At AOKC, Our goal is to enable you to become stronger, faster, and more balanced. The Athletic Orthopedics & Knee Center Physical Therapy department is a state-of-the art facility that has been successfully rehabilitating all types of athletes for more than 25 years.
Our expert team of physical therapists and rehabilitation specialists work together to return to you to peak performance following an injury or after developing a condition. The AOKC Physical Therapy department is unique in that your doctor and physical therapist personally work together to customize the best possible course of treatment.
Our facility boasts advanced equipment and services such as:
- Biodex KT 1000 Computerized Strength Testing for the knee, ankle, hip, shoulder, elbow, forearm, and wrist
- Circuit Weight Training Equipment for abdominals, cable/pulley system, row/rear deltoid and total gym
- Kettlebells, theraband and free weights
- Cardiovascular equipment including recumbent cycles, UBE aerobic ergometer, treadmills, elliptical
- Mini Trampoline, Slide Board, Body Blade, Physioballs, Medicine Balls, Rocker Boards, BAPS, and other PT-specific equipment
- Arthritis and Pain Management to include hot/cold therapy, electrical stimulation, ultrasound and mechanical traction
- Concussion and Vestibular Rehabilitation
- Game ready unit which combines cold therapy with compression in a pneumatic device that aides in recovery
Learn how to use the Game Ready unit
We provide manual therapy techniques to include Graston, Active Release Technique, Cupping, Myofascial Release and Soft Tissue Mobilization.
Graston Technique
Graston Technique® is an innovative, evidence-based form of instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization that enables clinicians to effectively break down scar tissue and fascial restrictions.
The technique uses specially designed stainless steel instruments, along with appropriate therapeutic exercise, to specifically detect and effectively treat areas exhibiting soft tissue fibrosis or chronic inflammation. The instruments also are used diagnostically to follow the kinetic chain, to locate and treat the cause of the symptom as well as the specific area of pain.
Benefits to the patient:
- Decreases overall time of treatment
- Fosters faster rehabilitation/recovery
- Reduces need for anti-inflammatory medication
- Resolves chronic conditions thought to be permanent
Mulligan Technique
Developed by New Zealand physical therapist Brian Mulligan, the concept of mobilizations with movement has become a popular treatment for musculoskeletal injuries. The concept of mobilizations in movement in the extremities and sustained natural apophyseal glides (SNAGS) in the spine has advanced physical therapist-applied passive physiological movements and accessory techniques. The Mulligan concept can be used to help treat a variety of injuries and pain including neck pain, back pain and upper and lower extremity injuries. Designed to reduce pain and improve the patient’s range of motion the Mulligan technique involves Natural Apophyseal Glides (NAGS), Sustained Natural Apophyseal Glides (SNAGS) and Mobilization with Movement (MWM) for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries.
When applying manual therapy techniques a physiotherapist will identify one or more comparable signs that may include loss of joint movement, pain associated with movement or pain associated with specific functional activities. Then a passive accessory joint mobilization is applied either parallel or perpendicular to the joint plane and the accessory glide is to be pain free. Using various combinations of parallel or perpendicular glides the therapist will try to find the correct treatment plane and grade of movement.
McKenzie Method
The McKenzie Method of MDT is a reliable assessment process intended for all musculoskeletal problems, including pain in the back, neck and extremities (i.e., shoulder, knee, ankle etc.), as well as issues associated with sciatica, sacroiliac joint pain, arthritis, degenerative disc disease, muscle spasms and intermittent numbness in hands or feet.
The treatment principles of the McKenzie Method promote the body’s potential to repair itself and do not involve the use of medication, heat, cold, ultrasound, needles, or surgery. The MDT system is designed to identify the mechanical problem and develop a plan to correct or improve the mechanics and thus decrease or eliminate the pain and functional problems.
Assessment
The McKenzie assessment process begins with the trained clinician taking a detailed history about your symptoms and how they behave. You will be asked how the problem began and how it interferes with your function. You will then be asked to perform certain movements and rest in certain postures and tell the clinician how this influences your symptoms.
Treatment
The aim is to be as effective as possible in the least number of treatment sessions. Treatment that you can perform five or six times a day is more likely to be effective in a shorter period of time than treatment administered by the clinician once or twice per week. The emphasis is on you, the patient, being actively involved. This can minimize the number of visits to the clinic. Ultimately, most patients can successfully continue treating themselves when provided with the necessary knowledge and tools.
ART - Active Release Techniques
ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions are all often the result of overused muscles.
Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:
- Acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc)
- Accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
- Not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia)
Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness. Our physical therapists will use his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. We combine precisely directed tension with very specific movements to treat abnormal tissues. These treatment protocols – over 500 specific moves – are unique to ART. They allow us to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient.
Soft Tissue Massage
Soft tissue massage is one of the most powerful proven methods of treating and managing soft tissue injuries, pain and dysfunction of the neuromusculoskeletal system. It involves direct physical action on the muscle and other soft tissues of the body and targets muscles, tendons, ligaments, or other connective tissue such as fascia.
Cupping
Cupping therapy is an ancient form of the alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin which mobilizes blood flow in order to promote healing. Suction is created using heat (fire) or a mechanical devices (hand or electrical pumps). Through either heat or suction, the skin is gently drawn upwards by creating a vacuum in a cup over the target area of the skin. Drawing up the skin is believed to open up the skin’s pores, which helps to stimulate the flow of blood, breaks up obstructions, and creates an avenue for toxins to be drawn out of the body.
Cupping is an excellent compliment for treating the following conditions:
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Tendonitis
- Sciatica
- Rotator cuff injuries and surgery recovery
- Plantar Fasciities
- TMJ
- Lymphatic Drainage
- Chronic pain issues due to muscular tension