Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Information Headquarters

So after my last Blog on “The Pathology of”, or the “what can go wrong”
of Motor Vehicle Accidents(MVA), I would be shooting myself in the
foot if I did not take the time to explain what it is that we, the
Physical Therapists, do for you, if you are in the unfortunate
predicament of being in a car accident. We as a profession will always
insist that you first see a physician and have the appropriate X-rays,
etc. that are recommended by your doctor. Once you are cleared by
your physician, ask to be referred to Physical Therapy if he/she does
not automatically do so. The sooner the better to keep your tissues
from becoming tight, your joints from becoming stiff, and the pain
from setting in too much. Also, remember that you, as a consumer of
medical services(i.e., the patient), have the right to go where YOU
want to go for your rehab/ PT. Below is a brief explanation of the

At Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, our patients are the most important part of what we do. It is thanks to them that we are able to continue to do what we love which is help our patients heal. We very excited to share a personal story from on of our valued patients, Leah. Please enjoy reading her story and we hope it can be used as an inspiration for others that face similar injuries.

Motor vehicle accidents or MVA’s for short, are a very common injury
in our society. However when they occur, most people are unsure where
to go to get medical attention. The other problem is a lot of people do
not have pain or other symptoms immediately after the accident. The
most important thing to be aware of following an MVA, is that
symptoms/ pain can arise and/or worsen at any time following the MVA.

Walking…..you do it, I do it.  Turns out it is something most everyone does every day.  But have you ever stopped to consider how far you actually walk in an average day?  How about a day at the mall?  I was recently introduced to a new friend while at a soccer tournament with one of my daughters.  My new friend caught my attention because while the rest of us “soccer moms” sat in the plush grass of Arizona soaking up some sunshine waiting for the game to start, she marched herself all around the fields.  When she finally sat down to watch the game, I began to inquire about her walking.  I discovered that my friend Lynne is employed by Sandia National Labs who it turns out encourages their employees to WALK! 

So let’s start today discussing INFLAMMATION after injury. Inflammation is a primitive defense mechanism that is essential for the tissue repair process. It is designed to hurt and it does. This is also a protective mechanism. Inflammation causes swelling. To make it simple, let’s call this swelling “inflammatory soup”.

Today we feature a patient success story. Barbara came to SWOPT recently and has allowed us to use her story as an example of what can be gained by attending physical therapy. It is thanks to her and all our patients that we can call ourselves a successful physical therapy clinic. Helping people heal is what we love to do and we are happy to share her story of healing.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and all of the SWOPT employees are preparing for a long weekend to spend with our family and friends. Tomorrow starts the holiday season for most of us and gives us a chance to be thankful for all the blessings that we have. All of the employees realize that we are all so thankful for so much in our lives and want to take the time to give that thanks. We wanted to take the time to share a couple of the things we are thankful for this year.

At Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, we see a lot of patients who enjoy running and many come to see us just to get back to running again. Running is used for overall health and wellness, to help lose weight, and as a hobby and stress reliever. For many runners, competing in marathons is something to strive to do. For the extreme in runners and athletes, the Ironman triathlon is the ultimate test of their strength and endurance. The Ironman consists of 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike race, and marathon (26.2 mile) raced without a break. This seems very daunting and almost impossible even to many avid competitors. The amount of training for an event like that is almost as daunting as the race itself.

Here is the personal story of one of SWOPT’s employees Dan. Dan is one of our valuable employees that works with patients to get them back to where they want to be. He is also working on getting into physical therapy school. His story can be an inspiration to many that are affected by personal obstacles that with hard work and perseverance they can be overcome.

"Healthy living is a possible lifestyle for anyone, young, old, big, small, dog, cat... it's possible for anyone or anything!!! It all starts with one choice, and that is to actually get started. With enough commitment , effort, and consistency, your goals will start turning into accomplishments.