Olympic Style Treatment
I just got back from a month in China, working with our track and field athletes as part of the US medical staff. One thing that I didn’t have ready in my repertoire at the Olympics was a stretch routine for the hips and legs. Before each running athlete went to compete, they came to the Athletic Trainer’s tables at the warm up track for quick massage and/or stretching. The Athletic Trainers who work with college athletes had a routine down. They manually stretched every muscle of the hips and legs in a very active, rhythmic way. I return to my physical therapy clinic in Santa Fe with these new skills and I think they can easily be helpful to anyone, athlete or not. I see so many people with back, hip and knee problems; some of these folks have all three. There are some key muscles that tighten as we age and if we get help and get educated we can avoid some of the ongoing arthritic problems so many of us encounter. I have been thinking of offering a few afternoons a week where I open my schedule to half hour appointments and I spend that time stretching and massaging the problem areas. It would be therapeutic, yet not true physical therapy in that we would not bill it through insurance. It’s for people who don’t exactly need P.T., but could use a few tips and some manual work. We would still need a Doctor’s referral, as my license requires it. I believe this has the potential to fill a need in our health care system that is not currently addressed by traditional physical therapy. Please email us at if this interests you or contact us at 992-4995 for an appointment.
We offer a free 15 minute consult regarding injuries, by appointment. 992-4995.
Julie Endreson, Director