In the ever-changing world in which we live,
it’s hard to keep on top of events, news, and information – especially when
it comes to personal health care. Rarely does a day go by when a loved one,
friend, business associate, or passing acquaintance, doesn’t complain about
some ailment or pain or minor discomfort. So when you have those pains, what
needs to be done? Where is the pain really coming from? What questions
should you ask? If you’ve been in a car accident, had an injury, or suffer
from degenerative age related changes in your body what should be done about
it? Where to turn? What approaches are best?
Fortunately, in today’s world, the answers to these
questions are in abundance – you just need to know where to look. This issue
takes a look at New Heights Integrative Therapy Inc. – a physical therapy
clinic that is both advanced and holistic in their approach, assisting
clients in achieving higher levels of personal health and well-being.
Kellie Barnes, MPT, MOMT (Masters of Orthopedic Manual
Therapy), is one of the founding partners and practicing physical therapists
at New Heights Integrative Therapy, which has one clinic in SE Portland and
another in downtown Vancouver. She, along with Kevin Poe, clinic director
and licensed massage therapist, with extensive experience as a dancer in
ballet and musical theater companies, and Donna Gramont, MOMT, PT, founded
the clinic nine years ago with a strong desire to bring highly skilled
orthopedic manual therapy and physical therapy to clients combined with an
environment and philosophy that promotes healing. The environment created
fosters a clinic that is open and spacious and values the client’s
communication and participation. The physical therapists have training in
orthopedic manual therapy allowing clients to receive the diagnosis and care
required to heal from injury or achieve their personal health goals.
Blending this training and skill with an open mind and
a belief that each aspect of the individual is important allows for a truly
integrative model. While the physical therapists are not physicians they
have training in other areas of health care such as nutrition, psychology,
and understanding systemic components that may influence skeletal health.
These may include changes that occur with menopause, chronic inflammation
due to nutritional considerations, or changes in an individual’s overall
systemic health due to an autoimmune condition such as hypothyroidism. Each
of these examples can cause changes in an individual’s connective tissue and
lead to pain and inflammation. When these relationships are found the
physical therapists at New Heights work closely with many other physicians
and health care practitioners to more completely address these needs. They
may include medical doctors, chiropractic doctors, naturopathic doctors,
nutritionists, and counselors. The referral and communication with these
practitioners further supports the integrative approach at New Heights.
To fully understand this approach, it’s best to first
define the clinic’s name, New Heights Integrative Therapy. It’s a catchy
name and one that isn’t easily forgotten.
“New Heights,” says Barnes, “refers to our vision of
helping clients achieve new levels of personal health. We believe these
higher levels of health can be achieved for everyone. We combined this
vision with our integrative model which is a more comprehensive form of
physical therapy, and that is how our name was formed.
The clinic uses the term “integrative” in the same
sense as “holistic.” The holistic approach treats the “whole you” with the
end goal of restoring a person to an optimal state of health.
Integrative therapy is looking at you as a whole being.
Looking at the entire person as a whole combined with a technical and
compressive analysis of the musculoskeletal system allows the clinicians at
New Heights to develop a highly specific treatment plan based upon an
accurate tissue diagnosis where the client is an active participant in their
care.
Barnes is quick to point out that “yes we are holistic
and integrative in our approach, but we are also highly trained and
technical in our care.”
Indeed, most of the physical therapists have
post-graduate degrees, and many have completed residencies in orthopedic
manual therapy, which entail two to four years of additional training on top
of physical therapy degrees. They are big believers in continuing education.
Several of the practitioners teach and many do ongoing clinical research.
They work hard to keep up with the latest information and blend this with
the enjoyment of their work and helping others achieve their health goals.
Integrative therapy has several unique features:
• Use of a skilled diagnosis to appropriately treat a connective tissue
injury.
• Each program and therapy is tailored specifically to each patient.
• The offering of a broad array of therapeutic approaches to more
effectively help patients reach health goals.
• Attention to the whole person – not just one body part.
• A combination of Scientific Therapeutic Exercise Progression (S.T.E.P.)
and hands-on manual therapy to accelerate pain relief and the healing
process. S.T.E.P is a progression of exercise that may begin with increasing
circulation and blood flow to injured tissue in order to initiate repair at
the cell level.
• The encouragement of a patient’s active involvement in setting health
goals and in a patient’s rehabilitation.
• The belief that tissue can repair itself, which leads to prevention of
future injury.
• The offering of programs such as T’ai chi and pilates.
• A belief in a pleasant, open and healing clinical environment that is also
non-toxic.
• At-home rehabilitation and health maintenance programs.
What is key to a person achieving their health goals is
that the source of a patient’s pain needs to be identified. It is also
important for the public to know that this process of diagnosis and healing
in physical therapy should not be painful, “because where there is pain,
there is inflammation and if in excess this limits the healing capacity of
the body. Treatment and exercise dosage can all be pain free while achieving
a client’s goal of returning to work, recreation, and pain free use of their
body.
What to expect on your first visit with the integrative approach?
First, realize that the foundation of a good treatment program is an
accurate and thorough diagnosis of what is wrong. In that first visit
comprehensive musculoskeletal evaluation will occur that can essentially be
broken down into two components:
1) A connective tissue evaluation; and
2) a body mechanics evaluation.
The connective tissue evaluation is a comprehensive
musculoskeletal examination that carefully reviews the
following systems in your body:
• Muscles and tendons
• Ligaments & joint capsules
• Cartilage, spinal discs and bone
• Nervous system
• Circulatory system
The integrative approach reviews each of these systems
because each heals at a different rate and may require its own unique
treatment. Moreover, an injury frequently involves different types of
tissue, all of which deserve treatment.
New Heights patient Nancy Monahan had back surgery in
2000, and subsequently suffered from extensive injuries caused by an
accident in which she was a pedestrian struck by a Ford F350 truck. Monahan
suffered from a fractured pelvis, fractured ribs, vertigo, and headaches
caused by the impact with the truck and with the pavement. She was unable to
walk without assistance and had severe back spasms and numbness in her left
leg. She heard about New Heights from her partner.
“From my first visit at New Heights, I knew it was
different,” says Monahan. “First it was very investigative. There was the
sense that ‘we need to help this person and fix them and get them back to
the life they had before this accident.’ There was a determination there,
both on the part of Shelly Coffman, my therapist, and on my part.” She also
says the therapist focused on the whole person, which she found refreshing.
Gretchen Funk, a 14 year old dancer from the
Columbia Dance Company, in Vancouver, also sought out New Heights after
suffering for several months from foot pain. She had tried exercises and
treatments to alleviate symptoms of what was thought to be plantar fasciitis.
Her feet continued to be painful, and symptoms began to show in her knees
and hips. Upon the suggestion of her dance instructors and others, Funk came
to New Heights. She says that her first impression of the clinic was that
it was different than she expected.
After a visit with Coffman, who explained that Funk’s
problem actually was coming from her back, she says, “It made more sense to
me than plantar fasciitis. I had tried foot beds and done the exercises, and
it didn’t work. And the hands-on treatment was different from what I
expected. I expected PT to be more like a doctor’s office. I wasn’t sure
how I was going to get better without pills, but I did.”
Once a patient is diagnosed, the therapists at New
Heights customize a treatment plan for that person. This may include manual
therapy techniques, individualized exercise prescription, as well as
education so they may understand their injury and healing process. Each
patient participates actively in their program.
What to expect after a proper diagnosis?
Each patient has different needs, but most can
expect a plan similar to the following:
Therapeutic exercise program A therapeutic exercise
program will be developed to address a patient’s specific needs. It may
include special exercises that can be performed at home, as well as in the
clinic. The exercise program may be controlled resistance or some other form
of exercise.
“Controlled resistance” therapy (S.T.E.P.) This
advanced therapy called S.T.E.P uses very precise resistance movements to
shorten the healing process. It allows for protection of injured tissue and
can be used in any phase of a patient’s injury. S.T.E.P. also gives a
patient a more complete healing of the injury, which reduces the risk of
developing scar tissue or having a re-injury. S.T.E.P. is also valuable for
osteoporosis prevention. STEP allows unique dosage dependent upon the
patient’s diagnosis and stage of injury. Each tissue heals with a different
optimal stimulus and therefore pain free dosage that also promotes tissue
repair is essential in the recovery process.
Manual therapy:
Manual Therapy is the use of “hands-on”
techniques to maximize the body’s own self-healing potential. It is used to
diagnose and treat injured or unhealthy tissue. Techniques include spinal
and peripheral joint mobilization, controlled and gentle manipulation, soft
tissue mobilization, neural mobilization, craniosacral mobilization,
structural integration, and myofascial release.
Micro-current therapy:
Micro-current is the application of tiny amounts of
electrical current to the injured part of the body, which helps injured
tissue to heal faster and can relieve pain. The body has a micro-current
circulatory system that provides intercellular communication through
electromagnetic signaling. When you have an injury this signaling is
disrupted. The application of micro-current helps to restore this
electromagnetic circulatory system allowing the tissue to repair itself.
Body movement and integration:
An injury recovery program may include manual
therapy, therapeutic massage, exercise, and micro-current therapy. The goal
is to help the entire body regain its former grace, posture, strength and
flexibility.
At-home programs:
As the treatment progresses, a patient may have
the option of doing some of his or her therapy and exercises at home. The
equipment is provided and instructions one needs to conveniently continue
therapy in the comfort of home.
Health maintenance program:
When a patient’s bones, muscles and connective
tissue have recovered most of their function, the patient should have much
reduced pain and strong enough tissue to prevent future injury.
In addition to obvious pains and aches associated with falls, accidents or
other trauma, physical therapy helps many other conditions, including, but
not limited to: Arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic pain, complex
regional pain syndrome, connective tissue pain degenerative disc disease,
diabetes, elbow injuries, fascitis, fibromyalgia, fibromyositis,
flexibility, foot injuries, foot pain, frozen shoulders, hand injuries,
headaches, heel spurs, joint dislocations, joint pain, knee injuries,
ligament injuries, etc.
New Heights Integrative Therapy is a unique physical
therapy clinic providing “advanced physical therapy with a holistic
approach”. Each program is unique to the individual and the patient’s
personal health concern. The clinic is warm and inviting and allows an
environment that promotes healing and listening to the client. Treatment
begins with an accurate diagnosis of what is wrong so that each tissue
involved can receive the optimal stimulus to repair and you can be pain-free
in your activities.
To learn more visit our website
www.NewHeightsTherapy.com and call today for more information:
(360)737-3346 or (503)236-3108. Free consultations are available and a
doctor’s referral is not always necessary. Two locations to serve you:
1700 Broadway Vancouver, WA (360)737-3346
1423 SE 23rd Ave Portland, OR (503)236-3108