The Ultimate Guide to Wilmington Physical Therapy

Most people are living in pain and don't know what to do about it.  Physical Therapy is the profession that empowers people to live pain-free and gives them the tools to do so.

The problem is, the average person just deals with their pain or tightness, and never seeks out help.  Their ‘normal’ is waking up, feeling tight, and just dealing with the back pain they’ve had for years.  Eventually, you end up forgetting what it feels like to move and live without pain.  That’s some pretty powerful stuff.

The bigger problem is, getting out of pain isn’t easy.  And, trying to do it yourself is even trickier.  Most times, curing your back pain isn’t as simple as stretching your hamstrings.  Or that knee pain that bothers you when you’re running isn’t cured by taking a week off – it always comes back.

This is where Physical Therapy comes into play.  A Doctor of Physical Therapy is the number one option to get you out of pain, full stop. No other medical provider goes through the same clinical, training, and education around the human body and how it performs.  

A lot of people think that Physical Therapy might just be for someone who is coming off surgery or in debilitating pain, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  When dealing with tightness, a lingering injury, or something that is preventing you from your active lifestyle there is no better option than Physical Therapy.

PT is best for people who live active lifestyles.  If you’re someone that pushes the limit on the weekend playing golf, training for a marathon, or simply going out for a family hike chances are you probably need Physical Therapy.  It’s not even because you might be in pain, but if you want to do anything active, having Physical Therapy as an adjunct to your active lifestyle is the key to doing what you love at a high level, and for the rest of your life. 

Here at Conquer Movement, we’re leading this charge. Our Physical Therapy is progressive and helps active adults do what they love, and do it better.  

In this article, we’ll be covering why Physical Therapy is so important, how to add it into your current health and wellness routine, and the different modalities we use to set ourselves apart in the Wilmington Physical Therapy game. If you’re an active adult, and are currently dealing with an injury or simply don’t want to lose your active lifestyle, this is for you!  Keep on scrolling!

WHAT IS PHYSICAL THERAPY, AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Physical Therapy by definition is;

Physical therapy, also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, prognosis, patient education, physical intervention, rehabilitation, disease prevention, and health promotion (wiki)

Basically, what that means is a Physical Therapist is an expert on the body, how it moves, and understands how to create a plan of care when someone gets injured.  The general understanding around Physical Therapy is that it’s somewhere you go when your doctor tells you to. This is a cruddy narrative, and is something that’s slowly evolving but is the truth.  In order to go to most PT clinics, you have to be in a pretty good amount of pain to receive a script from your Doctor.  Of course, anyone post-op will be prescribed Physical Therapy as well.  

Our Wilmington Physical Therapy clinic is a little different.  Since we are a direct-pay clinic, we cut out the middleman and don’t require a Doctor’s prescription, or need someone to send you our way.  We see patients anywhere from just after surgery to people who want someone to overlook their whole health and wellness program to help them get stronger than ever.

To be honest, our main demographic of Wilmington people that come into our clinic are here simply for tightness.  Most people don’t associate seeing a Physical Therapist for tightness, but we at Conquer Movement make it possible!  No longer are the days where you wake up feeling like you’re 20 years older than you actually are.  Don’t fear sitting at your desk, and the inanimate shoulder tightness that comes with it.  Our version of Physical Therapy will not only relieve your tightness but allow for you to understand and feel what ‘normal’ is again.

The statistics around Physical Therapy are pretty wild.  If you think you’re alone with your pain, think again.  According to recent studies

Clearly, Physical Therapy is extremely important and can have a huge impact on someone’s life.  We take that duty very seriously here at Conquer Movement.

Through our attempts to push the industry forward, we have created a state-of-the-art 3 step process that your run-of-the-mill Wilmington Physical Therapy clinic probably isn't abiding by. 

Step 1: Get you out of pain as fast as possible and back to doing what you love
Step 2: Identify and treat the root cause of your pain so that it doesn’t come back
Step 3: Give you the tools and strength to not only cure your pain but be stronger than ever before 

The number 1 injury for someone is an injury they’ve already had.  Our 3 step process ensures that not only are you getting out of pain, but we are fixing the root cause of your problem so that you never experience this pain again. 

The best way to understand how Physical Therapy works is to take a look inside a Physical Therapy session.

Now, if you've been to Physical Therapy in the past, this may look a little different than what you're used to.  Our Physical Therapy is changing the game in Wilmington and takes a much more progressive approach than the area is used to.

The biggest thing to look for in a Physical Therapy session is to make sure it’s individualized for you.  Some clinics will diagnose you with a general ‘syndrome’, low grade ‘tear’, or tell you that your movement is dysfunctional and hand you a sheet of paper that every other person that walked in also received.  Our sessions start with an in-depth Physical Therapy evaluation to ensure every step and session is tailored exactly for you.  Your body isn’t like everyone else, so why should your treatment plan be the same?!

So – why does all this matter?  

For one thing, if you’re looking for Wilmington Physical Therapy, that probably means you’re an active person.  It’s hard to live in Wilmington without being super active – all those people getting out for runs along the Wrightsville Beach Loop, the never-ending options of workout classes, and having your work days scheduled around getting outside to exercise is definitely a Wilmington thing. 

There is nothing more important than health.  So, investing in making sure that your body is a finely tuned machine is where Physical Therapy comes into play, and why it’s so important.  Next, we’re going to go over what exactly a Physical Therapist does, how they do it, and what you probably didn’t realize they can do.

WHAT DOES A PHYSICAL THERAPIST DO?

In short, a Physical Therapist evaluates your pain, figures out what’s causing it, makes it go away, and strengthens you properly so that it never comes back.  

Seems easy, right?  Well – not so much.

It all starts with the evaluation.  Depending on what you're coming in for, the evaluation portion of the session is crucial.  Treating a runner with hip pain session will look much different than someone who is coming in with New Years Resolutions and looking for help achieving it.  Whatever the goal is will dictate how the evaluation is run.

Here at Conquer Movement, we take the evaluation portion very seriously.  It all starts with a joint by joint assessment.  Most PT places will only look at where your pain is coming from, but we know that even though you have pain at your knee, it could be coming from the hip or the ankle.  We don't leave anything up for question, and after your initial evaluation, there is no question as to what's causing your pain, and what we have to do to fix it.

HOW DOES A PHYSICAL THERAPIST DO IT?

After the evaluation comes to the good stuff -- the actual treatment.  This is where we remove your pain and fix the root cause of it forever.  This is done in a couple of different ways.

A Physical Therapist has many tools in their belt – certainly more than what most people think.  Oftentimes old hat Physical Therapy will use just a small bit of manual therapy and other things like ultrasound, cold and hot packs, gentle stretching, and call it a day.  In today's world, Physical Therapists are equipping themselves with many more tools through extended continuing education.  

The biggest tool that set’s a Physical Therapist apart is Dry Needling.

Dry Needling is a new age technique that a lot of forward-thinking Physical Therapists are now performing.  It may sound scary, but Dry Needling is a minimally invasive act that is extremely safe and beneficial to people who are in pain or have extreme tightness.

A thin microfilament needle is inserted through the skin and into a trigger point or otherwise tight area of the muscle.  The insertion of the needle into this trigger point can help decrease the tightness, banding, and increase blood flow helping the body move better overall.  There are many benefits to Dry Needling including

1) It can help with a variety of injuries
2) It can help loosen tight muscles
3) Stops the overuse nagging issues from becoming an overuse injury
4) Can be used in conjunction with a comprehensive PT plan
5) Helps you return to your sport faster than ever

One of the biggest areas our Wilmington Physical Therapists Dry Needle is the neck.  This may sound scary, but anyone that is dealing with a tight neck, migraines, or any referral numbness or pain down their arm benefit extremely from dry needling in that area. Often times it’s hard to perform beneficial Manual Therapy in the neck and Dry Needling can help get to the muscles that aren’t superficial. 

The other big tool that a Physical Therapist uses is skilled manual therapy.  Here at Conquer Movement, we are Wilmington’s leader and provide the gold standard of manual therapy care through Active Release Technique, Functional Range Release, and other like-minded modalities.  These techniques mix strategic manual therapy palpation and assessment with movement and other contractions from the patient to help injured tissue heal faster.  The days of traditional massage are over, and a new wave is here to stay!

The last, but certainly not least tactic a Physical Therapist uses is putting you through exercises to get the patient strong.  This is where we are changing the Physical Therapy game in Wilmington.  Because all of our PT sessions are 60 minutes long, a good majority of the appointment will look like a workout.  In our clinic, we know that pain and injury cannot be resolved unless we properly strengthen the body which is why we put so much focus on it.  In a traditional clinic, you may do a few step-ups, light stretch, and really only do exercise for your injury point.  But, here at Conquer Movement we take a full-body approach and know that even though it's your hip that hurts, if we don't strengthen your core, empower the body to do squats, and get the whole body strong our job is not complete.  

WHO DOES A PHYSICAL THERAPIST WORK WITH? 

If you’re a living breathing human, you could benefit from Physical Therapy! 

By far the most common injury we see for people is back pain.  According to a recent study, nearly 65 million people have reported having a recent back injury – that’s way too many. That same study also showed how problematic back pain is, and how it affects work output on adults.  This is why Physical Therapy is so important!  

At our Wilmington clinic, we see lots of lower back pain.  But, a bigger part of our demographic are active adults who work hard during the week at their job but push it on the weekends doing what we love.  Because of that, we see lots of pinchy hips from working out too hard, ‘runners hips’ from too many road miles, and a whole slew of CrossFit and weightlifting injuries.  

The biggest thing to know about how we do things differently is that you don’t need to be in pain to come see us.  In fact, a big majority of our patients come to use with just the everyday tightness from their sport.  Most people don’t realize that you can go to Physical Therapy for tightness, but it’s the best use of our service.  Working on mobility might be one of the most important things you can do for the longevity of your health

A Physical Therapist is the industry leader in knowing how the body functions, so why would you put your health, wellness, and fitness in the hands of someone else? 

At Conquer Movement, we are changing the way Wilmington looks at Physical Therapy by incorporating a more holistic approach.  We don’t just look at someone’s injury – we take the reins on our patients' whole health program.  Sessions can look like a traditional Physical Therapy session with manual therapy and low-level work, but they can also look like a personal training session. This means that we can work with someone that is immediately post-op where the sessions are a little bit more low-level and focus more on flexibility, mobility, and targeted strength.  Or, we can work with an active adult in which they don't necessarily have an injury, but want to be able to do what they love forever and need guidance on how to strength train properly.  

In the end, a PT works with someone who is trying to move better, get stronger, and feel their best.  Whether that’s getting them out of pain, or getting them stronger is totally dependent on the person!

THE BENEFITS VS DRAWBACKS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY

As with everything there’s lots of good, bad, and, ugly aspects of Physical Therapy.  Let’s get the bad out of the way;

In today’s world, big insurance-based clinics dominate the market.  These chain clinics have all the right intentions, but unfortunately oftentimes miss the mark with patient care.  Their high volume of patients means that you may only spend 10-15 minutes with your Physical Therapist and this can slow down the recovery time.  This means you actually end up spending weeks more going to PT, and consequently more money in copays than some direct pay options.

A lot of clinics are also stuck in the past with some of the ways they go about treating.  Passive modalities like icing, heat packs, or hooking someone up to an ultrasound are still the main forms of treatment and that just doesn't cut it anymore.  Studies have shown that passive modalities don’t nearly work as well as active inputs like strength.  Spending the time and empowering patients to move freely, feel strong, and do what they love is now the new way of treating.  Foam rollers seem to be a thing of the past, and we’re here for it.

At Conquer Movement, we are one of Wilmington’s best options for Cash-Based Physical Therapy.  We saw the downtick in quality of care at some of these clinics and instead provide 60-minute, 1 on 1 care to every patient that comes in.  You also always see the same provider each time ensuring continuity of care and therefore getting the best results.  We’re not here to see the most amount of patients, but instead, our main goal is to get you back to what you love to do FASTER.

We may be biased, but Physical Therapy is going to change the future. 

In life after COVID, people are taking their health much more seriously. The quality of how people handle their health, wellness, and recovery is going to be led by Physical Therapists that have the progressive mindset we talked about above. 

The biggest thing you need to remember about Physical Therapy is that it’s not just for people who are coming off surgery.  Physical Therapy should be used in conjunction with your current fitness program and be the reason why you keep doing what you love for however long you want to.  Most people want to do what they love forever, but let age or injury get in the way.  With Physical Therapy at Conquer Movement, we give you the tools for a lifetime to continue doing what it is that you love. 

Interested in learning more?  We’d love to have you stop by our Wilmington location anytime!  We are open from Monday to Friday.  We’re easily accessible from Mayfaire and Midtown, so if you’re in the area come on by!

The best way to learn more about what we do is booking a free 15-minute phone call with me.

Thanks for reading and we'll talk to you soon!

Dr. Steven Solecki PT, DPT

Conquer Movement- Wilmington, NC