News

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino has been put on the 15-day disabled list, but he may not be back until mid-August.  Victorino suffered his injury during Tuesday night039#s game against the Diamondbacks.  He strained his left abdominal muscle while diving back to first base during a pick-off attempt and he aggravated the injury by continuing to play in the outfield.

Abdominal strains, like the injury to Shane Victorino, are often very painful and can be difficult to manage.  The term “strain” indicates muscle injury, usually microscopic tearing of the muscle.  When the muscle contracts, it causes pain at these tears.  There are few movements that people make where there is NO contraction of the abdominal muscles and the abdominal muscles are the driving force for all athletics, especially baseball, as they stabilize the body while the player bats and throws.

The key aspect to the treatment of abdominal strains is the initial treatment, there needs to be relative rest and decreased activities to allow the muscle to heal.  This is the difficult part with professional athletes! Then, based on the symptoms, the rehab will progressively strengthen the abdominals and incorporate functional movements that simulate batting and throwing.  The key to the recovery is patience.

To read more about how the Phillies will handle the injury of one its major players, click here. We hope Victorino makes a speedy but healthy recovery and is back in action with our hometown team in no time!

-Contributed by: Joe Ruhl, President

President Obama recently appointed Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This appointment was done over a Congressional recess, thus avoiding hearings.  This has drawn criticism from some quarters ostensibly because of the still open wounds from the recent health care reform legislation and the fact that CMS has the largest budget in the federal government – even larger than the military.

Dr. Berwick has impressive academic and professional credentials.  Depending on your views of the role of government in health care, you may or may not like Dr. Berwick039#s philosophy, which you can read about in this recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal.

For an entrepreneurially-minded provider like Excel Physical Therapy and Fitness, one quote from Dr. Berwick caught my attention: “For-profit, entrepreneurial providers of medical imaging, renal dialysis, and outpatient surgery, for example, may find their business opportunities constrained.”

“Constrained” is a pretty subjective term.  My first thought was it was a euphemism for “cut, slashed, whacked” or other even more off-color terms.  One might be inclined to shrug it off as just more noise coming from Washington DC.  Let039#s face it, we039#re all pretty tired of and perhaps numb to the goings-on inside the beltway.  But please read on.

Also recently, CMS issued its proposed rule on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for the 2011 calendar year. This rule outlines a bleak and potentially devastating forecast for payment to physical therapists, physicians, and other health care professionals. Without Congressional action, the fee schedule will cut payments 23.5% on December 1, 2010, and reduce payments an additional 6.1% on January 1, 2011.

In addition to this cut, CMS proposes a detrimental additional physical therapy payment policy. The multiple procedural payment reduction (MPPR) would make full payment for the therapy service or unit with the highest practice expense value and reduce payment to 50% of the practice expense component for the second and subsequent procedures or units of the service furnished during the same day for the same patient.

Let me translate.  All-in, the worst case scenario for physical therapy providers as best we can figure means that come January 1, 2011, Medicare payments could be cut approximately 35-50% from current per visit payments.

In a competitive health care marketplace like the Philadelphia region, providers understand that you039#ve got to deliver quality care and get results to stay in practice.  If you do that and run a good business model too, then maybe financial success results.  But there is no guarantee.

With these drastic payment cuts perhaps on the short-term horizon, tough decisions are going to have to be made about salaries, benefits, personnel and even whether it is worthwhile to see these Medicare patients.  These are potentially sad consequences of being “constrained”.  Let039#s hope we can muster enough legislative muscle to defeat these proposed fee cuts.

By: Jeff Ostrowski, PT, CEO

Active Release Technique is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system / movement based massage technique that focuses on evaluation and treatment of soft tissue injuries.  Acute injuries and chronic micro-trauma tears (over-use syndromes such as tennis elbow and shin splints) develop scar tissue in the affected area and further entrap muscle and fascia that needs to move with our daily activities (work and recreation).  If the tissue does not move freely, more tension is created and the tissue is once again adversely affected.  Once an area of soft tissue injury is evaluated, the correct technique is applied and re-tested for changes in range of motion, strength, pain reduction and function.

Active Release Techniques (ART) have changed the way that I evaluate and treat soft tissue injuries (muscle, tendon, ligament, fascia and nerve entrapments).  I have been using the techniques for 3 years and have noted a dramatic difference in the ability to get patients back to their functional goals quicker and with greater success.  Patients are usually surprised the changes in motion, strength, quality of movement and reduced pain after the techniques are applied – and even more pleased at the lasting results. Patients have commented on the difference between ART and other conservative therapy techniques noting that it is generally more comfortable and provides immediate and lasting results – obviously something they are looking for when medical costs are rising and time outside of family and work has diminished.

Some common injuries that are treated with ART:

• Back and Neck pain
• Thoracic dysfunction
• Tennis and Golfers elbow
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Shin splints
• Plantar fasciitis / Achilles tendinitis
• Frozen shoulder
• Rotator cuff injuries
• ITB syndrome
• Piriformis syndrome
• Sprains and strains

Click herefor some more examples of how ART can help you.  If you have any questions or concerns, please read our FAQ section or contact a local ART provider.

- Contributed by: Greg Masiko, PT, MSPT, ART, Glen Mills clinic manager

Chrissy Biele

Staff Physical Therapist, Rothman King of Prussia

Chrissy Biele has been the ultimate team player over the past few weeks. She has been extremely flexible with her schedule, taking on OT hours to help Rothman King of Prussia maintain its level of a 3-PT productivity clinic despite being short-handed for the time-being. She takes everything in stride, and always has a smile on her face. She is adored by her patients, and consistently provides top-notch patient care. Chrissy has been an outstanding addition to the Rothman King of Prussia team since last December, and she continues to impress with her high productivity levels and overall kind-hearted nature.

- Submitted by John Guillama, Clinic Manager

Never ran a long race before or looking to conquer a major challenge to get to the next level?

Don't run alone, train better together by joining Team Philly Race Training.  Team Philly Race Training is the premiere race training program in the Philadelphia area to prepare for either the Philadelphia Marathon or Half Marathon (Nov 21^st).  This community running program is affiliated/endorsed by the marathon and the City of Philadelphia and run by local fitness and wellness businesses: Philadelphia Runner, Fusion Cross-training and Excel Physical Therapy.  Head Coach Ross Martinson is a three time Top 5 Blue Cross Broad Street run finisher and a Boston Marathon crusher.  While Ross is an elite runner, this is a 9-week program geared for all levels including 1st time marathon/half runners.  The Summer/Fall program starts with a big Kickoff Workshop and first run Sunday Aug 1st.

Our preparation program includes:

• Complete Training Manual
• Kickoff Workshop (program, technique, apparel, etc.)
• Guaranteed Race Registration (space reserved but not paid for)
• Saturday Coached Long Runs (various pace groups and coaches)
• Weekly Short Run Meet-ups (Wed evenings)
• Quality Dri-Fit “Team Philly” shirt
• Weekly Emails w/ Running Program & Tips
• Discounts to Philadelphia Runner
• Free Sports Medicine Screenings with Excel Physical Therapy
• Free Week of Fusion Cross-training and 30% Off (non-members)
• and more…

The investment is ONLY $150 for the Full Marathon and $100 for the Half.
Team Philly Race Training will donate a portion of proceeds to Students Run Philly Style.  The Team Philly Kickoff Clinic will be held Saturday July 31st outside of Lloyd Hall (Boat House Row / Kelly Drive), but please sign up now on our website (click below) so we can plan appropriately and stay in communication.
NOTE: After the July 31st Kickoff, both race training programs will increase $50.  Deadline for all Team Philly registration is Aug 7th.

Also don't wait to register for the Marathon of Half as they will be filling up over the next few weeks and online registration is quicker and simpler than getting our guaranteed spots which are a paper process.  For complete details and to join online click here to Join Team Philly.

“Don't be a lone wolf, Run with the pack”

OUCH!

It's that time again! Another blog post on common triathlon injuries! On average, triathletes deal with different types of injuries, and most occur from the overuse of joints or muscles.  Triathlon training causes stress on the tissues surrounding joints, bones, tendons, and muscles, which can be a very difficult and painful thing to deal with.  The body is sometimes unable to keep up with the repair of the damage created from overuse, and this is when the injury occurs.  Because the tissue surrounding muscles and bones begins to deteriorate from overuse, this can cause pain and weakness, including inflammation around the injured component.  Today – we are going to look at a unique problem suffered by many triathletes:

• Hamstring Strain

A hamstring strain is caused by a tear in one or many of the upper leg muscles.  There are three different grades of strains, which also come with their own pain levels.  The first consists of minor tears in muscle, the second is a partial tear, and the third is a full rupture or rigorous tear in the muscle.  There are many ways to treat this type of strain including a sports massage (which breaks down collagen in order to correct the alignment of fiber and minimize scar tissue), electrical stimulation (ultrasound), and stretching.  A physical therapist can provide one with stretches to prevent, and treat a pulled muscle.