What's New For You At PT360

June is in full swing and summer has finally arrived!  I’m sure that has all of you smiling, especially those of you who are on summer vacation from school.  While January is traditionally the “Resolution Month” to make changes in our daily lives, June and the return of Summertime is more often when we actually do new things – new activities to try, new places to travel, new foods to savor (with outdoor seating, of course!).  Must be that the summer sun energizes us after so many months of hibernation here in Vermont.  In the spirit of new things, we’re highlighting some of our newer services and programs that have been added over the past several months, all aiming to help you on your journey to health and wellness!

The Balanced Rider

Newest to the PT360 line-up, The Balanced Rider is a horseback riding-specific rehabilitation program that addresses musculoskeletal imbalances that can directly affect the quality of your horseback riding, regardless of your discipline.  It focuses on maintaining and improving your riding even if you aren't in peak physical fitness or if you have a condition that potentially impairs your ability to ride at your best.  Our program begins with an in-depth evaluation to develop an individualized rehabilitation plan that may include postural restoration techniques, aquatic therapy, integrative dry needling, rider biomechanic training on the Home Horse trainer, and much more.

Our Balanced Rider team of Deb Harris, PT, RD, CLT, and Heather Chernyshov, MS, ATC, NCTMB also offer in-office educational seminars and barn-based rider clinics.

Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy

Many people experience sensations of dizziness, nausea, and off-balance that can greatly affect function and even lead to falls. The cause of these symptoms can be varied and most often is treatable with physical therapy.

Located in the inner ear, the Vestibular System is one of three systems that maintain our sense of balance by sensing head movement and positioning, as well as controlling eye and postural reflexes.  Dizziness and balance issues can occur when there is conflict in the information between your Vestibular System and the other two systems – Visual and Somatosensory (the sense of where you are in space).  Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) is an individualized, exercise-based program that aims to either improve vestibular function or promote compensation strategies.

PT360 offers VRT at our Burlington and Shelburne locations.  In addition, our Shelburne Vestibular therapist, Hillary Keating, DPT, collaborates with Dr. Keith Walsh of Adirondack Audiology in Shelburne to provide a more comprehensive diagnostic assessment of inner ear and central motor function.

Work Hardening & Rehabilitation

The mission of our Work Hardening & Rehabilitation program is to help the injured worker get back to their profession quickly by directing them toward their work capacity goal and ability to do their job tasks safely.

Our program starts with a thorough initial evaluation of motion, flexibility, and strength, as well as an analysis of specific job tasks to create an individualized program that involves specific injury rehab, total body strength & conditioning, and job-specific training.  Our Williston office has specialized equipment to simulate job tasks of many varieties, from repetitive reaching tasks, lifting tasks, pushing/pulling tasks, and more.  Laura Clark, PT, FCE works directly with physicians and case managers as part of your health care team to ensure that you are able to return to work safely.