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From Setback to COMEBACK… It’s all about RELATIONSHIPS

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By Bill Huddleston

In sports at every level, winning championships requires talented athletes motivated by their coaches, all working together to create a team bond of strength that can overcome every challenge. The same can be said for the day-to-day commitment of Excel Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine to form a relationship with patients for a lifetime of care.

One of the many advantages of the therapist owned practice is the team at Excel Therapy including Shawn Mayes, PT/DPT whose journey to a career in Physical Therapy went through physical therapy.

“While competing in football and track in high school and college, I had six knee surgeries,” recalled Mayes, a 20-year veteran working in orthopedics and sports medicine in the Tulsa community. “I missed my entire senior year at Washington Community HS in Illinois, which got me to rubbing elbows with a physical therapist that knew how to push my buttons to get me better. At some time during that journey I said this is what I want to do.”

A lifetime journey of commitment fuels the efforts of Mayes as well as the team at Excel Physical Therapy that includes 13 locations statewide proudly serving Oklahoma including four offices in the Tulsa metropolitan area. Mayes and his team serve the Tulsa market at 51st and Yale.

“I love working with athletes, passionate about that, but athletes come in many forms. It can be the 8-year old that got wrecked on a trampoline to the athletes in their seventies. I just evaluated someone today that wants to get back to playing pickle ball. If it’s a sport or an activity, I’m going to work to get them back to doing what they want to do,” replied Mayes. “And at Excel Therapy, our team really cares about the patient, about the person, about the heart of the person. The decisions we make are not about business but they’re about people.”

Or as Mayes describes, at Excel it’s all about relationships.

“That’s probably the most fun part of physical therapy. It really is about developing a relationship with a patient, getting to know them, getting to know their goals and desires as well as their hesitations and their fears,” smiled Mayes, “and, then walking through that journey of getting them back to doing what they want to do. I would call it holy ground, that when you get to interface with a patient in an area of struggle, pain or loss and be able to be a part of their lives in that puts us in a high-trust category.”

Among the many advantages available through Excel Physical Therapy is direct access to get their patients on the road to recovery the very next day.

“Direct access means that you don’t have to have a physician referral to start your medical care. We can be the entry point for care for your sprains and strains as soon as something happens,” Mayes explained. “In Oklahoma, direct access is good for 30 days and if we can get you back and return to your normal activity in that time frame great but if not then you have to return to your doctor or go to your doctor to get a prescription to continue with therapy.”

Among the many success stories of recovery, the team of professionals at Excel Therapy provides the proper professional treatment for all kinds of injuries from back pain or ACL reconstruction as well as shoulders, ankles, hips and other orthopedic-related pain, they also specialize in helping men and women, boys and girls of all ages to prevent an injury. 

“It’s our passion at Excel Therapy,” said Mayes, “we’re about developing relationships with our patients for a lifetime of care. Not just one injury or a complaint, it’s a lifetime of care to get them and keep them at the highest level of function. That is the true joy of physical therapy and the game plan for success at Excel Physical Therapy.” 

Foundation Under Foot

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Darrell Platt, PT – Excel Therapy South Tulsa Clinic

The feet and ankles are an important part of sports performance– they are the foundation of our movement.  The activation for most athletic movement starts with the feet, ankles, and toes.

Ensuring that the feet, ankles and toes are functioning properly is not only important for injury prevention, it goes a long way toward maximizing speed, mobility, agility, power, force production and explosiveness.  Like all skeletal muscles, the anatomy that surrounds the feet and ankles are designed for movement and force absorption. When these muscles don’t function as they should, it severely limits the shock absorption capabilities of the lower body. This affects the entire kinetic chain, promoting greater potential for injury from head to toe.  In fact, according to Sports Health News, ankle injuries are the most common type of injury in high school athletes in the United States.

One of the easiest ways to help protect your feet and ankles is by selecting the correct footwear.  Most modern athletic footwear is built for fashion as well as sport.  Teams are issued matching footwear in order to give a cohesive team look.  However, every athlete performs differently, thus the shoe they choose should be individualized to their body mechanics. So while looking good on the field is important, each shoe should be slightly customized for each athlete.

Walking, running and performance shoes are not created equal so do your homework when it comes to foot placement.  Some people walk on the outside of the heel, called supinating or rolling outwardly.  And some individuals walk on the inside of the heel, called pronating or rolling inwardly.  More than 80 percent of ankle sprains are a result of excessive inversion, which is an inward rolling of the ankle, resulting in damage to the ligaments on the outside of the ankle.

Excessive pronation and supination can cause a number of ailments that affect the foot, ankle, knees, hips and back. Some of the more common symptoms of excessive pronation and supination are listed below.

If you are suffering from pain possibly caused by a foot and ankle problem, an Excel Therapy physical therapist can help.  Our therapists specialize in treatments for orthopedic pre and post surgical injuries and rehabilitation for sprains and strains.  Manual therapy, dry needling and ASTYM could get you feeling relief before the season starts without you!

Falls, Dizziness and Vertigo

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Excel Therapy Oklahoma, Physical Therapy Oklahoma, Physical Therapy Tulsa, Physical Therapy Chickasha, Physical Therapy Mustang, Physical Therapy Broken Arrow, Physical Therapy Bartlesville, Physical Therapy McAllister

The presence of dizziness or vertigo in the elderly is a strong predictor of falls which is the leading cause of accidental death in adults 65 and older and account for 40% of nursing home admissions.

Falls are particularly prevalent above age 75 and in the elderly often result in injury, such as wrist and hip fractures, and can lead to declining independence and a progressively sedentary lifestyle.

At Excel Therapy, we are no stranger to treating patients who have experienced injury due to falls. Through experience, we have believe it’s important to keep moving safely to maintain health and independence, resulting in an overall decrease in demand on the medical system.

Caregivers know it can be a daunting task to protect a loved one from the many risks associated with physical decline. It’s important to identify the possible risks and have a plan in place to minimize those risks as much as possible.

The American Geriatric Society has identified many factors that contribute to an increased risk for falling including:

  • Polypharmacy (more than 4 daily medications)
  • Gait and balance changes
  • Decreased visual acuity
  • Neurological impairments
  • Decreased muscle strength
  • Changes in heart rate and rhythm
  • Postural hypotension
  • Foot deformity and poor foot wear
  • Environmental hazards

While our physical therapists at Excel Therapy may not able to address all issues, we can evaluate and address deficits related to many of them. Our highly skilled physical therapy team can evaluate a patient’s risk for falls based on functional tests, such as the Berg Balance Scale, and then implement a rehabilitation program based on the evaluation findings. A typical rehab program may include:

  • Strengthening activities primarily of the lower extremities
  • Core stabilization
  • Proprioception
  • Static and dynamic balance activities
  • Stretching to obtain adequate LE and trunk mobility
  • Balance correction strategies
  • Assess need for assistive device
  • Transfer training
  • Footwear assessment and recommendation
  • Vestibular assessment
  • Discussion of environmental hazards and recommendations for correction

Falling doesn’t have to be a natural part of the aging process. Fight back and contact your an Excel Therapy location near you to learn more about all the ways to minimize the risk of harm for you or your loved one.

 

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