PHYSICAL THERAPY
How We Treat Shoulder Pain in The Flathead Valley
Your treatment plan is built around your symptoms, your goals, and what you need to get back to doing. All decisions are made in a team approach. At Physio Forge, treatment may include:
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Hands-on treatment — Dry needling, manual joint mobilization, cupping and soft tissue work to help reduce pain, improve mobility, and make movement more comfortable.
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Mobility work — Targeted exercises to restore motion where limitations may be contributing to your shoulder symptoms.
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Corrective exercise -- Exercise with focus on the skill of movement, addressing postural dysfunction and the timing of shoulder and scapular neuromuscular recruitment.
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Progressive strengthening — Building strength and capacity through the shoulder, mid back and trunk muscles so you can confidently return to the activities that matter to you.
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Return to activity — Progressively rebuilding tolerance for lifting, work, recreation, or whatever your normal life demands.
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Education with a Clear plan — Helping you understand the cause of your pain, what you can safely do, and how to manage flare-ups without unnecessarily avoiding movement. Informed patients have better outcomes.
The goal isn't just to make your shoulder feel better in the clinic. It's to help you move better, get stronger, and return to the things you want to do with confidence.
Common Shoulder Conditions We Treat
Muscle & Ligament Injuries
Tweaks, pulls, spasms, and tears from repetitive movement, work and play
Post Operative Care
Expert level rehab with the same provider each treatment offering consistent monitoring and progress each visit
Preventative Strengthening
Stronger shoulders have less pain and reduced future injury risk, check out our Move Better and Live Better Fitness Programs
Rotator Cuff Related Pain
Often mis-diagnosed and blamed unfairly for the bulk of shoulder pain, the job of the rotator cuff is to align the ball inside the socket of the shoulder while the "big movers" get the work done
Postural Dysfunction
"Too long without moving" would be a better description, a frequent movement practice, along with strengthening the shoulders, mid back and neck muscles often resolve pain related to postural dysfunction
Instability & Dislocation
Laxity in the structural supports of the shoulder often related to sports, trauma and underlying hypermobility
Fractures/Trauma
Fracture and trauma rehabilitation, common are humeral and A/C joint fractures from falls or sport such as mountain/road/gravel biking and snowboarding
Get Back to the Things You Want to Do
Every visit is one-on-one with a Doctor of Physical Therapy. We’ll identify what’s limiting you and build a plan to get you back to what you enjoy.