Need a Little Help Getting Active?

You know that regular exercise is crucial to living a healthy lifestyle. The CDC recommends adults aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity a week — about 22 minutes a day, so you don’t have to toil away in the gym for hours. But hitting those numbers can still be a challenge, especially if you struggle with persistent pain or limited mobility.

That’s where physical therapy at Harter Physical Therapy comes in. We’re movement experts who understand all the impairments in your musculoskeletal system that can keep you from living the active, healthy lifestyle you crave. From pain management to maximizing your athletic performance, we’ll help you meet your exercise goals.

Here are just a few of the ways we can help you get healthier. Ready to get started? Contact our clinic today!

We Can Reduce Pain and Restore Mobility

Many orthopedic conditions and injuries can make regular exercise feel difficult (if not impossible).  Osteoarthritis, herniated discs, tennis elbow–all can make you feel like it’s easier just to sit this one out. In reality, though, all these conditions (and others) benefit from regular exercise.

Dealing with persistent pain or limited mobility? Our physical therapists offer several options for pain relief, including several manual therapy techniques, such as soft tissue manipulation, joint mobilization, or myofascial release. We use these techniques as the first step in preparing your body for regular movement.

We’ll also show you targeted, tailored exercises to reduce pain in the affected area. Joint pain often stems from muscular imbalances or postural impairments that stress the impacted joint, leading to discomfort and setting you up for more serious injuries. Strength training will help reduce your pain and get you moving again.

We Can Let You Know If You’re At Risk for an Injury

Did you know you don’t have to wait until you’re in pain to visit the team at Harter Physical Therapy? We’re in the business of preventing injuries, not just treating them – and we can help you enter into a new workout plan without fear!

Our comprehensive physical evaluations test the following:

• Muscle strength and endurance
• Overall mobility
• Biomechanics, which looks at how your body’s systems work together to get you moving
• Balance and fall risk
• Posture
• Walking patterns
• Functional movements that you might perform for work, hobbies, or recreation

During the screens, we’ll look for potential impairments that might cause injuries down the line and suggest corrections to address them–before they become a problem.

For example, let’s say that you want to take up running after some time away. During your assessment, we notice that you tend to bend forward at the waist when jogging. This habit means that every time your foot hits the ground, you cause more impact in your feet than necessary, which could, eventually, lead to an injury. 

By catching the form mistake now–and working with our physical therapists to correct it–you lower your chances of suffering a knee injury (which could prevent you from exercising altogether).

We Can Help You Exercise with Confidence

Starting a new exercise program for the first time–or restarting one after some time away–can be deeply intimidating. You don’t know which exercises you should do. You have no idea if you’re performing movements correctly. You’re not even sure what types of exercise you would enjoy.

Our physical therapists can help with all these concerns and more. We can suggest an exercise program that suits your abilities, interests, and goals and work with you one-on-one to guide you through any unfamiliar movements or equipment. We can also suggest movement or activity modifications if something’s too difficult and offer reassurance that even small changes can have a big impact.

Our team doesn’t just help beginners, either. As you progress, you may find yourself plateauing or struggling with certain aspects of your performance. Our therapists can get to the bottom of things and develop a performance improvement plan so you can see the results you’re looking for.