[re+think]

Not all physical therapists are the same.  I don’t just mean in personality, either.  I am talking about in their specialty skills.  Just like you would not go to a cardiologist for an ankle sprain, you would not go to an orthopedic physical therapist after surviving a stroke or being diagnosed with Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis. Perhaps this is not wide-spread knowledge yet, but there are physical therapists that specialize in treating people with neurologic deficits.   Neurologic specialist physical therapists help clients recover from anything from peripheral nerve injuries to severe damage to the brain and/or spinal cord.   Examples of common diagnoses that would be included are stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, amputation, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, brain and/or spinal cord tumors, and dystonia. So how do you find the right PT??   A certified neurologic physical therapi...

As the newest member of the [re+active] team, I am excited to join a practice that specializes in serving people with neurological conditions. Because I am passionate about helping people with neurological conditions reach their highest potential, I wanted to specialize in this type of physical therapy. In my journey to specialize in neurological physical therapy, I completed a neurological residency program and I am studying for the neurological specialty exam. Neurological Residency I am often asked why I completed a neurological residency program since it is not required for physical therapists. Typically, people associate residencies with training for those people who are getting their medical doctorate; however, the profession of physical therapy has adopted the concept in order to train physical therapists in a specialty area. The specialty areas include: neurology, geriatrics, cardio pulmonary, orthopedics, pediatrics, sports physical therapy, women’s health, and wound ...