We were honored with WWAY TV3’s Viewer’s Choice Award for Best Physical Therapy! We are humbled to be nominated and certainly appreciate the support. We strive to continue to deliver the excellent, hands-on, patient centered care that this award warrants! Thanks again!

We take our obligations as your service provider very seriously and we strive to provide the best care possible for all of our patients.  The clinical staff at Physical Therapy Services provides treatment with seasoned clinical expertise ranging from orthopedic and sports injuries to balance and vestibular disorders. Our professional staff is dedicated to rehabilitative success and is constantly striving to improve our services and enhance patients’ outcomes.  Customer reviews and testimonials are the highest form of praise that we can achieve, we look forward to helping you the way we have helped these patients!   

Since 1983, Physical Therapy Services has been providing rehabilitative services for the people of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina. We look forward to earning your trust in becoming your preferred rehabilitation solution.

We are now offering dry needling at both our 17th St and Porters Neck locations. Dry needling is a technique physical therapists use for the treatment of pain and movement impairments. The technique uses a “dry” needle, one without medication or injection, inserted through the skin into areas of the muscle targeting trigger points.
Physical therapists use dry needling as an intervention within a larger treatment plan with the goal of releasing trigger points to relieve pain or improve range of motion. Preliminary research supports that dry needling improves pain control, reduces muscle tension, and normalizes dysfunctions of the motor end plates, the sites at which nerve impulses are transmitted to muscles. This can help speed up the patient’s return to active rehabilitation.

We take our obligations as your service provider very seriously and we strive to provide the best care possible for all of our patients.  The clinical staff at Physical Therapy Services provides treatment with seasoned clinical expertise ranging from orthopedic and sports injuries to balance and vestibular disorders. Our professional staff is dedicated to rehabilitative success and is constantly striving to improve our services and enhance patients’ outcomes.  Customer reviews and testimonials are the highest form of praise that we can achieve, we look forward to helping you the way we have helped these patients!   

Since 1983, Physical Therapy Services has been providing rehabilitative services for the people of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina. We look forward to earning your trust in becoming your preferred rehabilitation solution.

We are thrilled to announce the opening of our new location in Porters Neck. Physical Therapy Services has been providing Wilmington as a locally owned and operated business since 1983 and we have expanded into Porters Neck. Come check us out in the Sugarwood Center located next to Lowes Home Improvement and directly behind K-38. We will be opened Monday thru Friday with appointment times open. Give us a call 910-821-0211 to set up an appointment.

We take our obligations as your service provider very seriously and we strive to provide the best care possible for all of our patients.  The clinical staff at Physical Therapy Services provides treatment with seasoned clinical expertise ranging from orthopedic and sports injuries to balance and vestibular disorders. Our professional staff is dedicated to rehabilitative success and is constantly striving to improve our services and enhance patients’ outcomes.  Customer reviews and testimonials are the highest form of praise that we can achieve, we look forward to helping you the way we have helped these patients!   

Since 1983, Physical Therapy Services has been providing rehabilitative services for the people of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina. We look forward to earning your trust in becoming your preferred rehabilitation solution.

This was published Monday, January 23, 20017 by PT in Motion News

In brief:

• Retrospective cohort study focused on 109 TKA patients
• One group (87) received outpatient physical therapy beginning within a week of discharge; a second group (22) received 2-3 weeks of home physical therapy before entering an outpatient physical therapy program
• While 6MWT and KOOS outcomes were the same for both groups at completion of outpatient physical therapy, the home health group took average of 20 days longer to reach benchmarks
• Authors believe results point to need for patient education and choice; potential cost savings of immediate outpatient physical therapy

A new study finds that when it comes to results, patients who undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and engage in home physical therapy before participating in outpatient physical therapy ultimately wind up doing just about as well as patients who proceed directly to physical therapy sessions. The time it takes them to reach those outcomes, however, is another story.

Writing in a recent issue of Orthopedic Nursing (abstract only available for free), researchers report on the results from an analysis of 109 TKA patients who participated in a hospital’s joint replacement program, and who had the option of entering into outpatient physical therapy beginning within a week after surgery (87 individuals, called the OP group) or receiving home health care for 2 to 3 weeks before moving on to outpatient physical therapy (22 individuals, labeled the HH group). Researchers reviewed medical records from 2005 to 2010 to find out if the 2 paths resulted in different outcomes and what those outcomes were after completion of outpatient physical therapy.

Researchers found that in terms of outcomes as measured by the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and the Knee Injury Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), both groups ultimately achieved similar scores (adjusted for age and other variables). Patients averaged nearly 80% of age and sex-predicted distances on the 6MWT and registered KOOS subscale scores (activities of daily living, pain, symptoms, and quality-of-life) that didn’t vary significantly between groups.

When they looked at the time it took for patients to reach those outcomes, however, the researchers found that patients in the OP group reached postoperative milestones about 20 days sooner, on average, than their HH counterparts. Additionally, both groups averaged about the same number of outpatient physical therapy sessions, “pointing to the fact that home health [physical therapy] did not accelerate recovery (with the possible exception of knee flexion [range of motion]),” authors write.

The outpatient track consisted of 2 to 3 physical therapy sessions per week for 4 to 6 weeks, plus a daily exercise program focused on range of motion, stretching, low-impact cardiovascular conditioning, and lower extremity strengthening and endurance. The HH program was harder to discern through medical records, authors write, but likely included physical therapy 3 times a week for 2 to 3 weeks, “with the ultimate goal of tolerance for outpatient [physical therapy] to complete rehabilitation.”

In the end, authors write, the decision as to whether to pursue immediate outpatient physical therapy or a period of home health physical therapy may depend on individual patient circumstances; still, they assert, “the results of this study provide evidence to the importance of patient education and shared decision-making between patients and the multidisciplinary team.”

“If the patient and the clinician determine that home health is necessary, then no loss of functional gains should be expected,” authors write. “However, it may take a longer time period, and perhaps expense, to achieve those gains.”

Dry needling is a technique used to treat myofascial pain. The technique uses a “dry” needle, one without medication or injection, inserted through the skin into areas of the muscle, known as trigger points. Dry needling is not acupuncture, a practice based on traditional Chinese medicine and performed by acupuncturists. Dry needling is a part of modern Western medicine principles, and supported by research. Physical therapists use dry needling with the goal of releasing or inactivating trigger points to relieve pain or improve range of motion. Preliminary research supports that dry needling improves pain control, reduces muscle tension, and normalizes dysfunctions of the motor end plates, the sites at which nerve impulses are transmitted to muscles.
Andy Alaimo, DPT, is certified in Trigger Point Dry Needling. Several patients have already benefited from dry needling in combination with other physical therapy interventions.

Congratulations to Amy Howard, DPT and Russ Simmerman, DPT for becoming certified orthopedic manual therapists (OMT-C). Both passed a comprehensive written exam and practical that was the culmination of several months of coursework, lab simulation and study. This certification guarantees knowledge and the ability to perform evidence based mobilizations and manipulations of the cervical spine, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, foot and ankle. Our patients should take comfort in the fact our staff betters themselves through continuing education and advanced certifications. Nice job Amy and Russ!

We take our obligations as your service provider very seriously and we strive to provide the best care possible for all of our patients.  The clinical staff at Physical Therapy Services provides treatment with seasoned clinical expertise ranging from orthopedic and sports injuries to balance and vestibular disorders. Our professional staff is dedicated to rehabilitative success and is constantly striving to improve our services and enhance patients’ outcomes.  Customer reviews and testimonials are the highest form of praise that we can achieve, we look forward to helping you the way we have helped these patients!   

Since 1983, Physical Therapy Services has been providing rehabilitative services for the people of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina. We look forward to earning your trust in becoming your preferred rehabilitation solution.

A research report in the May 2015 issue of Physical Therapy concludes perturbation-based balance training reduces fall risk among older adults and individuals with Parkinson disease.

Many factors contribute to increased risk for falls. A specific fall event ultimately occurs when an individual fails to recover from a loss of balance or postural perturbation. Postural perturbations can occur in daily life for a variety of reasons, including failure to control weight shifting during voluntary movement or experiencing a slip or trip while walking. Balance recovery reactions, such as swaying around the ankles or hips, taking a step or taking a handhold are executed rapidly to prevent a fall following postural perturbations. Individuals with impaired balance control and increased fall risk often show difficulty controlling these balance recovery reactions. Because all ambulatory individuals are at risk for experiencing a loss of balance during daily life, training to improve control of balance recovery reactions may be an effective means of preventing falls. Perturbation-based balance training incorporates exposure to repeated postural perturbatios to evoke rapid balance reactions, enabling the individual to improve control of these reactions with practice.

April is National Occupational Therapy Month! We want to give a special shout out to our occupational therapist and hand guru Jane Burchfield. Jane is the most experienced certified hand therapist in the area. We appreciate Jane for her attention to detail, professionalism and willingness to serve her patients. Assisting Jane is COTA extraordinaire, Mishelle Dixon. Together, they make a great team. The proof is in patient outcomes.

We take our obligations as your service provider very seriously and we strive to provide the best care possible for all of our patients.  The clinical staff at Physical Therapy Services provides treatment with seasoned clinical expertise ranging from orthopedic and sports injuries to balance and vestibular disorders. Our professional staff is dedicated to rehabilitative success and is constantly striving to improve our services and enhance patients’ outcomes.  Customer reviews and testimonials are the highest form of praise that we can achieve, we look forward to helping you the way we have helped these patients!   

Since 1983, Physical Therapy Services has been providing rehabilitative services for the people of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina. We look forward to earning your trust in becoming your preferred rehabilitation solution.

School just started back. Did you know a child’s book bag should not weigh more than 10% of his or her bodyweight? That means if your third grader weighs 60lbs, his or her book bag should not weigh any more than 6!  No need to weigh the bag everyday, just do it once or twice and you will start to get a feel for the proper weight.  Then you can help your child on a daily basis to maintain proper back health for their future!  Read more about this and other PT news via WebPT.

We take our obligations as your service provider very seriously and we strive to provide the best care possible for all of our patients.  The clinical staff at Physical Therapy Services provides treatment with seasoned clinical expertise ranging from orthopedic and sports injuries to balance and vestibular disorders. Our professional staff is dedicated to rehabilitative success and is constantly striving to improve our services and enhance patients’ outcomes.  Customer reviews and testimonials are the highest form of praise that we can achieve, we look forward to helping you the way we have helped these patients!   

Since 1983, Physical Therapy Services has been providing rehabilitative services for the people of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina. We look forward to earning your trust in becoming your preferred rehabilitation solution.

This article along with other recent studies suggests that for the large majority of folks with knee pain secondary to meniscus tear, there is not a significant improvement with arthroscopic repair versus conservative treatment, most notably physical therapy. Take a second to read.

We take our obligations as your service provider very seriously and we strive to provide the best care possible for all of our patients.  The clinical staff at Physical Therapy Services provides treatment with seasoned clinical expertise ranging from orthopedic and sports injuries to balance and vestibular disorders. Our professional staff is dedicated to rehabilitative success and is constantly striving to improve our services and enhance patients’ outcomes.  Customer reviews and testimonials are the highest form of praise that we can achieve, we look forward to helping you the way we have helped these patients!    Since 1983, Physical Therapy Services has been providing rehabilitative services for the people of Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina. We look forward to earning your trust in becoming your preferred rehabilitation solution.