6:30pm @ Spire Climbing in Bozeman, Montana – sign up to attend at spireclimbing.com
May 4 – Elbow Injury Talk with Dr. Lisa Palomaki, DPT
Lisa’s talk is full already on the Spire Climbing website – Watch on @excelptmt’s IGTV page to see her talk streamed live!
June 1 – Injury Screening with Dr. Todd Bushman, DPT, CSCS
July 6 -Wrist Injury Talk with Dr. Todd Bushman, DPT, CSCS
Aug 3-Strength Assessments with Dr. AJ Sobrilsky, DPT, OCS
Here’s what happens for each session type:
Injury Talk – Want to learn more about common climbing injuries & actively manage the situation? Don’t miss out on these quarterly presentations from an Excel Physical Therapy Climbing Lab PT. We’ll tackle some of the more common climbing injuries while discussing rehab, injury mitigation, training considerations, & the most important question of all: “Can I keep climbing?”
Injury Screening – Free 15-minute injury consultations with a doctor of physical therapy from Excel Physical Therapy.
Strength Assessment – Free assessment of specific climbing strength performance metrics: max finger strength, finger contact strength, critical force, & finger strength endurance. See where you measure up, areas that might need attention, & assess your training. Stop guessing & start assessing.
Follow us on our @excelptmt IG page for the latest updates and event info.
Q: I fell yesterday walking and I have fallen a lot. All I can think of is, I am not picking up my feet enough? When I hit a crack or something I hit my toe and fall forward.
A: Sometimes that can be a strength thing, maybe your body is not strong enough, not that you can’t do it, but as you fatigue when you’re walking, you’re not lifting your feet as high because you are getting tired. So, your endurance might not be there in the lower extremity. It can be a multitude of factors…it could be your proprioception in the bottom of your feet aren’t picking up the cracks. A physical therapy evaluation can assess exactly what is causing your balance issues. As we get older, we tend to have balance issues that happen a little easier. We definitely don’t want you falling, especially outside on the hard concrete, that’s not a great place to be falling. Definitely worth a mention to your doctor or physical therapist about what you are experiencing so a plan can be put into place to help address this issue for you.
Q: I am someone who is dealing with peripheral neuropathy in my legs and feet, what do I do? Also, I am not able to lift my feet high enough when walking due to peripheral neuropathy.
A: So what you will want to do is uptrain like we talked about in that pie chart. We talked about a third, a third, and a third for vision, vestibular and peripheral neuropathy. The pie chart section that focuses on peripheral neuropathy is closing because you don’t have the sensation in your feet anymore. So you have to uptrain those other systems in order to compensate for the proprioception loss. Yes, it’s absolutely trainable. Not being able to lift your feet high enough is a strength thing, with peripheral neuropathy, you’re not going to change the peripheral neuropathy, you’re going to uptrain those other systems. It’s like a muscle making those other systems stronger, so you aren’t worried about the peripheral neuropathy impact as much.
Q: Is there somewhere we can access the charts that you were talking about?
A: The whole presentation will be loaded onto the Facebook page and the Excel website with the slides. (coming soon)
Q: What would you recommend as a call assist company for around your neck so if you fall you can get assistance?
A: With a little research online or by talking with family or friends, you can find one that will work with you. Recommendation given about Apple watch that asks if you have fallen and sends GPS tracking on where you are at if you don’t answer.
Q: Is there a booklet or something we can get with a detail view of different exercises we can build on for helping with resistance to falling?
A: A physical therapist can help determine a customized exercise program to help you with this. Also, tai chi, like yoga, is a great program to help with significant help on falling, some research showing up to 3 times a week has helped. Talk to your physical therapist, because we can have different deficiencies because you may be deficient in your quads and hamstrings somebody else may be deficient in their glutes. You may struggle with lifting your feet up and somebody else will struggle when they start doing head turns so getting a really specific exercise program is probably the best advice, so you’re not wasting your time so you’re not working on exercises you don’t need to work on.
Q: Does Medicare cover balance training?
A: Yes, Medicare does cover balance training during a physical therapy appointment.
Q: Do you have suggestions on footwear?
A: Making sure you are in a footwear that you are comfortable walking in. Something that isn’t bulky or has a high heel on it or has a big thick sole on it where you can get it caught on cracks in sidewalks. Flip flops, sandals in the Summer time are going to be hard to justify because they can slip on feet and effect balance. Specific footwear would be something to talk to your physical therapist to get headed in the right direction.
Q: Height of chair seat for a sit to stand desk?
A: There is a standard height, generally the measurement is dependent on height of the person using the desk. A physical therapist can help you determine the ideal measurements best suited for your positioning needs.
Q: Balance with a new hearing aid?
A: Vestibular system is a big part of our balance system that contributes to balance and having a new hearing aid can throw of your balance because things are different for you.
Jackie Oliver, DPT, OCS completed her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, one of the top Physical Therapy schools in the nation. She was fortunate enough to complete her clinical rotations and begin her physical therapy career within the University of Utah system, which is consistently ranked near the top in healthcare. Exposed to a wide variety of orthopedic conditions, Jackie is confident when assessing and treating a broad range of orthopedic impairments. Jackie is a certified dry needling provider with advanced training from Evidence in Motion and KinetaCore. Jackie achieved the Orthopedic Clinical Specialist advanced certification after extensive advanced training coursework and a stringent examination process from the American Physical Therapy Association.
Jackie has an intense passion for helping and educating others as well as preventative medicine. Because of her college sports background, Jackie loves working with athletes and has experience with biomechanical training and injury prevention in sports. She is also trained as a Diabetes Lifestyle Coach and has worked for the University of Utah and CDC helping individuals decrease their risk of developing diabetes.
Prior to completing her Doctorate in Physical Therapy, Jackie played basketball for Carroll College in Helena, Montana, while also obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Health Science. Jackie was Academic All-American her last two years at Carroll.
Complimentary injury consultation sessions will help determine the best injury treatment options & plan to help return the injured student athlete back to the game healthy & strong.
Includes:
Thorough history of athlete and review of injury
Injury screen looking at strength, mobility, stability and impairments
Education for athlete and parent/guardian on nature of symptoms and best course of treatment (PT, referral to MD, home rehabilitation program)
Call 406-284-4262 to schedule your complimentary student athlete injury consultation.
What Goes Up Must Come Down — Jason and AJ will be covering injuries in backcountry skiing & split boarding, how to minimize your risk of injury, and how to maximize your performance this winter.
Tune in this Thursday (10/22), 6pm as we broadcast live from Uphill Pursuit’s Instagram and Facebook pages – see you soon!
Bring your questions! Jason and AJ will be answering questions in the IGTV comments section under the broadcast.
Coming in November – Live on Zoom
In case you missed the live Uphill Pursuit collaborative broadcast – Simply click on the image above to watch Excel PT Climbing Lab’s awesome Transition to Climbing discussion. There’s a lot of very useful information to help you navigate the change of seasons as well as the change in loading and demand that shifting from outdoor to indoor climbing or rock to ice will introduce.
Excel Climbing Lab Doctors of Physical Therapy AJ Sobrilsky and Matt Heyliger offer insights on how to maximize training yields while minimizing injury risks.
The Excel Team extends support to you during this challenging season. Enduring together and drawing on resilience will help us get thru this COVID-19 time together. We are here for you in many ways –telehealth and in-clinic appointments, by phone or email–to help you anyway we can. #enduringtogether
Please enjoy Consilience with John Onate’sPart 2 podcast with Nikki Kimball: Maintaining A Love For Running through Injury and Adversity.
Nikki uses a combination of humor, friendship, medical advice and compassion to overcome injury, aging and now the pandemic. As John Onate says, there is a lot to learn from Nikki Kimball. The Excel PT Team completely agrees!
Nikki Kimball is one of the most competitive and successful Ultra-Endurance Athletes in the history of Road and Mountain-Trail-Ultramarathon racing:
2nd place, Hardrock 100, 2018
2nd place, HURT 100m, 2017
2nd place, Big Horn 100m, 2016
1st place, Marathon Des Sables, 2014
Western States 100 Champion 2004, 2006, 2007
Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 108 Mile,Champion, 2007
Member of United States 100K Team 2001-2006; 8th overall and 1st American at World Cup 2003, Tainan, Taiwan; 7th at World Cup 2005; scoring member of gold medal 100K team at World Cup 2005
We are honoring National Suicide Prevention Week by sharing this podcast episode from Consilience with John Onate who features Nikki Kimball from the Excel PT Bozeman running clinic team. Nikki is one of the most competitive and successful Ultra-Endurance athletes in the history of Road and Mountain-Trail-Ultramarathon racing (and one of the kindest and smartest people we know).
In this episode from the keynote presentation to the Central California Psychiatric Society Annual Meeting in 2016, Nikki discusses how depression, medicine, doctors, running and physical therapy have impacted her life, career and advocacy mission. Mature themes discussed.
As John Onate says, We all can learn and be inspired by Nikki Kimball. We completely agree!
Your health and well-being are of the utmost importance to us at all times. Excel Physical Therapy and Massage is carefully monitoring local and national COVID-19 developments, which have moved us to implement policy in an effort to do our part for our clients, staff and community.
Here are our two COVID-19 policy requests:
If you are sick for any reason, with a fever, cough or are sneezing, then we ask you to not return for clinic appointments until your symptoms fully resolve.
If you travel to high-risk regions per the CDC, inside the US with specified community transmission (after clicking on the link, scroll down and then expand the plus sign next to States) or outside of the US that have a Level 3 Travel Health Notice (widespread, ongoing transmission), we are asking you to postpone attending clinic appointments until 14 days after your return date to the Gallatin Valley. This requested 14-day waiting period exists for symptom-free patients and is based on the current average of 5.1 days for the incubation period for symptoms to appear. Possible COVID-19 symptoms include fever, coughing, shortness of breath, or any combination of these complaints. If either of these requests create a hardship for you, please call us so your physical therapy provider can create a solution for you.
Excel Physical Therapy and Massage already has an existing best practice of frequent hand and wrist hygiene before and after each patient encounter, sanitizing and disinfection of equipment, all common areas, and hard surfaces several times per day throughout both clinic locations. We are further increasing our vigilance in these efforts for all staff members and following CDC guidelines.
Here are the CDC’s recommended preventative protocols for additional precaution and prevention:
For the vast majority of people, COVID-19 results in a mild illness. However, there are certain populations with underlying health issues that can experience a more impactful illness. Because we have some patients who are more vulnerable, the above policies being implemented are for their safety.
We are here for you! Our Bozeman and Manhattan teams are happy to help you with all of your physical therapy and massage therapy needs. As always, your physical therapist is available through email or phone and we encourage you to communicate with them regarding your care.
Appointment planning. If you need to postpone future clinic appointments because you are sick for any reason or because of our high-risk travel quarantine request policy, then please call us at your very earliest opportunity as we have clients on our waiting list for appointments. More than 24 hours’ notice for canceling is preferable, but less than 24 hours will be accepted during this time.
Thank you for your patience with our precautionary efforts. We are in this together. Take good care, All of us at Excel
Excel Physical Therapy team is proud to welcome Nikki Kimball, MSPT to the team. One-on-one specialized physical therapy with the ultra running expert dedicated to helping people.
Nikki Kimball is a Physical Therapist, Runner’s World Health Advisory Board Member, 2008-2016, Professional Runner, and a RRCA Certified Running Coach.
Nikki specializes in the treatment in running injuries and has been treating runners since 1999. She graduated with her MS degree in physical therapy from Arcadia University in 1998 and won the school’s Health Sciences’ Alumni Achievement Award in 2017 for her work integrating professional running, physical therapy and advocacy for people with mental illness. She is certified in ASTYM soft tissue mobilization and in dry needling. She has been an expedition physical therapist for running events in Africa, China and India.
Prior to her professional running career, Nikki was a cross country skier and biathlete. She raced NCAA Division I for Williams College where she won the Alumnae Ski Award two times. In 2018 she won the Distinguished Alumni Award at Holderness School for her using her athletic achievements as a platform to provide service “for the betterment of humankind” in areas of advocacy for health care and gender equity. She is a three-time North American Ultrarunner of the Year and three-time United States Track and Field Association Ultrarunner of the Year. She has won 11 National Championship titles and has been named to 14 US National Teams across three athletic disciplines.
Nikki presents on exercise prescription and physical therapy at psychiatric and adventure sports medicine conferences on the west coast and Rocky Mountain states. She has spoken professionally about running and injury prevention on three continents and at the US Embassy in Beijing, China. She has published articles in major print sports magazines in Asia, Europe and the US, including 13 pieces on injury prevention for Runner’s World. She has appeared in various films including a starring role in the regional Emmy winning feature, Finding Traction
Her treatment philosophy is to combine her physical therapy training and continuing education with decades of practical experience as a high-level competitor and coach to achieve the best possible results, particularly in the realm of complex running injury. When not working or adventuring, Nikki enjoys archery, wire sculpting, and cooking at home with her friends and pets.
credit: Consilience_podcast Instagram
