Adult Physical Therapy Services

Orthopedic Physical Therapy

At Physical Therapy Plus, we evaluate and treat a wide variety of musculoskeletal concerns in preparation for or following surgical/nonsurgical procedures.

Common Orthopedic Symptoms

  • Shoulder/arm pain
  • Neck pain
  • Back pain
  • Sciatica
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Sacroiliac (SI) joint concerns
  • Hip pain
  • Knee pain
  • Ankle pain

How We Can Help

Many orthopedic concerns can be successfully treated with the conservative approach of a trained therapist’s eye and skilled hands. Before considering surgery, consider Physical Therapy Plus!

Manual Therapy

Our therapists skillfully apply manual techniques to encourage fascial release, soft tissue health and joint mobility.

Joint Mobilization

We guide you to access the affected joint’s capacity to move in a healthy range to restore full functionality and ease of movement.

Range of Motion & Strength Exercise Progressions

We develop individualized treatment plans designed to improve your range of motion and strength through safe and effective progressions.

Movement Re-education & Home Exercise Plans

Treatment doesn’t stop when you session ends! Our therapists work with you to establish functional patterns through education and homework.

Pelvic Floor & Lower Back

The pelvic floor is part of our Deep Core Motor System. This system includes not only the muscles that span the bottom of the pelvis, but also muscles of the back, abdomen and diaphragm. These muscles optimally work as a team. PT/OT is effective at treating the low back/pelvic pain and dysfunction that may occur when this core system is out of balance.

Common Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

  • Incontinence
  • Increased frequency of urination
  • Urinary urgency
  • Incomplete voiding of bladder or bowel
  • Constipation
  • Pelvic pain
  • Pain with intercourse
  • Pelvic organ prolapse
  • Chronic abacterial prostatitis
  • Testicular pain erectile dysfunction

How We Can Help

Physical Therapy Plus offers Pelvic Floor and Low Back Rehabilitation at our Santa Fe clinic.

Care & Respect

Our trained therapists work with sensitivity and respect of your personal comfort and boundaries at all times.

Evaluation

We provide a thorough initial evaluation to determine the cause and other factors underlying and perpetuating your symptoms.

Individualized Treatment Plan

We develop an individualized treatment plan including “homework”—things for you to do to help alleviate your symptoms.

Hands-on Therapy

Our highly skilled clinicians apply hands-on techniques to alleviate problems such as muscle tension and joint stiffness.

Introducing Pelvic Health Physical Therapy

My name is Alexi Charter, and I’m a physical therapist who’s passionate about helping people with pelvic floor issues. Pelvic Health PT is a specialized area of PT that can help with the following problems:

-Bladder or bowel incontinence (any undesired loss of urine, feces, or gas)
-Urinary urgency (the need to get to the toilet immediately when you feel the urge to go)
-Urinary frequency (the need to void your bladder more than 5-8 times per 24 hours)
-Constipation
-Pelvic pain, including pain related to medical conditions such as endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and lichen sclerosis
-Pelvic organ prolapse (more on this below)
-Dyspareunia (pain with intercourse)
-Post-prostatectomy incontinence and/or erectile dysfunction
-Pre-op pelvic floor rehab prior to prostatectomy, prolapse surgeries, hernia repairs
-Testicular pain
-Pudendal neuralgia (irritation of the pudendal nerve causing severe pain with sitting)
-Post-partum issues such as diastasis recti
-Chronic low back or hip pain that hasn’t fully resolved with standard orthopedic PT

Many people of all genders and ages* suffer silently with these issues, but the good news is that pelvic floor therapy can help! Read on to learn more about what the pelvic floor is, and what we actually do at a pelvic PT appointment.

*I do not currently provide pelvic floor therapy for children. For teenagers, the course of care may be different than for adults; parents may contact me at the number below to discuss expectations prior to scheduling.

Click on the + signs to open content and learn more:

The pelvic floor consists of three layers of muscle at the bottom of the pelvis. Like other muscles in your body, when they’re not working well they can contribute to pain and poor mobility. These muscles are involved in what we pelvic PTs call the 3 S’s – support, sphincteric, and sexual function. Let’s look at each of these.

The pelvic floor muscles provide support to the organs of the abdominopelvic cavity from below – particularly the bladder, vagina, uterus, and bowels. Loss of this support can result in pelvic organ prolapse (POP), which is when one or more of these organs descends into the vagina. POP can cause a feeling of heaviness or pain in the pelvis, particularly with high impact activity, and can cause difficulty fully voiding your bladder or bowels.

The pelvic floor muscles also support the joints of the pelvis – the two sacroiliac joints in back and the pubic symphysis in front. These muscles are part of our deep core motor system, and when functioning properly they should co-activate with the deepest abdominal muscle to help support the spine. People with chronic low back and hip pain usually have some degree of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, and often benefit from specific rehabilitation of the pelvic floor in addition to their other core muscles.

A sphincter is a round muscle able to close down a bodily opening. We have several sphincter muscles in the pelvic floor, and they play the role of keeping us continent of both bladder and bowel. While incontinence can be experienced by people of any age and gender, it’s more common among women who’ve had children, older women, and men who have undergone prostate surgery. Often women who’ve had babies write off leakage with sneezing or jumping as normal, or believe that it is just part of getting older. While common, incontinence is not normal in anyone, so if you’re having any undesired leakage of urine, feces, or even gas, you would benefit from pelvic floor PT!

Excess tension in the pelvic floor muscles can cause pain with intercourse (or with attempting to use tampons or having a gynecological exam). Weakness of the pelvic floor muscles can contribute to decreased pleasure during intercourse. Many women are familiar with Kegel exercises for pelvic floor strengthening, but studies have found that without individual instruction most women don’t do these exercises correctly. In conditions where there is pain or excess tension Kegels can actually make things worse. Through a course of pelvic PT, I can show you what to do instead.

Similar to PT for any other body area, at your first appointment we spend time discussing your problem and identifying your goals. I explain my recommendations for physical examination of the pelvic floor and the nearby joints and muscles that may be playing into the problem. Because of the anatomy of the pelvic region, transvaginal and/or transrectal examination and treatment is usually recommended as the most thorough way to assess how your pelvic floor muscles are functioning, so we know precisely how to help them work better. That said, I honor your choices and comfort when it comes to your examination and treatment, and am happy to discuss the pros and cons of other approaches.

Treatment will be individualized to you based on your examination findings. Treatment usually includes correcting postural alignment & breathing to optimize pelvic floor muscle function, instruction in appropriate exercises specific to your condition, education on condition-specific behavioral and lifestyle modifications, and manual (hands-on) therapy and neuromuscular re-education to help your muscles and joints work and move better. Depending on what we find in the initial assessment, transvaginal and/or transrectal treatment is often recommended to address your problem most effectively, although as mentioned above, we never have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.

Please contact our Santa Fe clinic at (505) 982-5629 with any questions and to schedule your appointment with Alexi!

Balance & Vestibular Rehabilitation

At Physical Therapy Plus, our trained therapists treat vertigo, BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, impaired balance/tendency to fall, and vestibular migraines. We also work with other conditions affecting balance and cognition, such as visual disturbances, dizziness after concussion, cervicogenic dizziness, motion sensitivity and recent head trauma.

Your Symptoms May Include:

  • Spinning sensation with postural changes
  • Inability to focus vision
  • Dizziness with head and neck movement
  • Fear of falling
  • Hearing changes
  • Ear ringing
  • Light sensitivity
  • Imbalance
  • Motion sensitivity
  • Brain fog

How We Can Help

Physical Therapy Plus offers Balance & Vesibular Rehabilitation at both our locations.

Retrain

We can retrain the three balance systems, including the inner ear, vision, and awareness of body position.

Epley for BPPV

We can guide you with the Epley manuever for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.

Stabilize

We can help you to stabilize gait, reduce fall risk and improve your confidence.

Resolve Pain

We can apply hands-on techniques to resolve neck pain, which may contribute to dizziness.