Are the nagging aches and pains from training holding you back from racing at your best?
A Personal Message From Specialist Physical Therapist, Jamie So
- Are you worried about neck, shoulder, back, knee or foot pain & stiffness that doesn’t go away no matter how much foam rolling, stretching, and icing you do?
- Are you frustrated that Dr. YouTube home remedies or doing the generic sheet of exercises you doctor gave you haven’t worked?
- Are you having trouble keeping up with your training buddies or missing out on races that you signed up for MONTHS if not a year in advance or have the chronic nagging aches and pains holding you back from reaching your potential?
- Are you still looking for a long-term solution so you can swim, bike and run happy again and get back to triathlon ready to tackle the next event?
If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you are in the right place!
Many people within the Northern Virginia and DC Metro area suffer unnecessarily with neck, shoulder, back, knee and foot pain and stiffness because they’re told…
- Just “rest it” and it’ll be fine (then months later they’re still suffering…) leaving them undertrained and wondering if they are ready to race at the next event they paid for already.
- It’s “normal” with for your age. Nothing is normal about pain.
- If you take some pills everything will be fine and it will go away.
- Surgery and a long term recovery are the only options.
The Truth Is...
- Resting it doesn’t change anything. You might get a small temporary relief, but then when you get active again you’ll still be suffering from the same pain and stiffness you were trying to rid yourself of (I bet you’ve already experienced it!) If anything changed, your fitness decreased and your frustration increased.
- It’s NOT normal to get persistent nagging pain and stiffness anywhere in your body as you get older! Sure, you will have the post workout stiffness and soreness, but the pain that stops you in your tracks as you wince with every movement, is NOT. If you’ve watched the 85 plus year old finish the Hawaii Ironman, you wonder how he physically endures.
- Pain pills are addicting, dangerous, and can cause a lot of other problems with your body. Even over the counter anti inflammatories long term can be bad for your body not to mention alter how a triathlete processes the fuel needed to get through training and races.
- Surgery is not the only option. It’s just the only option your surgeon can offer you.
“At Manual Therapy Effects, We Specialize In Helping Active, Working 40+ Year Olds Get Back to the Workouts and Sports They Love Without Drugs, Injections, or Surgery.”
- A family member tells you to take some time off or focus on your “weakness”.
- A colleague mentions going to a chiropractor who they swear by (and they’ve been seeing for 5 years!)
- The “experts” on YouTube recommend doing this exercise regiment or some other home remedy ideas (what could possibly go wrong?)
- A friend suggests going to a pilates or yoga class to help with your flexibility and your “core”
- All while the doctor tells you to take some pain relievers, stop doing the aggravating activity and come back and see me in a month. (meanwhile the big race you have been training for is in jeopardy a your fitness and training gains slowly evaporate from underneath you.)
It’s overwhelming to try to make a decision with all these choices. What will happen if you don’t make the right one?
Most people get stuck trying to make a decision about what to do next. They go days, weeks, months (even years!) without taking action. This isn’t an uncommon story I hear. They think “maybe it will go away”, or that they don’t have time to deal with their neck, shoulder, back, knee or foot pain, it’s not THAT bad. Then they get to a point where it’s screaming at them months later limping and compensating how they move suffering through the pain to finally MAYBE do something about it. All the meanwhile, you’ve lost precious training time to prepare properly for your big race.
When It Comes To Solving Something Serious Like Triathlete Pain
You must choose the right provider for your health. If you don’t, you could end up getting dangerous surgery (when it was unnecessary) or being dependent on addicting painkillers the rest of your life. Or simply suffering and living with it as your “new normal”. There isn’t anything normal about knee pain.
Getting the “least-invasive”, most natural treatment is VITAL to you stopping your knee pain and stiffness and keeping it from ever coming back.
To do that, you have to not just treat the pain, but have a provider who is willing to figure out WHY the pain happened in the first place. That’s when you’ll get a PERMANENT solution to your problems.
At Manual Therapy Effects, we’ve created a 3 step process to get rid of your pain AND make sure it doesn’t come back again.
Step #1 - We Want to Listen to Your Story
Our medical system is frustrating. You wait weeks, sometimes months, for an appointment, only to get to talk to the doctors for 10 minutes (if THAT!) before they have to run to the next patient and you’re left sitting there wondering, “What just happened?”
Even most physical therapy clinics operate this way. They’re not attentive, they’re fast-paced, and your therapist doesn’t have time to actually touch where you hurt, let alone have the time to think through your problem. They give you the same generic set of exercises they gave the much “older” patient next to you in their “gym” who just wants to get up the stairs at her house and you are looking to finish an Ironman.
Then they walk away for a bit, and come back to put an ice pack on you. All they are really doing is just treating your symptoms and hoping that maybe some of the non specific exercises will hopefully get you to the start line healthy. I hear this time and time again from people that have gone to these places. It’s a huge let down.
Step #2 - Find Out WHY Trialthlete Pain Started
Many people have a diagnosis, or medical term for what’s going on with their body. Maybe their doctor gave it to them, maybe tests showed the diagnosis, or maybe you found it online.
You could have been told that your only choice was to rest, take pain relievers, or have surgery.
Sometimes, those things bring temporarily relief, but they’re not addressing what CAUSED the problem in the first place.
Every person’s cause of their pain and stiffness is different. No one has the exact same problem caused by the exact same thing as another person.
Our goal at Manual Therapy Effects is to find that original cause of your pain, so not only does your nagging pain go away, it STAYS AWAY!
We understand that you still might be skeptical or unsure if physical therapy is right for you. That’s why we created a FREE “Meet and Greet Discovery Session.” (Yes! That means the first session is ON US!)
Our Meet and Greet Discovery Sessions are meant specifically for those people who are skeptical, unsure, or have even been let down in the past. During the Meet and Greet Discovery Sessions, you’ll find out what’s wrong, how long it’s going to take to fix it, and give you peace of mind that your problem can be fixed naturally!
Step #3 - Get Rid of the Pain & Keep It From Coming Back
This is when the big transformations occur. We develop a personalized plan that allows you to…
…Get back to training and working out without the fear of YOUR specific pain and stiffness coming back
…Be able to confidently race confidently
…Get back to that triathlon lifestyle that you love
….Be able to have that mental release you get from training and racing
…Get back to swimming, biking and running with your training buddies
…Chase that qualifying slot to the big dance
…Stay fit and healthy and be an example to your kids
Our best clients are those who are motivated and ready to win back their triathlon lifestyle. (Even if they feel stuck right now!)
Want to know more about our availability and costs before making any commitment to coming in?
You don’t have to sacrifice your fitness, mental well being, or the multisport lifestyle you love over problems that can be fixed.
We are here to help.
Yours in Good Health and Movement,
Jamie So, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy and Owner, Manual Therapy Effects