River City Performance Therapy

10/08/2021

You can see a physical therapist without a physician referral!!! Physical therapy is a great first option for aches or pains possibly associated with with muscles, joints, bones, or nerves. Usually injuries and pain can be very effectively treated by a PT, so you can be efficient with your time (and money) and save yourself the extra trip to the doctors office. However, physical therapists are also trained to rule out red flags and know when to refer you to another healthcare provider if needed.
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When should you go to physical therapy? If you have a body ache or pain that has lasted longer than 2 weeks it’s time to get it checked out. It’s significantly easier to make fast progress in PT if you catch issues early. If you suffer an injury (example: felt back pain come on pulling off the floor in a heavy sn**ch; elbow “tweaked” in your workout that had a lot of handstand push ups), it’s worth reaching out to a PT and potentially scheduling an appointment if the pain continues for more than a few days.
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In Virginia, physical therapists can treat patients for 60 days without a physician referral. At RCPT, if we approach that 60 day mark, we’ll talk through getting your primary care provider to sign a referral form. Come see us and check out how we do physical therapy a little differently!
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07/22/2021

We fully believe in the “test retest” principle at RCPT. Whether it’s an objective physical therapy test or a functional movement, we want to be able to change it. Why? Because it’s a sure way to know that our intervention is on the right track.
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For example, if it hurts to stand up from a forward bend, I want to be able to DO something to immediately change that. Is this a “quick fix” and I’m a miracle worker?! Absolutely not. BUT it does give a lot of information about the things you need to be doing to “fix” the big picture issue and gives insight to whether it’s a mobility, stability, or strength issue. These interventions may be a manual therapy intervention (hands on joint mobilization), muscle activation (a neuromuscular technique to get the muscle firing), a dynamic stretch (like scorpions), or a variety of other things.
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Test the painful movement, DO something, then retest the movement. Better, worse, or the same? You can 100% expect to see this principle utilized throughout your treatment at RCPT!
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07/04/2021

River City Performance Therapy hopes you have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!!

06/29/2021

River City Performance Therapy offers dry needling!
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Dry needling by certified physical therapists is a great “tool in the toolbox” to help restore function. A very thin needle is inserted through the skin, but nothing is injected (hence “dry”) and the techniques are based on anatomy. Sometimes electric current is used with needling to enhance the effect.
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Dry needling can be used for many things! Relax tight muscles, improve blood flow, assist in activating muscles, calm the nervous system, decrease pain, and improve mobility just to name a few…
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In Virginia, a referral for dry needling from an MD/DO/NP is required. Dry needling is just one part of a comprehensive physical therapy treatment plan and is best utilized in conjunction with manual therapy and exercise.
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06/14/2021

Here at RCPT we believe in this order: mobility THEN stability THEN strength. If you lack significant mobility but you’re doing a ton of strength training through a limited range of motion, you’re missing out and may even be more prone to injury. Likewise, lots of stretching should be followed by stability work into that new range, and then get bullet-proof strong. If you’ve got good mobility and you’re doing a lot of strength training but find you’ve got nagging aches (shoulder pain is a great example!) then maybe you should consider some stability work!
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05/31/2021

Memorial Day. A day to honor the soldiers that gave it all. A day to salute the brave men and women giving their lives to protect ours.
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RCPT encourages participation each year in the hero WOD, Murph. In some small way we feel like suffering through this brutal workout honors those servicemen and women, like Lt. Michael Murphy, the namesake for the workout.
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05/29/2021

How often do you think about your toes while squatting?
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Some people have a tendency to lift their toes while squatting. Logically, we should want a large base of support to give us as much stability as possible so having the toes off the ground doesn’t make much sense. In a culture of overly tight shoes, we often see weak intrinsic foot muscles. This might manifest as arches collapsing in when lifting or walking, or not having much control over your toes. The feet can also be a prime suspect with lower extremity pain if we think about fixing issues from the bottom up.
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Next time you squat, think about pressing the big toe into the ground without white-knuckle gripping the ground with the rest of your toes. If that’s hard for you, you may benefit from some foot muscle work - try waves, spreading the toes, or toe yoga.
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05/27/2021

Lift heavy weights, team. It builds character, it builds resilience, it builds grit. The mental and physical benefits carry over into life as well - you’ll be less stressed, you’ll deal with problems better, and you’ll overcome failure more easily.
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I have always vowed to never tell a patient to stop doing what they love. Now, I may ask you to modify your activities for a few weeks, but best believe I’ll still find a way to kick your butt in the gym. It’s important to sweat and it’s important to work hard.
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RCPT will never suggest you stop lifting weights; in fact, we’ll encourage you to continue to do so. We like to blur the line between rehab and prehab. The goal is that our athletes not only fix their injury, but come out of PT stronger and faster than they were before.
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05/23/2021

RCPT is excited to offer physical therapy evaluations and treatment out of . Our partnership means easy access to rehab and an abundance of equipment and space to facilitate return to full participation both in the gym and in life.
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05/23/2021

Helen Shepard here, owner of RCPT. I graduated with a doctorate in physical therapy from the university of the pacific after receiving a BS in psychology and exercise science from UNC (Go Heels!). I have since completed an orthopedic residency program, become certified for dry needling, and am a certified strength and conditioning specialist. As a CrossFit athlete and Olympic Weightlifter myself, I have a passion for treating athletes with a sports performance focus. I love practicing through RCPT because it allows for time to truly invest in each individual patient and provide a detailed, specific, research-based approach to rehabilitation. Interested in seeing what we’re all about? Check the link in bio for more info and schedule your evaluation.

05/21/2021

05/21/2021

05/21/2021

05/21/2021