Physical Therapy in Santa Barbara
At Bissell Clinic, we provide customized physical therapy care, and you don’t have to be a chiropractic patient to benefit from physical therapy care. It’s our goal to return you to your independence. Physical therapy is appropriate for those with neurological, muscular and skeletal conditions, whether chronic or acute. Often, it’s used post-operatively, though it can also be used to avoid surgery.
Developing Your Program
Your physical therapist plans a care program after an extensive evaluation of each patient and his or her medical record. Tests, observations, and a thorough health history provide vital information about a patient’s strengths, weaknesses, reflexes, sensory perception, posture, and gait.
Individualized care programs are designed to restore functional movement, relieve pain, promote healing and recovery, and prevent additional injury. After your evaluation, our physical therapist leads you through various exercises and stretches and may also perform hands-on therapies such as tissue work and joint mobilizations or use modalities such as heat/ice, ultrasound, and electrical muscle stimulation.
Specialty Physical Therapy Programs
When you want to maintain your independence, it is important to know your current functional fitness level and develop your activity plan accordingly. Our therapists are here to help you do just that.
Private Exercise Sessions
Our private workout room is equipped with a Pilates reformer, stair climber, stationary bike, free weights, fitness balls and free motion weight machines. Sessions are led by one of our physical therapists who will emphasize injury prevention and program effectiveness. Whether you’re looking to learn a few stretches, lose weight, or want to make sure that you are correctly and safely performing the exercises in your existing program, you have come to the right place.
Senior Fitness Programs
Based on your goals and abilities, our programs can be customized to your specific needs. All fitness programs will enhance your longevity, health, energy, and vitality.
Fall Prevention and Balance Training
The exercises in this program are based on extensive research and provide results. The program improves strength, enhances static and dynamic balance, improves stability and flexibility, and enhances joint range of motion. Participants reduce their risk of falling and injury and experience improved independence.
Sport-Specific Training for Ageless Athletes
Whether your favorite activity is tennis, golf, or bicycling, our programs will identify the imbalances of the specific muscles used in your favorite activity. Through therapies and exercises, the tight muscles will be stretched and the weak muscles will be strengthened, thereby enhancing one’s game, minimizing pain, and reducing injury.
Senior Fitness Testing
Your current fitness level is like a vital sign, just like your heart rate and blood pressure. This test is safe and meets scientific standards for reliability and validity. It has performance norms for people ages 60 to 94.
Common Conditions We Can Address
- Post-operative Knee, Shoulder, Ankle: one of the most important times to seek physical therapy is after an operation. Our physical therapists work with orthopedic surgeons to restore range of motion and proper function of the structure after it has been surgically repaired or replaced.
- Balance/Walking Issues: Balance and gate issues can be the results of vestibular system dysfunction or a neurologic condition. This can present as dizziness, weakness in the legs, decreased walking speed, or repeated issues with falling.
- Rotator Cuff Injuries: Injuries to the rotator cuff include tendonitis, bursitis, and tears of the muscles or tendons. If left untreated, these conditions can progress and lead to greater pain and dysfunction. Our physical therapists can assess and treat all shoulder conditions through manual therapy and guided stretches and exercises.
- Rotator Cuff Impingement Assessment and Management: Assessing rotator cuff impingement involves imaging, subjective inquiries, shoulder and scapular range of motion assessments, strength evaluations, and posture analysis. The treatment plan includes manual therapy (soft tissue massage, shoulder joint mobilization, PNF patterns) and therapeutic exercises focusing on stretching, strengthening, stability training, and postural correction. Patient education emphasizes effective modalities for addressing underlying causes, impairments, and symptoms.
- Knee Osteoarthritis Evaluation and Intervention: For knee osteoarthritis, assessments encompass imaging, subjective inquiries, and evaluations of knee and surrounding joint range of motion, strength, balance, and posture. The treatment plan involves manual therapy (soft tissue massage, pain-free manual stretching) and therapeutic exercises targeting core, hip/pelvis, and lower extremity strength, as well as standing balance training. Patient education guides individuals on optimal modalities for managing underlying causes and symptoms.
- Low Back Pain Assessment and Treatment: Pinpointing the cause of low back pain involves evaluating soft tissue dysfunction and mechanical issues through imaging and subjective inquiries. Assessments include lumbar and surrounding joint range of motion, manual muscle testing, and posture analysis. A personalized treatment plan comprises manual therapy (soft tissue and deep tissue massage, cross-friction massage, and stretching) and therapeutic exercises for improvement, alongside patient education on effective modalities.
Schedule Your Consultation
We’re available to see you for a same-day appointment. Contact our team today for physical therapy in Santa Barbara!
CONTACT US
