Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Information Headquarters

When considering therapy after surgery or injury, or healing from aches and pains, one can choose between in-home physical therapy and out-patient physical therapy.

We have all heard that drinking water is very important. During the winter months with the colder weather, we tend to not drink enough and can quickly become dehydrated. Over half of all Americans are chronically dehyrated and most of us even mistake our bodies need for thirst as hunger.

I know it's been a while since my last post, and I can't say that my dog at my post. hmmm?.."My dog ate my blog". Has a nice ring to it. Actually I am doing great. My PT and Docs say that I am  a few weeks ahead of schedule. In fact I am getting around quite nicely - thank you.

Kinesio Tape has become very popular as a method of taping joints and sport injuries since the olympics. Kinesio® Tex Tape is an elastic therapeutic tape developed by Dr. Kenzo Kase over 35 years ago in Japan. Since then, Kinesio® Tex Tape Gold™ has become the standard for therapeutic and rehabilitative taping. 

The human shoulder can do incredible things.It allows us to perform any and every overhead activity. It is the foundation of the upper limb that allows our hands to perform highly skilled activities such as paint, play a musical instrument, or accurately throw a ball.In this article, I would like to point out some characteristics that make the shoulder joint truly unique.

Are you considering a total knee replacement or recently have had a total knee replacement? An exercise program designed and guided by a physical therapist can help improve your motion, strength and functional abilities and decrease your pain and swelling.

The first goal of physical therapy after a total knee replacement is to decreased pain and swelling and increased range of motion. After this is achieved, therapy will then focus on strengthening and gait training.

There are 5 basic exercises that you can begin after your knee replacement to get you started down the road of recovery:

1. Heel Slides--While lying on your back, gently slide your foot towards your bottom, bending your knee. When you start to feel tightness in your knee stop for about 5 seconds and let the joint "stretch" before straighten the knee out. Repeat 10 times.
2. Gluteal Sets--While lying on your back with a pillow under your knees, squeeze your gluts together and hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
3. Straight Leg Raise--While lying on your back with your operative knee straight and the other knee bent, raise your operative leg up keeping your leg stretch. Slowly lower your leg back down to resting position.
4. Heel Raises--Standing while holding onto a sturdy object, raises your heels by going up on and down on your toes. Repeat 10 times.
5. Hamstring stretch--While lying on your back and keeping your operative knee straight, raise your leg up into the air until you feel a stretch in the back of your leg.

As with any exercise program, it should be performed under the guidance of your health care provider.

If you would like to try these exercises at home, print out your free exercise spreadsheet.

If you have had a total knee replacement or are considering knee surgery and have questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please contact us.  

On my first day at Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, I was introduced to the behind the scenes of billing the insurance world. I will admit it was a little intimitating, but the hardest part was understanding the strange concept of an EOB. They are referred to by many other terms most commonly, an explanation of benefits (EOB), an explanation of review (EOR), and an explanation of remittance adivce (ERA). For our purposes, let's stick with an EOB. An EOB is simply a piece of paper from an insurance company, but that paper does so much for providers and patients. All of them describe in sometimes confusing detail how much the insurance company paid, why they paid that amount, and most importantly what the patient responsibility is. I'd like to take the time and break down what these papers mean to the providers and to the patients.

 Friends, family, and patients all ask me what to use on their aching back. What to use on their sprained knee. What to use after surgery and for how long, and how many times per day. In this article, I hope to shed a little light on these questions.

The insurance world is a very confusing place to navigate. The terminology can be almost as foreign as many medical terms. I should know this, when I first began working at Southwest Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, I was a college student with absolutely no idea what health insurance really was. After four years working in this world, I would like to think I have learned a thing or two and I would love to share some things I know. As a medical biller there are a few trends I notice from insurance companies that cost my patients more money than what they expect to pay. I have put together a list of the top five I see on almost a weekly basis. Knowing your insurance plan could save you hundreds or even thousands a year.