To find the type of exercises that you need, Web MD says you can expect your therapist to learn about the range in motion around your neck, include shoulder blade pain and if it impacts your arms and fingers. It is best to leave this to professionals to ensure you do not use any motions that can further damage your body and cause your neck pain to increase.

When it comes to neck and spine injuries, North Platte is your go-to local physical therapist in Casper, WY to provide premier services that will get you feeling better and relieving some or all of your pain through treatments and exercises to restore the quality of your neck. Learn about our spine care services and how we can provide you with the care you need to restore your spine! Fill out our contact form to get started and to find a location near you.