After acquiring a stubborn muscle issue in my legs that was impeding my ability to walk, my chiropractor said if I ever wanted to step up recovery with physical therapy to let him know. I asked for the referral when a friend said she'd done dry needling and it helped her tremendously. I did some online searches and thankfully found this place. It kind of stunk it was a 40 minute drive for me twice a week but you do what you've gotta do.
From the minute I went in for the consultation, Mandi was excellent putting things in terms I could understand and asked my goals. (Initially it was just to be able to walk without pain but ultimately I wanted to be better for a trip in 6 weeks which I didn't think would happen) She explained via anatomy books what was going on, her plan of attack and we were off. Dry needling is where they take acupuncture needles and put them in the knots of the muscles to get them to release and re-train your pain response. (But to be clear, it is not acupuncture...the first person to tell you this will be an acupuncturist!)
There are three stages to dry needling...low dose which are the ones they use the first session. Deeper, which yes, you feel a little more but nothing too major and used the vast majority of the time for most people I believe. And then, if you're as screwed up as I was, there are the "holy crap, what are you doing with that skewer?" size. Nothing some deep breathing couldn't help with as they go in but I will warn you, sometimes you'll get a nerve zap and that is not fun. You'll invent new curse words. But when you're unable to walk, to do any of your normal activities much less exercise and think about cancelling a trip you've been dreaming of, you do what you need to do. It, along with the deep tissue massage by Kat and the myriad of strengthening exercises Mandi gave me to do at home allowed me to not only go on that trip but do outdoor activities I didn't dream possible 6 weeks prior.
Now you can't go into this like "I'm going to do my exercises when I'm there" and then never do them at home. You MUST commit to doing them at home or if you're away from home, every day and when you backslide, you have no one to blame but yourself. (Can you tell I skimped on PT while on vacation and paid for it?) But if you commit to it and are consistent with it, your progress should be that much faster. Mandi and her whole team are committed to getting people well again. They take a situation when people come in broken and give them to the tools to get on the mend. They are more than just therapists, you leave considering them friends. I've heard them on more than one occasion tell people on their last visit "don't be a stranger, stop in just to say hi." They mean it. I know going forward I have the tools at my disposal to keep the muscles that were at the core of my problems strong and that's because of her.
I cannot recommend this place enough and I'm down to my last appointment and I'm actually sad. That says a lot. read more
