Maureen Sinnott, PT, DPT Maureen is the Clinic Director at our new Passyunk clinic location. Read her full profile here: FEATURED PT
How Does PT Help With Neck Pain?
1. How did you decide to become a physical therapist and what motivates you to work with patients? When I was in high school, I tore my ACL playing soccer. I had surgery in my junior year, followed by many months of PT. This was during the time that I was applying to colleges and thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. Spending so much time with my physical
therapist and seeing how much PT affected my recovery and ability to get back to playing sports opened my eyes to what a wonderful career it could be. Assisting with a patient’s recovery, whether it be from surgery, an injury, or chronic pain, is definitely what motivates me to come to work every day. 2. In your words, what makes Excel Physical Therapy different from other physical therapy clinics? Having the time to spend with my patients is the biggest stand out factor about Excel Physical Therapy. It is what drove me to this company and what keeps me here. Being able to give individual attention to a lower caseload allows me to be more involved in patient care and see positive results faster. 3. What was your most memorable patient experience? A few years ago I treated a female patient in her early twenties who had a nerve injury at birth that affected her right arm from the shoulder down to her hand. She never had any treatment for it prior and presented with significant range of motion and strength deficits at her shoulder, elbow and wrist, affecting her ability to lift and carry her young child, as well as simple tasks, such as handwriting. Since this injury happened at birth, I was unsure how much I was going to be able to help her at that point. Over the course of 2 months, she was able to achieve a functional amount of range of motion, as well as strength improvements that allowed her to take care of her child as she needed to. Both of us were unsure if PT was going to be helpful when she started and we were both so pleased with the progress she made, it just renewed my faith in the power of PT! 4. If you could be any animal, what would it be and why? I would choose a bird of some type, so that I could know what flying feels like. It would also eliminate traffic and airports from my life! In honor of my favorite team, I’ll go with an eagle. 5. If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be and why? I would describe myself as reliable, in both personal and professional relationships. My friends and family know they can depend on me if they need me, and same goes for my co-workers. 6. What do you like to do in your off time, outside the clinic? My favorite thing to do outside of work is spend time with my family at my parent’s shore house in West Wildwood, NJ. It is even more special now after getting engaged there this past summer! In the off season, I like to explore Philly’s amazingly diverse restaurant scene.
Physical therapy has proven successful in relieving long-term symptoms in patients experiencing both acute and chronic neck pain. This evidence is further illustrated in a 2017 qualitative systematic review conducted by the National Institutes of Health, titled “The efficacy of manual therapy and exercise for treating non-specific neck pain: A systematic review.” This review analyzes a number of studies providing evidence for manual therapy and exercise treatments for patients with different stages of non-specific neck pain. Researchers pulled information from Medline, Cochrane-Register-of-Controlled-Trials, PEDro, and Embase. According to the researchers, one of the major takeaway points listed in the conclusion is that “combining different forms of [manual therapy] with exercise is better than [manual therapy] or exercise alone.” Results from the 23 studies chosen for review demonstrated patient success across the board when pairing manual therapy with targeted exercises for neck pain. Results conclude that physical therapy is a proven successful treatment for patients suffering from neck pain, and manual therapy and exercise methods are the most effective in helping patients regain their optimum levels of function. The systematic review mentioned above verifies that manual therapy and exercise are two of the most effective treatments for relieving neck pain in patients. At Excel Physical Therapy, these two methods are incorporated into treatment plans for neck pain relief, and patients experience significant success towards recovery.
www.excelphysicaltherapy.com
OUR ALL NEW PASSYUNK CLINIC IS OPENING SOON!
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