September 2018 PULSE

SEPTEMBER 2018

- COMING UP THIS MONTH Saturday, September 1st at 9:00 am Naugatuck clinic at the Sao Paio 5K Sunday, September 2nd at 10:00 am New London clinic at Waterford HS Lancer 4 miler

NO SERVICE:

Monday, September 3rd at 8:30 am New Haven clinic at the New Haven Road Race

It was late Sunday afternoon on August 5th when I began my journey to western Canada. I had looked at my phone about twenty times since mid-day and the same message appeared in the upper left-hand corner. NO SERVICE! Recent research suggests that people check their phones about 80 times per day on average. I’m not sure where I fit on the spectrum, however it is hard to imagine being “off the grid” in the super connected world we live in today.

Saturday, September 29th All Day Event New London clinic at East Lyme Bike & BBQ

Sunday, September 16th at 11:00 am Windsor clinic at Union Street Tavern Trot

Disconnect once in a while

Twenty-four hours later, on Monday August 6th, I found myself 2,700 miles from home in a remote area of north western Canada called the Hakai Pass – without my cell phone. We covered the last 250 miles of the journey in a float plane that occasionally flew alongside high peaks rather than over them. I was on a trip of a lifetime to fish for salmon. The scenery was breathtaking. There would be no email or texts for four days.

Over the next several days we fished from the early mornings into the night. Each evening the 16 people in camp ate dinner together around a massive table, sharing stories of the day on the water and about life in general.

We became “fast friends,” especially since not a single call, email or newsflash appeared to distract anyone.

On Thursday August 9th we left Hakai destined for Vancouver, with the two float planes departing about 30 minutes apart. Ironically everyone had charged their phones and had them ready for easy access. Approximately 100 miles into the journey over the Canadian Rockies the pings and dings of incoming emails and texts filled the small plane’s cabin, signaling that we were finally in range of a cell tower!

You’re Invited!

Sunday, September 30th at 10:00 am Waters region at Pies & Pints Ta Ta Trot Saturday, September 30th at 8:30 am Southington & Plainville clinics at Apple Harvest Festival Road Race

Everyone, myself included, began scrolling through emails and texts. After about five minutes I looked up to see everyone looking down. I looked out the window at the majesty of snow-capped mountains and the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and I reflected again on this “once in a lifetime” adventure.

I would be spending the night in Vancouver awaiting a flight home the next morning. There would be hours of waiting in a hotel and in airports, and there would be plenty of time to catch up with texts, emails and the world-at-large. I sent a quick picture of my view to my wife Sandra and our son Blake and let them know “I’m on my way home! I love you.”

Then I turned the phone off.

NO SERVICE can be a choice worth making from time to time.

Alan

We’re excited to host Casino Night!

All staff and a plus-one are invited and welcome. Look out for your invite by September 14th!

Entry, drinks, food, parking and $1000 funny money are free! **Funny money will be used to play the games only. No real money needed.

Regulation games are black jack, craps, poker, roulette, and slot machines for all levels. Casino attire or dress as you like!

October 13, 2018 7 pm - 12 am Hartford Yard Goats Club 1214 Main St. Hartford, CT 06103

Please RSVP to Mallory at mallory.mason@ptsmc.com or 860-409-4595 ext. 327 by September 21st.

Want to stay over?

The Hilton Hartford is offering rooms for $129 + tax located at 315 Trumbull St in Hartford. It is one safe block away. To reserve call 860-240-7201. For online reservations, a link will be sent out.

You must reserve a room by September 21st.

Open House Celebration!

Middletown Grand Opening

September 18th 4 pm - 7 pm 134 Main St Extension #100 Middletown, CT 06457 Join us for food, drinks, and fun!

StriveHub Fab 5

“Everyone was very accomodating AND delivered what they thought they would. They understand athletes, and we were very impressed with the staff and would highly recommend PTSMC! Thank you. Guilford ”Everyone is so nice and welcoming!! Every time I walk through the door I am greeted and every time I walk out the door I feel a little better than before. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else!” - Watertown “I’m in the medical field and I’ve had a lot of contact with PT places. I feel this is one of the best in the area. They know they’re business and they’re professional. I would highly recommend this group.”

- Naugatuck “You have a very harmonious team. There were days that the office was busy and the overlap of space and direction did not pose any kind of impingement.

Also, Katy knew what to have me do and it has been fantastic for my recovery and maintenance. Top notch. Thank you.” - Orange “Excellent diagnosis skills of Eric Horne and prescribed physical therapy plan had me pain free in 4 weeks. I was very happy with the high level of care and friendly atmosphere at PTSMC.” - Avon

CLINICIAN’S CORNER

BY BRIAN REIS,

STUDYING FOR HIS DPT AT SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY CORRECTLY DIAGNOSING THE “SPORTS HERNIA”

Groin injuries are among the most common occurring in higher level athletes. Sport play that involves strenuous kicking, cutting and pivoting such as hockey, soccer and football are among the leading causes of groin injury due to the high stress placed on this region of the body. According to Dr. Katherine Coyner of UConn Health, there is a 23.5% re-occurrence rate with these types of injuries. This demonstrates the importance for us as clinicians to understand differential diagnosis, successful rehabilitation protocols and treatment options for these particular injuries so we can safely and effectively get the athlete back into play and not reinjure.

The “sports hernia” is one of the more commonly used terms to describe groin pain in athletes. Although there is no herniation or disruption to the abdominal wall with these injuries, this diagnosis has been used to describe pathology involving the strenuous pull of the rectus abdominis and adductor tendons on the pubis bone.1 At the Select PT Annual Sports Medicine Symposium, Dr. Coyner explained that these injuries often occur with decreased control and stability of the pelvis. The muscles’ decreased ability to function in a specific range, particularly at high levels of contraction under stress in positions of extension and adduction, are what leads to pathology.1 In recent years there has been an effort to move away from diagnosing as a “sports hernia,” but to be more specific with either inguinal disruption or athletic pubalgia.2 According to Ellsworth et al, inguinal disruption is used to describe injury to the soft tissue of the inguinal canal (anterior capsule or capsular ligaments) or bone marrow edema of the pubis bone resulting in pain syndrome, while athletic pubalgia is used more for adductor tendon pathology due to disruption of the medial common aponeurosis from the pubis.

Although both inguinal disruption and athletic pubalgia are differentiated, the injury athletes sustain often times encompass both.2 During examination, tenderness to palpation will be experienced over the lower abdominal insertion, pubic tubercle, and potentially the adductor longus tendon (involved in 90% of groin injury), as well as complaints of chronic, deeper groin pain, which should be differentiated from more superficial pain indicative of a hip flexor or adductor strain. Among these two,

three other hallmark findings during examination for athletic pubalgia include pain with resisted hip adduction throughout the range of hip flexion, pain with resisted abdominal sit-up, and pain with increased exertion.2 In terms of treatment, non-operative conservative approaches are most commonly used, with early focuses being rest for pain and edema control as well as improving core/hip stability and recruitment of the transversus abdominis.2 Posterior pelvic tilts, planking and maintaining pelvic neutral during proprioceptive, dynamic exercises are some key starting points for exercise. Hip range of motion and flexibility should be assessed and improved as well.2 Post-operative treatment is similar, but usually involves four weeks of complete rest and must follow the guidelines of soft-tissue healing.2 During the early stages of both treatment approaches, it is important for the athlete not to over-stress the injury or repair, and as they progress slowly they should not experience a reproduction of deep groin pain. Some occasional “twinges” in pain are expected with increases in activity.2 The information obtained from Athletic Pubalgia and Associated Rehabilitation by Abigail Ellsworth, Mark Zoland, and Timothy Tyler is level 5 evidence. Greater research is needed for rehabilitation protocols and plans of care, but the information provided allowed for a greater understanding of properly diagnosing a “sports hernia” as either inguinal disruption or athletic pubalgia. Examination of biomechanics and movement patterns can help us determine differences between the two, but more research and evidence based practice would be helpful to determine what rehabilitation approaches would better improve one condition compared to the other.2 References: 1 Coyner, Katherine. Is it just a Groin Strain? Select Physical Therapy 23rd annual Sports Symposium.

Rentschler Field, August 7, 2018.

2 Ellsworth AA, Zoland MP, Tyler TF. ATHLETIC PUBALGIA AND ASSOCIATED REHABILITATION. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. 2014;9(6):774-784.

2019 Course Survey Results from Mike Gans

Thank you to all who completed the course survey! It was a close one this year with Pain Science and Dry Needling narrowly edging out the Lumbar Spine course. We will work on bringing these courses during the 2019-2020 years. Please don’t hesitate to email coned@ptsmc.com if you have any further suggestions for other courses.

Q1 Please list your years of clinical experience

Q2 Which of the following courses are you most interested in attending in 2019?

Please pick only TWO (we will take the results of this survey to bring the most popular courses to our clinicians in 2019 and 2020)

Student Program Update Olivia Kane, UConn, will be presenting on chronic pain management in patients with LBP in Groton on Sept. 26th from 12 pm - 1 pm.

STUDENT PROGRAM UPDATE

Three students will begin PTSMC affiliations on September 10th: Kristinia Lipeika in Watertown will be hosting Jessica Fontaine, Quinnipiac University, for her first clinical.

DEDICATION RESPONSIBILITY EDUCATION ATTITUDE MOTIVATION

Upcoming Courses Email coned@ptsmc.com to register September 22-23: Foot and Ankle Presented by Bob Martin in Newington

September 25 from 4 pm - 8 pm Return to Sport Testing for Athletes: Testing UE and LE Presented by Mike Antunes and Mike Gans in Middletown

Ted Raczka in Branford will be working with Tyler Gendron, Quinnipiac University, for his first clinical.

Joe Allen in Newington will be CI to Kyle Wolf, Sacret Heart University, for his third clinical.

evaluate symptoms and make a diagnosis for many common ailments, like sinus infections, flu, cold, allergies, pink eye, poison ivy, rashes and more.

• These doctors can also prescribe medications when medically necessary.

The cost of this service is $49 or less and if you are Get medical care when you need it with no wait time! enrolled in an Anthem plan this will be applied towards your deductible. The cost is much less than going to a You do not need to be enrolled in a PTSMC Anthem Plan walk-in urgent care center.

Unfortunately, getting sick happens. When it does, check out You can register at any time on livehealthonline.com or this great benefit that is available to on the mobile app for Android or iPhone. employees and family members Register now while you are feeling well! when your physician is not available 401(k) Changes or you do not want to leave your home.

Employees who would like to make a change to their 401(k) biweekly contributions for the 4th Through LiveHealth Online quarter of 2018 must complete the request by • You can visit with a doctor by live video 24/7, 365 Friday, September 14, 2018 to be effective with the days a year, using your mobile device or a computer October 10, 2018 payroll. with a webcam.

Login to www.jhancockpensions.com and click on • No appointments needed, no driving, no long wait.

Manage and Contributions.

• Once you sign up you will choose from a list of board

Great Benefit for All Employees!

certified doctors and within approximately 10 minutes you will be connected to a doctor who can

CURRENT JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT PTSMC Physical Therapist Avon Guilford New Haven Southbury Westbrook

Patient Services Coordinator New Haven

Physical Therapy Aide Branford Groton New London Athletic Trainer Southington Westbrook Wallingford Westbrook Windsor Check PTSMC.com for our most up to date postings and feel free to share! We’re always interested in connecting with referrals of colleagues and friends.

Techy Tips

By Kristen Forster

Not quite paperless, but much LESS paper!

Did you know you can save to pdf from Metrofax and WebPT? Instead of printing and scanning you can create a folder to save the pdfs to be uploaded into WebPT. This will save time and trees!

Print to PDF (Windows) 1. Open a file in a Windows application.

2. Choose File > Print.

3. Choose Adobe PDF (OR Foxit/Nitro) as the printer in the Print dialog box.

4. Click Print. Type a name for your file, and click Save.

Save as PDF (Windows) 1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, point to the arrow next to Save As, and then click PDF. 2. In the File Name list, type or select a name for the document.

3. In the Save as type list, click PDF.

DID YOU KNOW?

In each case in WebPT, there is a “Related Cause” which has to be filled in.

If the “primary” insurance is BCBS, you must select “other accident” unless the condition is related to an auto accident. In that case you would select “Auto Accident AT Fault”. With the exception of WC or Auto accidents, for all other insurances you will select “none of the above”.

Workers comp cases will be “employment injury” and all auto related accidents will be “Auto Accident AT Fault” whether there is med pay or not. If no med pay is available, you must get a “no med pay letter” to keep in patients account because sometimes the health insurance company requests proof of no med pay before paying claims.

Q2 Attendance Reward Recipients Meghan Battige Emma Belval Tracy Gligiuri Nancy Chilson Mary Clark Jeff Daley Joanna Fisher John Galer

Channing Hardwood Eric Horne Mike Lynch Joe Mabry Alyson Melillo Kaitlyn Pearson Rick Purdy Elton Purvis

Ted Raczka Leslie Riviere Traci Riviere Lindsey Scianna Daniel Scott Jason Smutnick Katy Sullivan

positive action “Your combined with positive thinking results in success.

” - Shiv Khera

Life Beat

8 Tips for Staying Fit During the School Year:

NEW EMPLOYEES

Welcome to PTSMC. We’re so happy to have you!

Whether you or family are going back to school or you’re just looking to get into a routine as summer is winding down, these tips are for you!

1. Establish a routine Establishing a routine is key to success! Not only will a routine allow you to fit in your 30 minutes of daily activity, but it will help you destress when you have a lot going on.

Meghan DiPisa

Patrick Brodoff

Cassidy Elm

New Milford PSC

Newington PT Aide

Waterbury PT Aide

2. Eat smart When you’re running around, it’s tempting to grab the easiest thing to eat. By stocking your fridge with healthy foods, you’re eliminating the option of being so tired that you eat whatever junk you have around.

Cook and prep your meals ahead of time to eliminate the stress of figuring out what’s for dinner when you’re exhausted.

3. Backpack snacks are an actual thing Throwing a banana or healthy granola bar into your bag or purse will be a lifesaver when your stomach starts growling!

4. Find an exercise you like Even if you hate running or weight lifting, there are so many ways to stay fit! Maybe try a new dance class that you’ve never tried before or take a kick-boxing class for the first time. Working out does not have to be miserable!

Sarah Engel

Groton PT Aide

Renee Frost

Southington PT Aide

Brittany Kearney

New Haven PT Aide

5. Limit caffeinated beverages, drink more water Sometimes there are days when we feel like we can’t function without caffeine, but it’s important to limit the amount of caffeine you intake daily and supplement that with a lot of water! Caffeine will easily cause you to become dehydrated.

6. Get sleep and lots of it -- extra hours make a difference Sleep fuels our body, and should be one of our top priorities. Rest is important, especially when things get crazy.

Chloe Pearce Groton PSC

Rebecca Petrosino

Southbury and Waterbury PT

7. If it’s not a definite YES, it’s a NO: don’t overcommit -- you can’t do everything There are limitless opportunities to participate in different clubs and activities, but you can’t participate in everything. Don’t overextend yourself and instead focus on things you’re really passionate about.

8. Indulgence is a virtue, “If you want a burger, eat a burger!”

Staying fit and healthy doesn’t mean restricting yourself. It’s okay to indulge once in a while in something that may not be “healthy” to stay sane!

Stephanie Santos

Middletown PT Aide

Rosa Tufano

Waterbury PSC

PTSMC Happenings

Plainville attended the Plainville Balloon Festival on the weekend of August 24th.

Westbrook attended the Bluefish Festival and ran into former patient Mark who after treatment went on to place 2nd in his age group at the NYC marathon.

Social Media Sensation!

Emily Searle, PT at PTSMC Branford played D-1 tennis for the UConn Huskies. Check out our Facebook page to see Emily explain the causes of, symptoms and treatment for the most common tennis injuries.

The Admin office said a heartfelt goodbye to Administrative Coordinator Krista Iwanicki who is returning to Quinnipiac University.

The inaugural group for our Residency Program met for the very first time on August 22nd! From left to right Residency Program Director Mike Gans, Jon Galer (PT Westbrook), Erik Schmitt (PT Westbrook), Channing Hardwood (PT Plainville), and PTSMC President Alan Balavender.

PTSMC Spotlight Channing Hardwood, PT Plainville Channing has been with PTSMC Plainville for just over a year. He is certified in the Graston Technique and in Cervical Thoracic Manipulations. His favorite part of being a PT is getting to work with people, especially helping athletes return to play. He is currently training for his first ever half marathon!

Watch Channing’s full spotlight interview at www.PTSMC.com/videos

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS Eric Horne Peter Decoteau Mike Gans Nick Scott Liz Melvin Pete Cambi Melissa Lembo Joe Caligiuri Meghan DiPisa Andina Kukaj Brian Greer Mike Durand Renee Frost Wanda Figueroa Mikayla Carasone Sam Donaghue

1 4 4 4 9 9 11 14 14 14 16 17 17 19 21 29

Avon Admin Guilford Westbrook Avon Southington Guilford Naugatuck New Milford Waterbury Watertown Admin Southington Admin Branford Guilford

r y fo r r o re s ou! BELATED BIRTHDAYS We’ sing y Kevin Connellan Aug. 1 Plainville mis

ANNIVERSARIES Jessica Bennett Renee Gallant Ashley Gugliotti Miranda Jasienowski

Branford New Haven Watertown Groton

PT Aide PT Aide PT Aide PT

Healing Meals and PTSMC Avon Partnership For the second year in a row, PTSMC Avon is partnering with Healing Meals Community Project to raise funds for a worthy cause, and they’re hoping to top last year’s level of support! Healing Meals is a CT non-profit that provides healthy meals for people and families in a health crisis while teaching young people the power of serving their communities.

There are a number of ways YOU can support this partnership!

1. Register as a runner

2. Connect us with sponsors

3. Support a PTSMC runner

Register for PTSMC Avon’s team to raise funds as a runner/walker in one of the Hartford Marathon events on October 13th.

Know a decision-maker at a business who might want to support this cause? Let Emily Hansen know at emily.hansen@ptsmc.com

Donate towards a PTSMC team member’s fundraiser! To support a runner or register visit www.PTSMC.com/fundrasier

Congratulations!

Danielle Dunn (left) is PTSMC’s first Clinical Excellence & Mentorship Coordinator. With the implementation of PTSMC’s Residency program and Mike Gans’ shift to leading that endeavor, it was clear we needed additional leadership in our clinical excellence and mentorship program. Danielle has been with PTSMC since 2012, starting her career in our Naugatuck and Watertown locations. As Danielle’s family grew and she settled in Wallingford, it made sense to transfer to our Wallingford location. Danielle has pursued Clinical Excellence since arriving at PTSMC from the Midwest. She obtained her Manual Therapy Certification through EIM, achieved her Orthopedic Specialty Certification, completed PTSMC’s Leadership & Management Development program, became an Auditor and also a Mentor for the Mentorship program. We are excited to have her taking on this role. Her responsibilities will focus on the coordination of the mentors and schedule, coordinating the internal and external courses offered by PTSMC and working closely with Mike Gans, our Director of Clinical Excellence.

Caty Halpin has accepted a new PTSMC Sports Medicine Coordinator role as a stipend position. This has been a couple of years in the works with Caty. When Caty was hired, she expressed interest in a future leadership role as she grew with PTSMC. Last school year she presented multiple topics at the ATC meetings and has been a resource for our newer ATCs. This summer we were able to define the role and offer it as a stipend position above and beyond Caty’s commitment to Westbrook High School and the Westbrook clinic. Caty brings excellent organizational skills, new ideas, positive energy and a clear understanding of PTSMC’s mission as it relates to sports medicine services.