Sports Rehabilitation

Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

What is BFR?
Blood flow restriction (BFR) therapy is a way to increase strength or endurance without stressing injured areas through heavy loads or prolonged movement.

How does it work?

• BFR utilizes a specialized wide tourniquet at the top of the arms or legs to limit arterial flow and slow venous return. The tourniquet pressure is determined by a special machine that assesses the minimal amount of pressure needed based on your individual blood pressure.
• The tourniquet system used for BFR training is designed to limit oxygen to the limb to generate a hypoxic event that leads to a cascade of chemical changes that are vital for muscle protein synthesis. BFR allows us to minimize muscle protein breakdown while still producing muscle protein synthesis and therefore muscle growth.

Who can Benefit from it?
BFR therapy can be used by a wide variety of populations. It is often used by athletes both amateur and professional and can be beneficial for patients who have failed to respond to traditional strengthening techniques.

Shockwave Therapy

What is Shockwave Therapy?
Shockwave Therapy is a highly effective, non-invasive treatment method that accelerates the healing of injured body tissues. It uses a unique set of pressure waves focused on the injury site to stimulate metabolism, enhance blood circulation, and accelerate the healing process. Damaged tissue gradually regenerates and eventually heals.

Shockwave can be used to treat acute or chronic muscle, tendon, or soft tissue pain that significantly impairs mobility or quality of life including:

• Foot and Ankle
• Neck
• Shoulder
• Back and Chest
• Upper Extremity
• Lower Extremity
• Myofascial Trigger Points

The Benefits of Shockwave Therapy:

• Non-invasive
• No anesthesia
• No risk of infection
• No scarring
• No downtime
• Over 80% patient satisfaction
• Faster, easier healing process

Laser Therapy

Deep Tissue Laser Therapy™ is a scientifically proven way to reduce pain and inflammation. Treatments are fast, safe, painless and most patients experience results after only a few sessions.

Laser Therapy’s healing effects include:

• Improved blood circulation
• Pain relief
• Reduction of swelling and inflammation
• Enhanced mobility and flexibility of stiff joints

Common Conditions Treated Include:

• Muscle/Tendon Injuries
• Joint Pain
• Head, Neck, & Back Pain
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Post-Surgical Recovery

Manual Therapy

Manual therapy is defined as the skilled, specific passive movement of joints and soft tissues applied at varying speeds and amplitudes in order to:

• Reduce pain
• Increase range of motion
• Reduce or eliminate soft tissue inflammation
• Induce relaxation
• Improve tissue repair, extensibility and/or stability
• Facilitate movement
• Improve function
• Provide long lasting relief

Some common procedures include:

• Spinal and peripheral joint mobilization
• Manual soft tissue mobilization
• Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization
• Trigger point therapy
• Myofascial release
• Counterstain

Our expert physical therapists can determine if manual therapy is the right fit for your individual needs and goals by performing a thorough evaluation.

Orthotics

Custom Orthotics help your feet function in their optimal neutral position and eliminate the need for your body to compensate for malalignment in your feet.

• Individualized – they match the contours of your feet and are designed to work the way that you are.
• Support for your feet – they help to provide comfort when standing for long periods of time.
• Prevent future injuries – they help normalize your gait while walking and running.
• Versatile – styles range from athletic shoes to dress shoes, including pediatric and diabetic shoes.

The Benefits of Orthotics:

• Heel pain/Plantar Fasciitis
• Arch pain/High arches
• Flat feet
• Knee pain
• Lower back pain
• Hip pain
• Leg fatigue
• Corns & calluses
• Bunions
• And more!

Performing Arts Medicine

The Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s Performing Arts Medicine program is designed to provide hands-on care for performing artists of all abilities. Our trained staff will work with dancers, instrumentalists, gymnasts, actors, vocalists, and ice skaters to develop a customized plan to get them back to doing what they love!

Our multi-disciplinary team consists of physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, audiologists, athletic trainers, sports medicine physicians, and orthopedic surgeons. Through their collaboration, performing artists will receive personalized care that will aid in improving their craft and minimize the risk of further injury.

The Performing Arts Medicine program offers the following services:

• Comprehensive evaluations
• Injury prevention workshops and screenings
• Pointe shoe consultations and fittings
• Turnout assessment and training
• Dance technique and performance evaluations and enhancement
• Orthotic fabrication
• Hand Therapy
• Pelvic Floor Therapy
• Voice evaluation and VisiPitch (Speech Therapy)
• Custom ear mold fittings and hearing tests (Audiology)
• Manual Therapy
• Blood Flow Restriction Therapy
• Shockwave Therapy

Locations:

• Allentown – West End
• Bethlehem – 3rd & New
• Bethlehem – Sports Medicine & Rehab Center
• Hellertown
• Kutztown
• New Tripoli
• Phillipsburg, NJ
• Quakertown

Speech Only:

• Bethlehem – 8th Ave Neuro Rehab Center
• Lehighton

Physical Therapy for Golfers

Our specialized physical therapists will help you recover from injury, develop an injury prevention plan, and guide you back out on the course.

The Titlist Performance Insitute (TPI) assessment is used by our physical therapist to identify any golf-specific limitations in your movement and performance. Based on your personal needs, our TPI Certified Physical Therapists will develop a customized plan that may include manual therapy, targeted golf-specific exercises, and various modalities to help you improve your game and reduce the risk of injury. We work with you to optimize your body and maximize your swing!

Our TPI Therapists evaluate various aspects including:

• Physical mobility
• Stability
• Dynamic movement patterns
• Static posture
• Injury susceptibility

Golf PT Treatment Plan:

• Golf Specific Rehabilitation: once your physical limitations are identified, we provide you with a therapeutic plan to improve function, prevent injury, and help you play at your highest level
• Swing Analysis: address common faults and deviations
• Improved Mobility: pain-free golf swing and a guided return to golfing after injury

The Running Center

The Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s Running Center Program is designed to provide hands-on care for runners of all abilities. Whether you’re just starting, or are an avid runner, our specially trained physical therapists will work with you in creating a customized plan that gets you back to running and remain injury-free.

The therapists who are involved with our Running Center are runners themselves! We feel it’s important for the therapists to be able to relate to your injury and pain.

We offer leading technology such as Video Motion Analysis, Anti-Gravity Treadmill, Orthotic Fitting and more- to help you get the most out of your run!

Services Provided:

• Comprehensive Evaluation
• Running Analysis
• Running Readiness Screens
• Injury Prevention
• Footwear/Orthotics Analysis
• Performance Enhancement
• Treatment of all running related injuries

Experience firsthand the transformative impact of The Running Center as patients reclaim their stride and triumphantly return to running after overcoming obstacles in their recovery journey!

Video Motion Analysis

To identify the movement patterns causing pain in our patients, we capture frame-by-frame video stills of various movements using motion analysis technology. This enables us to record and measure critical angles and motions during sports activity, and provides instant feedback that pinpoints the root causes of pain.

With our team of expert therapists and the motion analysis technology, we offer a competitive and important advantage in movement analysis.

WinBack Therapy

What is WinBack Tecartherapy?
WinBack Tecartherapy  is a cutting-edge modality that harnesses high-frequency, non-invasive energy to stimulate the body’s natural healing processes using electrical currents. This form of therapy is particularly effective in alleviating pain associated with inflammation. By triggering a nerve signal through deep heat, WinBack Therapy activates the body’s natural cellular ability to repair itself, providing a warm and soothing sensation throughout the body and relief in the brain. What sets WinBack apart is its versatility, enabling therapists to integrate hands-on treatment during therapy.

Benefits of WinBack Therapy:

• Reduces pain
• Reduces inflammation
• Restores movement
• Increases blood flow