Body

Personalized PT treatment plans 

Have you ever experienced musculoskeletal or orthopedic conditions that lead to chronic or off-and-on pain that poses a significant challenge to your ability to effectively accomplish elementary activities of daily living? If so, perhaps it’s time to see if there is someone nearby who can help you address or manage such conditions and improve your quality of life.

At St. Charles Physical Therapy, our physical therapists know how important a mobile, pain-free life is to people we serve seeking hands-on treatment and care. Our experts in movement work with you to identify your individual goals before embarking in one-on-one care sessions in a variety of areas, including the following specialty and subspecialty areas.

Manual therapy

At St. Charles Physical Therapy, our certified orthopedic manual therapists use this clinical approach — which involves skilled and specific hands-on techniques — to diagnose and treat soft tissues and joint structures. The aims of manual therapy are to:

  1. Decrease pain
  2. Improve tissue extensibility and increase the joint’s range of motion
  3. Mobilize or manipulate soft tissues and joints
  4. Induce relaxation
  5. Change muscle function
  6. Modulate pain
  7. Reduce soft tissue swelling, inflammation or movement restriction

Dizziness/Vestibular disorders

Dizziness occurs due to many reasons, and greatly disrupts a person’s ability to move about safely and take part in normal daily activities. Our physical therapy team specializes in evaluating and treating causes of dizziness related to the inner ear (vestibular) balance system, using a differential diagnosis approach to provide guidance regarding dizziness that may be caused by non-vestibular factors. We work closely with your primary care provider and assist you with an individualized treatment plan to ensure your successful return to comfortable, safe mobility that is dizziness free.

Postural re-education

Good posture helps your body function at top speed. It promotes movement efficiency and endurance, and contributes to overall well-being. Good posture is also good prevention. Poor posture leads to bones that are not aligned properly; consequently, your muscles, joints and ligaments take more strain than nature intended. Faulty posture may cause fatigue, muscular strain and, in later stages, pain. Many individuals with chronic back pain can trace their problems to years of faulty postural habits.

Strong and flexible muscles also are essential to good posture. Weak or inflexible abdominal, hip and leg muscles cannot support your back’s natural curves. Hip, knee and ankle joints balance your back’s natural curves when you move, making it possible to maintain good posture in any position.

Our physical therapists focus on retraining your body to sit and stand with good posture so that your spine can heal and recover from injury, and prevent future injuries. 

Balance/Fall prevention

People with balance and dizziness problems can find it difficult to accomplish even the simplest of tasks. At least half of the United States population will experience balance problems sometime during their lives, especially as they age. Poor balance and fall-related injuries account for a large percentage of emergency room visits.

St. Charles physical therapists perform a thorough sensory and motor assessment to define what is causing balance problems. Results of the assessment guide us in designing a balance training program tailored to help prevent falls and improve mobility.

Myofascial pain syndrome

“Myo” refers to muscle, and “fascia” refers to the strong connective tissue that covers the muscles and connects to other structures as well. Pain can occur when there is an injury that disrupts healthy movement between these two structures. Sometimes that pain is in the form of a specific trigger point; other times it can be more widespread. Physical therapists at St. Charles offer help through hands-on myofascial release techniques, and also offer instruction on ways to stretch the area while creating new movement patterns to provide healing.

St. Charles Physical Therapy in Bend, Oregon offers inpatient and outpatient physical therapy for a variety of musculoskeletal and orthopedic conditions.