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Whiplash Treatment

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whiplash or neck pain

The treatment of whiplash by physical therapists typically involves a combination of different techniques aimed at reducing pain, improving mobility, and promoting healing. Here are some common approaches Saunders physical therapists use to treat whiplash:

The Saunders Whiplash Treatment Approach

Evaluation and Assessment: Saunders physical therapists begin by assessing the severity of the whiplash injury and identifying any specific areas of concern or limitations.

Pain Management: We use various methods such as ice or heat therapy, gentle manual therapy or massage to help alleviate pain and inflammation in the affected area.

Manual Therapy: As you improve, we employ more hands-on techniques such as massage, joint mobilization, and manipulation to improve joint function and reduce muscle tension.

Stretching and Strengthening Exercises: Specific exercises are prescribed to improve flexibility, strength, and stability in the neck and surrounding muscles. These exercises help to restore normal function and prevent further injury.

Posture and Body Mechanics: Proper body mechanics and posture are emphasized to avoid additional strain on the neck and spine during daily activities.

Range of Motion Exercises: Gradual and controlled movements are prescribed to improve the range of motion in the neck and prevent stiffness.

Education and Lifestyle Modifications: Patients are educated about whiplash and given advice on how to modify their daily activities and movements to support the healing process.

Cervical Traction: In some cases, cervical traction may be used to gently stretch the neck and alleviate pressure on the affected areas.

Functional Rehabilitation: Saunders physical therapists help you gradually return to regular activities and work by addressing any functional limitations caused by the whiplash injury.

whiplash or neck pain
It’s crucial to note that the treatment plan for whiplash can vary based on the severity of the injury and individual patient needs. Early intervention and consistent compliance with the prescribed treatment plan are essential for a successful recovery. If you experience whiplash or any other injury, Saunders physical therapists can help guide you back to full recovery.

 

Tennis Elbow Treatment

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Tennis player

Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is a painful condition that affects the tendons on the outside of the elbow. Despite its name, it can be caused by any repetitive arm and wrist movements, not just playing tennis. Activities such as typing, painting, plumbing, and using tools can also contribute to the development of tennis elbow.

The condition occurs when the tendons that connect the forearm muscles to the outer part of the elbow become inflamed or damaged due to overuse or repetitive strain. This can lead to pain and tenderness on the outer side of the elbow and sometimes down the forearm.

Treatment for tennis elbow usually involves a combination of self-care measures and expert physical therapy. Here is how Saunders physical therapists treat tennis elbow:

The Saunders Tennis Elbow Treatment Approach

Manual Therapy: This includes hands-on techniques performed by a physical therapist to gently mobilize and massage the elbow and surrounding tissues. Manual therapy can help improve joint mobility, reduce pain, and restore normal elbow function.

Therapeutic Exercises: Our physical therapists will prescribe specific exercises to strengthen the muscles around the elbow. These exercises may include range of motion exercises, gentle resistance training appropriate for your injury, and stretching.

Modalities: Therapeutic modalities can be used to reduce pain, inflammation, and muscle tension in the shoulder area.

Functional Training: This involves practicing movements and activities that are relevant to your daily life or sports activities. Functional training helps to integrate the improved strength and flexibility into real-life situations.

Activity Modification: Your physical therapist may advise you on modifying certain activities or movements that aggravate your elbow pain to prevent further injury.

Education and Home Exercises: A crucial part of physical therapy is learning about your condition and performing home exercises and self-management techniques to continue progress outside of therapy sessions.

Taping and Bracing: In some cases, taping or bracing techniques may be used to support the elbow and facilitate healing.

Tennis player
Remember, every individual’s condition is unique, and the best physical therapy treatment for tennis elbow will depend on the underlying cause of the pain. A personalized approach from an expert physical therapist is vital to achieve the best results. In most cases, tennis elbow can be effectively treated with conservative measures. However, if the pain persists or becomes severe, we will work with your physician or refer you to an appropriate specialist for additional care.

 

Shoulder Pain Treatment

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Shoulder Pain Treatment

The best physical therapy treatment for shoulder pain can vary depending on the specific cause and severity of the pain. However, there are some common physical therapy techniques that are often effective in addressing shoulder pain, including such conditions as shoulder tendinitis, shoulder bursitis, rotator cuff injury, and frozen shoulder. A Saunders physical therapist can help determine the most suitable treatment plan for your individual condition. Our goal is to achieve pain relief as soon as possible, and then to restore normal motion, strength, and posture to prevent recurrence of your symptoms. Saunders physical therapists specialize in shoulder pain treatment – choosing Saunders means you will be treated by an experienced professional. Here are some common physical therapy treatments we might use for your condition:

The Saunders Shoulder Pain Treatment Approach

Manual Therapy: This includes hands-on techniques performed by a physical therapist to mobilize and manipulate the shoulder joint and surrounding tissues. Manual therapy can help improve joint mobility, reduce pain, and restore normal shoulder function.

Therapeutic Exercises: Our physical therapists will prescribe specific exercises to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder joint, improve flexibility, and enhance stability. These exercises may include range of motion exercises, resistance training, and stretching.

Modalities: Therapeutic modalities can be used to reduce pain, inflammation, and muscle tension in the shoulder area.

Posture Correction: Poor posture can contribute to shoulder pain. Our experts will assess and provide strategies to improve posture, reducing stress on the shoulder joint.

Functional Training: This involves practicing movements and activities that are relevant to your daily life or sports activities. Functional training helps to integrate the improved strength and flexibility into real-life situations.

Activity Modification: Your physical therapist may advise you on modifying certain activities or movements that aggravate your shoulder pain to prevent further injury.

Education and Home Exercises: A crucial part of physical therapy is learning about your condition and performing home exercises and self-management techniques to continue progress outside of therapy sessions.

Taping and Bracing: In some cases, taping or bracing techniques may be used to support the shoulder joint and facilitate healing.

Shoulder Pain Treatment
Remember, every individual’s condition is unique, and the best physical therapy treatment for shoulder pain will depend on the underlying cause of the pain. A personalized approach from an expert physical therapist is vital to achieve the best results. Additionally, it’s essential to follow the therapist’s advice and be consistent with the exercises and treatments to maximize the benefits of physical therapy.

 

Just Breathe!

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Man Deep Breathing in Supine Position

Life gets busy, and it can often be stressful. While we cannot always change the things happening around us, we can help control how our body responds to these stressors by adding some breath work to your daily routine. Don’t panic! You don’t have to lie on a yoga mat on the floor in a candle lit room (yep – I get that’s not everyone’s jam!) to reap the benefits.

Here’s a fun fact: the pattern we use with our breathing can impact our nervous system, and in turn impact how we feel! When we perform slow, deep breathing we activate our parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), sometimes referred to as our “rest and digest” system. This system helps relax our body after periods of stress and danger. Sometimes, if we’re experiencing ongoing pain or life stresses, we have difficulty turning our PNS on, and we may spend too much time the “fight or flight”/sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This “fight or flight” (SNS) is necessary for safety and survival, but if we spend too much time in this system, it can be quite straining on our bodies.

Breathe… To Calm Your Body’s “Fight or Flight” Response to Pain or Stress

To start, find a comfortable position (standing, sitting, lying down) and just take note of how you are breathing. Are you expanding your belly/lower ribs, or does most of the movement happen in your upper chest and shoulders? When you inhale does your abdomen expand or are you sucking it in? What we are looking for is minimal movement in the upper chest/shoulders, and expansion of the ribs/abdomen when we take a breath in. If you are breathing quickly, see if you can slow it down a little. Be sure to use a rate that feels comfortable to you.

If you want, you can even close your eyes and visualize areas on your body relaxing, perhaps letting go of any extra tension with each exhalation. You may even say something like “I am” when you are inhaling/expanding your ribs/abdomen, and then say “calm” (or really whatever you WANT to be!) when you exhale (allowing your abdomen to return to its normal shape). If you have the time, spend 5-10 minutes practicing this. Try not to let your mind wander off to what you might need to do after this practice and try to be in the moment.

Once you have the patterning down, try to add this activity frequently throughout your day. Breathing like this for just a minute, regularly during your day can really make a big difference – so go ahead and give it a try. If you want to practice this technique with a skilled Saunders physical therapist, and learn a few more helpful tips, please give us a call so we can help you feel your best!

By Shannon Burrows, PT MSc

Man Breathing in Supine

 

 

TMJ Treatment

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TMJ palpation intraoral performed by physical therapist

Treatment of your TMJ Disorder involves a multifactorial approach. We work with your dentist or surgeon, as applicable. Our goal is to achieve pain relief as soon as possible, and then to restore normal motion, relaxation, and posture to prevent recurrence of your symptoms. Saunders physical therapists specialize in TMJ disorder treatment – choosing Saunders means you will be treated by an experienced professional.

The Saunders TMJ Treatment Philosophy

Musculoskeletal Evaluation: We look at your posture and its potential contribution to TMJ dysfunction. We often discover muscle imbalances of the jaw and neck. We perform a biomechanical evaluation of the temporomandibular joint, cervical spine and craniofacial region. We inquire about habits that can contribute to symptoms, including jaw clenching or grinding the teeth.

Treatment:  Treatment may include manual therapy such as joint mobilization, craniosacral therapy, and myofascial release techniques. Neuromuscular re-education also plays a large role to improve muscle imbalances and decrease strain on the TMJ and cervical spine.

We may use therapeutic modalities such as iontophoresis or ultrasound. Instruction in diet and habit modification is important to decrease irritation to the tissues. Finally, we help you independently manage symptoms through a home exercise program.

TMJ palpation intraoral
It is common for people with TMJ disorders to also have neck problems. Spinal dysfunction affects the mechanics of the TMJ and correction of posture and spinal joint and muscle imbalances is often key to TMJ pain or headache relief. At Saunders Therapy Centers, we can evaluate your head, neck, and jaw to determine the root cause of your symptoms, and develop a treatment plan to get you feeling better in no time

 

Categories TMJ

Work Ready for Brain Injury Program

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Photo of Saint Paul Industrial Rehab Team

After extensive rehabilitation, are you at a plateau, struggling to perform work activities or figure out next steps for return to work?

At Saunders, we provide a supportive, structured environment where we gradually expose you to the common stressors people with brain injury encounter in the work environment. These can include difficulty with light or sound, visual disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and physical challenges.

Regain Function and Return to Work with Saunders!

Saunders Therapy Centers’ Work Ready Program is just like our Work Hardening program – but adapted for you. In a nutshell, Saunders’ Work Ready program is simply Work Hardening that goes at your own pace, and also addresses the specific challenges you might be facing with sensory or task sequencing problems. 

What Can I Expect?

At Saunders, your program will be CUSTOMIZED. We perform a 2-hour, comprehensive evaluation to determine your strength, function, and readiness for work. We then work WITH YOU to determine the ideal program.

We gradually increase exposure to those frustrating combination of circumstances that are getting in the way of returning to work.  The activities you’ll do, the length and duration of each session, and the overall length of the program will be unique for your circumstances.

St Paul Work Ready For Brain Injury Team Photo

We know it’s hard to increase physical stamina if you’re struggling to tolerate light or sound.

Work Hardening – What Exactly Will I Do?

Work Hardening – What Exactly Will I Do?

Most people who are referred for Work Hardening have physical barriers that prevent them from reaching their work goals. Examples of these are stiffness, weakness, poor balance, or poor endurance….

What is the Work Hardening Evaluation?

What is the Work Hardening Evaluation?

Before beginning the program, each client participates in a 2-hour evaluation. We obtain a thorough injury history, work history, psychosocial screening and baseline functional assessment covering lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying,…

Realistic, Experienced, Non-Biased, Compassionate Treatment

work hardening client reaching overhead with knot-tying exercisework hardening client performing plumber simulation with pipe wrenchwork hardening client grasping cardboard boxwork hardening client performing warehouse simulation material handlingwork hardening client using wrench to tighten unistrutwork hardening client squatting to lift bread crates for job simulationwork hardening client using handtruck to move materials up stairstherapist working with patient and another patient on treadmill nearbyflight attendant client simulating putting suitcase in overhead binflight attendant client simulating beverage servicevarious people working out in Saunders Therapy Centers gymoccupational therapist assisting client with advanced ball exerciseoccupational therapist encouraging client during work simulation as plumberoccupational therapist chatting with smiling client carrying boxwork hardening client assembling structure with unistrut using wrenchOccupational therapist teaching shoulder rotation exercise in gymphysical therapist and firefighter practicing patient transport in gymphysical therapist explaining body mechanics techniques to firefighteroccupational therapist checking exercise technique in gymphysical therapist assistant encouraging a happy patient in gymphysical therapist chatting with patient doing exercisephysical therapist assistant helping with sit-to-stand exerciseoccupational therapist testing shoulder strengthoccupational therapist teaching lifting techniqueoccupational therapist chatting with client performing material handling exercisesoccupational therapist palpating upper back muscles during patient exercise

Meet the Team

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physical therapist assistant helping client perform exercise with dumbells

Our Expert Clinicians

Tyler Zajic, PTA

Tyler Zajic, PTA

Saint Paul Office
Industrial Rehabilitation
Work Hardening Programs
Orthopedics

Allison Teachout, OTR/L

Allison Teachout, OTR/L

Bloomington Office
Industrial Rehabilitation
Work Hardening Programs
Functional Capacity Evaluation

Cole Burns, OTR/L

Cole Burns, OTR/L

Maple Grove Office
Industrial Rehabilitation
Work Hardening Programs
Functional Capacity Evaluation

Cyndi Mueller, OTR/L

Cyndi Mueller, OTR/L

Saint Paul Office
Industrial Rehabilitation
Work Hardening Programs
Functional Capacity Evaluation

Megan Fritsch, OTR/L

Megan Fritsch, OTR/L

Industrial Rehabilitation Manager
Functional Capacity Evaluation
Work Hardening Programs
All Offices

Ashlea Tecker, PTA

Ashlea Tecker, PTA

Bloomington Office
Industrial Rehabilitation
Work Hardening Programs
Orthopedics

Claire Girouard, OTR/L

Claire Girouard, OTR/L

Saint Paul Office
Industrial Rehabilitation
Work Hardening Programs
Functional Capacity Evaluation

Stacy Gonzalez, PTA

Stacy Gonzalez, PTA

Saint Paul Office
Industrial Rehabilitation
Work Hardening Programs
Orthopedics

 

Our Wonderful Administrative Staff

MJ Peters

MJ Peters

Saint Paul, Maple Grove, Bloomington
Administration

TMJ Symptoms

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physical therapist explaining TMJ anatomy

How do you tell if your facial, head, or neck pain is related to your temporomandibular (TMJ) joint? The TMJ is the hinge joint that opens and closes your jaw. The joint can be palpated just in front of the ear, or from inside the ear. The muscles that operate this joint to open and close the jaw can be palpated along the temple, jawbone, and from inside the mouth. Sometimes, you can feel pain directly in the area around the joint, but there are other symptoms you should be aware of:

  • Neck pain
  • Aching facial pain
  • Headache
  • Pain or tenderness of the jaw muscles
  • Aching pain in or around the ear
  • Difficulty with or pain with chewing
  • Jaw “locking” or difficulty opening or closing

It is common for people with TMJ disorders to also have neck problems. Neck posture definitely affects the mechanics of the TMJ and correction of posture and treatment of neck dysfunction is often key to TMJ pain or headache relief. At Saunders Therapy Centers, we can evaluate your head, neck, and jaw to determine the root cause of your symptoms, and develop a treatment plan to get you feeling better in no time.

 

Categories TMJ
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