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The majority of patients undergoing treatment by a Physical Therapist will receive a home exercise program (HEP) based on their specific symptoms.  This individualized program is essential for the reduction of symptoms and restoration of function.  In my opinion, not providing an exercise program to patients with musculoskeletal conditions leads to patient dependence on the...

When Should a Massage Therapist Refer to Physical Therapy?

By: Ian Nay, PT, DPT, OCS At Mend Physical Therapy, we spend a lot of time working with people who are already doing many of the right things. They train regularly, they prioritize recovery, and a lot of them are getting consistent massage work. That combination matters. Good soft tissue work can absolutely help reduce...

Each day over one hundred Americans die from an opioid overdose. Over prescription and use of prescription pain relievers has largely contributed to these unnecessary deaths and the $78 billion dollar economic burden of the opioid epidemic. Authors estimate over 2 million Americans are currently suffering from a substance abuse disorder related to these prescriptions....

Our healthcare industry is a tremendous force in our country coming in at $3.5 trillion dollars per year and 18% of our gross domestic product. Despite spending approximately $10,000 per American we fall behind other countries in the world on many important health quality measures. The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care is a very interesting...

5 Easy Ways To Reduce Chronic Pain

Chronic or persistent pain is defined by pain that extends beyond 12 weeks or the normal healing time for a given injury/diagnosis despite treatment. Our medical system does a great job treating new or acute pain, but has struggled to be as effective with patients dealing with chronic pain. It is estimated 1 in 4...

Shoulder pain remains one of the most frequent reasons patients seek care from a Physical Therapist.  Although many diagnoses create symptoms in the shoulder region, rotator cuff tendon pain is one of the most common.  Descriptions of tendon pain such as tendinitis are being disproven by the research due to a lack of inflammatory process...

Rotator cuff tears are a common injury in middle to older aged adults. Tears can be gradual or degenerative in nature associated prior injury (tendinopathy) or acute and traumatic from a fall or sudden trauma to the shoulder. The severity of the injury including tear depth and size, as well as, the number of tears...