About ActiveCare Physical Therapy®
The Best Physical Therapists in NYC
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Our therapists are licensed in New York State and active members in the American Physical Therapy Association. We have advanced training in joint mobilization and myofascial release techniques.
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We are dedicated practitioners with a passion for the profession and a comprehensive, holistic approach to treatment and healing. We treat each patient as an individual and treat the whole person, with a plan of care designed to meet the patient’s set goals for health, functionality and a return to work, tasks and activities. We network with a team of physicians, chiropractors, acupuncturists and massage therapists in order to provide guidance to other modalities that may be effective in the patients’ care. We also offer superior Telehealth services for physical therapy.
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Physical Therapist and owner Dr. Karena Wu PT, DPT, OCS is a graduate of the Program in Physical Therapy at Columbia University and is affiliated with several healthcare organizations in New York City. She is certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Kinesio Taping Practitioner and Pilates Instructor, and uses SpiderTech Taping. She is also a Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist, Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Graston Technique Specialist and Pilates Instructor. She holds LSVT BIG, FMS and SFMA Level 1 certifications as well. Dr. Wu also specializes in vertigo and temporomandibular joint disorders.
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ActiveCare is primarily an out-of-network facility. We accept all insurance with out-of-network benefits and file for most major insurance plans. We work with all prospective patients to create workable payment plans regardless of insurance coverage.
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ActiveCare accepts Medicare, No-Fault and Workers’ Compensation patients depending on schedule availability.
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ActiveCare’s administrators provide seamless and efficient concierge-style client service to all of our patients. And the whole ActiveCare team makes sure your time with us is a beneficial, productive and enjoyable experience.
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Category Archives: Best Physical Therapist for Neck Pain
Neck Physical Therapy
Do you need neck physical therapy? To relieve your neck pain and restore body movements, your doctor may ask you to visit a physical therapist. Physical therapy is essential to restore your health, no matter if you have cervical spine surgery or any other condition.
There are two types of treatments in physical therapy; active treatment and passive treatment. With passive therapy, you and your body will relax. This type of treatment also prepares the body for therapeutic exercise, which is a part of active treatment.
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Signs and Symptoms
The symptoms depend on the structure and tissues that are affected, and in severe conditions of injury.
You may be suffering from neck pain for the following reasons:
- Difficult to look up
- Difficult to look to your shoulder
- Muscle spasm
- Inability to rotate or bend your neck
- Weak shoulder and arm muscles
Pain in your neck can cause the following:
- Headaches
- Tight muscles
- Weakness in your arms
- Tingling or numbness in your hands, arms, shoulder, and neck
- Pain in your upper back, neck, shoulders, hands, or arms
- Pain gets worse while sitting, reaching, sneezing, or coughing
- Inability to sit up or straight or stand straight
- Difficulty in sleeping due to pain
- Pain gets worse at night or in the morning
- Inability to stay in one position for a long time, such as standing or sitting, because of pain
- Feeling of getting stuck in one position, or stiffness while you try to move such as hunching forward, or while leaning your head to a side
How Is It Diagnosed?
A physical therapist will perform a detailed examination and evaluate your health history. He or she may ask various in-depth questions about your injury or pain, such as:
- When and how your pain started?
- When does your pain get worse?
- What are your discomforts, and locations of your discomforts?
- What activities are you unable to perform?
In order to find the physical problems, your physical therapist will perform various tests on your body, such as:
- Poor posture
- Joint stiffness
- Loss of reflexes
- Loss of your skin sensation in some area or numbness
- Tightness or weakness in the muscle
- Difficulty moving
- Difficulty walking
If a physical therapist finds the above-mentioned issues in you, he or she will start your physical therapy straight away. This is to get you back on the road to recovery and enable you to perform normal activities.
If a therapist finds any severe conditions while testing, they will collaborate with a surgeon or physician for special diagnostic testing, for instance, MRI. Physical therapists don’t hesitate to work with physicians or any other health care providers, just to ensure that you are receiving a proper diagnosis and treatment that you need.
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Benefits of Neck Physical Therapy
Physical therapists are experts on body movement. They can improve a patient’s quality of life through patient education, hands-on care, and prescribed movement. Physical therapists provide care to increase the lifespan to anyone with disabilities. Here are some benefits of physical therapy:
1. Maximize Your Movement
Physical therapists can recognize, diagnose, and treat movement issues. Pain-free movement is essential for living a quality life, your independence, and the ability to earn your living.
2. Personalized Care That is According to your Needs
Physical therapists design treatment plans depending on each person’s individual needs, goals, and challenges. Physical Therapy helps people manage pain and various other chronic conditions, improve mobility, prevent future chronic diseases and injuries, and recover from injuries.
3. Care Where You Need It
Physical therapists provide care wherever you need it, including homes, hospitals, nursing homes, work settings, sports and fitness centers, schools, outpatient clinics, and private practices.
4. Participate In Your Recovery
Physical therapists empower you to stay active with their care. Physical therapists also work with other health professionals to make sure that you are receiving the best care.
5. Avoid Opioids
In some conditions of neck pain, prescription opioids are part of the medical treatment. However, according to the CDC, health care providers should avoid using opioids. Instead, they should offer safer suggestions to their patients, such as physical therapy. Using opioids for long-term pain may include various risks and side effects such as addiction, overdose, and depression. Furthermore, these risks also include withdrawal symptoms when you stop using opioids.
6. Avoid Surgery
You should try physical therapy before going for invasive or expensive surgery. For some conditions, such as spinal stenosis, rotator cuff tears, degenerative disk disease, meniscal tears, and knee osteoarthritis, physical therapy treatment is much more effective than surgery.
Conclusion
While treating the neck pain, the main focus of good physical therapy is to recover the flexibility and strength of your neck. To find out more about neck pain or physical therapy, you can visit our clinic. You can find all the details on our website.
If you are looking to set-up an appointment with a professional therapist, contact us today:
ACTIVECARE PHYSICAL THERAPY
29 West 38th Street
Suite 601
New York, NY 10018
Physical Therapy for Neck Injuries
In the next part of our series on common injuries and how to treat them, we at ActiveCare Physical Therapy will provide information on neck pain and the best way to treat it using exercise and physical therapy. Keep reading for some great exercises that can help ease your neck pain!
NECK EXERCISES TO SOOTHE PAIN
Neck rolls: bend head to one side, move your head down forward toward the floor to end up bent to the other side and then repeat in the opposite direction. Movement is like a horseshoe. Do not bend head backwards as this compresses the spine.
Scalenes Stretch: straight L sidebending of head down toward your L ear. Left hand holds onto opposite (Right) temple to pull head down toward the ear with a little overpressure. Do not bend the trunk, only your head to your ear.
Upper Trapezius Stretch: L sidebend your head down toward your L ear, but now rotate your face toward the opposite (right) shoulder. Head is also slightly bent forward in front of the trunk. Same side (left) hand holds onto the opposite (right) temple.
Levator Scapula stretch: Turn your face to your left armpit, about 45 degrees. Bring your face down toward your armpit like your are looking down at it. Take your left hand over the top of the back your head and pull your face down toward your armpit with overpressure. Do not bend your trunk, only your head to your armpit.
All stretches should be held for 30 seconds statically. Feel stretch pain as the tight muscle tissue elongates, but do not stretch so that it is a strong pain or that makes you sore after. You should feel looser and lighter when done!
Shoulder rolls: Sit with good upright posture. Bring both shoulders forwards, up and then back in a circular motion. Repeat 10 times and then repeat 10 times in the opposite direction.
To learn more about neck injuries, prevention and physical therapy treatment, give us a call today at 212-777-4374 or visit www.activecarephysicaltherapy.com.
What is cervical fusion? PT for Cervical Fusion.
Cervical fusion is a type of neck surgery that fuses damaged portions of the spine together. Sometimes, the vertebrae and disks within the neck can become damaged with overuse and wear-and-tear. This may result in degeneration of the vertebrae themselves, or of the disks that rest between the vertebrae. The result is localized or radiating pain, or numbness and tingling down the arms. Cervical fusion aims to remove severely damaged portions of the spine, and link together the healthy portions of vertebrae that remain. Typically, damaged disks are removed, and the remaining vertebrae are stimulated to produce new bone tissue and fuse together. A metal bar, plate, or screw is often used to add to the stability of the neck, especially during the healing process.
Neck pain is frequently attributable to a bulging, or herniated, disk. Herniated disks can be effectively managed using non-surgical techniques. Physical therapy and rehabilitation are excellent treatment options for neck or any other type of back pain due to disk herniation (please see our article titled, “What is a herniated disk?”). These treatments focus on the restoration of normal strength and motion to the neck and spine, and address weaknesses or restrictions to allow for greater ease of movement. Only those cases with very severe spine degeneration are candidates for cervical fusion surgery.
ActiveCare Physical Therapy, PC
29 West 38th Street
Suite 601
New York, NY 10018
