Physical Therapy

Life is busy. We understand. However, lasting changes only occur when you decide to turn principles into habits. We’ll optimize your current routine so you can form new habits and training styles that will accelerate your rehabilitation and improve your personal performance in whatever sports or activities you value.

Sometimes preventing an injury can be as simple as changing your movement patterns or making form adjustments for exercise.

Your therapist will coach you to find the safest position for your body for both exercise and daily activities.

Your therapist may also use manual therapy techniques in your rehabilitation to help guide your body into new positions and help you to “find and feel” or engage the proper muscles necessary to hold your body in a new position. We will help your body recognize these new positions and integrate them into your daily routine.

We use hands-on therapies such as cupping, cranial release, assisted stretching, percussive therapies, and other physical therapy modalities as needed during your sessions. These therapies are targeted at improving your tissue quality, reducing your pain, and helping you achieve a better range of motion during and immediately following your appointment.

We’ll provide you with guided strength exercises in our clinic as well as a home-based exercise program so you can improve strength, increase endurance, and return to all desired activities feeling confident in your movements.

By incorporating strengthening exercises into your rehabilitation program, you will improve the function of your muscles and be prepared to get back to the life you want to live.

Our bodies build strength under pressure, but a misplaced or unexpected load on the body is a quick recipe for injuries. Your therapist will help you assess and your exercises and activities to determine optimal frequency and resistance for your training program or daily living practices.

Postural Restoration, or PRI as it is sometimes called, is one of many treatment techniques designed to help the body restore neutral posture by eliminating unwanted muscle tension.

This treatment helps you re-train your breathing and habitual daily postures to reduce your risk of overuse injuries and their common pain syndromes.

Postural restoration is often used in conjunction with traditional Physical Therapy treatment methods such as exercise prescription and hands-on modalities during the course of your therapy.

Our sport-specific coaching experience bridges the gap between traditional physical therapy and performance coaching.

If your injury is related to mechanics or form, we can provide the necessary skill correction to reduce the risk of re-injury while simultaneously improving performance.

Our therapists have experience with fitness programming, sport-specific coaching, and training plan execution. We can effectively and efficiently modify your current training routine with exercise substitutions and programming adjustments so you can keep moving towards your goals with the peace of mind that you’re doing the best thing for your body.

We have sport-specific coaching experience in the following areas: softball/baseball, basketball, soccer, weightlifting, gymnastics, volleyball, hiking, biking, running, skiing, swimming, snowboarding, and CrossFit.

More of a weekend warrior?

We can easily find ways to “sneak” in your physical therapy throughout the day based on your daily or work-related activities

A concussion is a brain injury caused by acceleration or deceleration of the brain within the skull following a significant impact to the head or elsewhere on the body.

The force of the impact causes an imbalance within your brain cells, decreasing blood flow and temporarily creating an energy deficit within the brain.

Symptoms may include loss of consciousness, headache, pressure in the head, neck pain, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, or balance problems, among others.

Your concussion Rehab should be overseen by a qualified and trained professional.

The Lifestyle Athlete is recognized by Complete Concussion Management Inc.TM (CCMI) and joins a network of clinics around the world offering evidence-based concussion care.

From an initial pre-season multimodal baseline testing to concussion treatment and rehabilitation, our partnered CCMI practitioners collaborate with primary care physicians to co-manage concussions, helping patients and athletes safely return to Learn, Work and Play.

Through collaboration between trained healthcare practitioners, educated coaches and trainers, and informed parents and athletes, the Complete Concussion Management system educates and empowers all those involved in sport to recognize concussions, and take the necessary steps to help an athlete safely return to sport.

Multimodal baseline testing is a series of physical and cognitive tests that provides a pre-injury overview of healthy brain function. These tests can offer healthcare practitioners an objective benchmark on which to compare should a patient sustain a concussion.

As concussion symptoms often disappear days to weeks before the brain has recovered, having valuable baseline information may help practitioners to make safer return to play decisions.

To design the frequency, intensity, and appropriate exercises for your training, we schedule a dedicated consultation appointment prior to your first workout. This gives you the opportunity to share your goals, current routines, medical history, and programming requests with your coach.

If possible, your coach will also bring you through a movement screen to watch for movement patterns that might put you at risk for pain and identify focus areas for your strength training.

Take advantage of the security and accountability of a knowledgeable and supportive movement specialist and book 1-1 personal training appointments at our clinic. These sessions are great for those who would like more instruction during exercise, might need more exercise modifications, or are feeling anxious about returning to the gym.

Not local to Vermont or already have a favorite gym or home workout studio? No problem. Our remote programming is individualized and built to your unique goals, exercise equipment, and current fitness level. Receive regular check-ins and feedback from your coach to ensure you’re on the best path to your goals.

Already have a workout you love but feeling the side effects of a general workout? You might need our program optimization services.

Our specialists will modify your workout to give you the best substitutions for any exercises that might put you at risk for re-injury or to help you achieve a specific goal. Frequently, this will also include adding specific recovery or corrective exercises that will help you feel better and stronger during your session.

This is a popular option for CrossFit and performance athletes as well as for those who love their group fitness classes.

Integrative Dry Needling (IDN) is a highly effective form of Physical Therapy for the treatment of a multitude of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions.

IDN is not acupuncture (traditional Chinese medicine) and is based on neuroanatomy and modern scientific study of the musculoskeletal and neuromuscular systems.

Your therapist will insert a very fine, hollow (dry), and sterile needle into the deeper tissues that are considered trigger points to your pain.

When the needle is inserted, it stimulates a cascade of reactions that promote increased blood flow, improve calcium absorption, and support the remodeling of your tissues and muscle fibers in that areas so they can heal. Its unique mechanism also acts as a reset for your nervous system’s pain perception, which has increased its popularity as a therapy tool.

The combination of the cellular and neural response create an environment that enhances your body’s ability to heal and ultimately reduces pain.

Conditions include, but are not limited to, neck, back and shoulder pain, arm pain (tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, golfer’s elbow), headache to include migraines and tension-type headaches, jaw pain, buttock pain and leg pain (sciatic, hamstring strains, calf tightness/spasms). It can also be used to treat general well-being.

IDN can also be used for prevention of injuries, performance optimization, de-stressing of overtraining, treatment of soft tissue contusions, strains/sprains, and for post-surgical rehabilitation.

IDN will optimize physical performance by :

• Reducing biomechanical and physical stress before your symptoms act up

• Preventing chronic soft tissue injuries and some acute injuries

• Treating conditions such as overtraining stress by de-regulating the nervous system.

For sports performance, dry needling has been shown to be most effective prior to injury or pain.

We strive to make the treatment virtually painless, however, you might feel brief discomfort. When the needle is inserted into the affected area, it is normal to feel your small and brief twitch sensation. Many patients describe this twitch response as a little electric shock, cramp, or an ache sensation. These sensations are perfectly normal and even a desirable response.

Your PT will make every effort to make your experience comfortable and therapeutic.

The number of treatments needed varies by individual, so your therapist will be better able to estimate IDN frequency after your initial evaluation. They will work with you to determine the number of sessions that will produce the best long-term improvements in your tissue quality.

At this time, IDN is not covered by insurance.

Virtual therapy allows people of all ages to safely keep moving and address physical problems from the comfort of their homes by video appointments. We can progress your current treatment plan, triage new pain or symptoms, and help you develop an exercise program for maintaining strength.

• People at high risk for COVID-19

• People with transportation barriers

• People with scheduling and time limitations

• Preventing spread of illness but well enough to complete appointment at home

• Ergonomic assessments

• Integration of care with work place or home activities

• Evaluation or consultation to triage care or immediately start care

At this time, all major insurance companies, including Medicare, cover telemedicine services. If there is any question regarding insurance coverage, you or our front desk can contact your insurance company to verify benefits and coverage.

Billing and coverage are the same as an in-clinic appointment. Self-pay options are also available.