Elite PT January Newsletter – Therapist Spotlight: Kristy Ockert

Hi everyone

Hope you had a great Christmas and New Years.

2017 was a great year for us at Elite Physical Therapy and hopefully 2018 will be more of the same.  It’s a blessing for us to be able to work closely with clients like yourself.  We really love getting to know our clients and helping them to achieve their rehabilitation and training goals.  It’s awesome to be able to do something you love for a living, and hopefully it shows!

Free Screening Day

We’ll be hosting another free screening day coming up in February (date to be announced soon).  This is an annual service we’ve started providing to the following:

• All past physical therapy clients
• All present clients who have another problem currently not being treated
• All loved ones, family, friends, neighbors and co-workers of our past and present patients

If you are having pain or problems with day to day activities such as walking, standing, sitting for long periods, going up or down steps, getting in and out of the car, sleeping or driving, then this is an excellent opportunity to see one of our world-class therapists, find out the cause of your problem, and get some treatment ideas.

I’ll be sending out an email soon with more information on how you can take advantage of this free offer.

Therapist Spotlight – Kristy Ockert MSPT

Kristy Ockert began working at Elite Physical Therapy 2 years ago and overall has been practicing since 2002 in the outpatient setting. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with a specialization in Health Promotion from Michigan State University and her Master of Science in Physical Therapy degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Kristy is a Certified Kinesio Taping Practioner (CKTP) and enjoys treating a wide variety of patient populations including post-operative, athletes, and patients with spinal dysfunctions.

She has enjoyed furthering her education with a Pilates specialization and various manual techniques including Graston Technique, Functional Dry Needling, Muscle Energy Technique (MET), Muscle Release Technique (MRT) and Myofascial Release (MFR). Kristy is passionate about providing one on one care to her patients and taking into account all pieces of their individual health puzzle for restoring optimal wellness and return to function.

Q & A:

What got you interested in physical therapy as a career?

It’s a long story!  When I was younger, I wanted to become a teacher, like my mom.  As I got into high school, I knew I wanted to be a doctor – either a pediatrician or sports medicine physician so I could focus on optimizing health for kids and athletes.

My first glimpse of PT was as a patient when I was injured during my high school senior year softball season.  I had a great PT and PTA work with me, but I didn’t think much of it until my senior year of college at MSU.  I decided that I did not want to go to medical school any longer and was looking for a new career path.

After some research and lots of deliberation, I changed my major from Human Biology to Kinesiology, which is the study of human movement.  I finally loved my classes – movement throughout the lifespan, biomechanics, adaptive movement, etc.  It all seemed to fall into place after that.  I got in touch with my former PTA and asked if I could interview her for a class assignment.  It turned into shadowing and weekly volunteering in a small outpatient clinic.  I was hooked!  If I were to become a physical therapist, I could work in the health care field with people of all ages and teach them about how to optimize their movement for improved quality of life.

Over the past couple years you’ve become certified in Graston Technique and dry needling.  Any other techniques you really like to use?

I also enjoy being a Certified Kinesiotaping Practitioner.  Whether it is to help with swelling, bruising, or scar tissue, working on retraining a muscle with proper activation or even unloading an injured area, Kinesiotape has so many uses.

What are your favorite things about being a PT?

I enjoy working with closely with people whether it’s younger athletes, weekend warriors, middle aged or even geriatric patients interested in remaining active.  If there are a few exercises, hands on techniques, and instruction in daily modifications that can make someone’s life more functional and optimize their movement, I’m happy!  I love seeing the changes that people go through from the start to finish of therapy.

Outside of working at Elite, what kinds of things do you and family enjoy?

I enjoy spending time with my husband of 16 years, Ken, and our three kids Carter (14), Peyton (11), and Emma (8).  We love watching movies, going to the beach, bowling and skiing as a family.  I also have a love-hate relationship with winter running, so I’m going to try snowshoeing with my running buddies this year for our longer distances to gear up for the 2018 racing season!

Testimonial

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! After 5 years of physical therapy at numerous other locations, false diagnosis and lack of improvement, MRI’s that showed nothing, Kristy and Lydia correctly diagnosed the problem with my daughters knee and have fixed the problem! You have got her active again with little to no pain. You have brought a smile to her face and to her parents face as well! Thank you for getting her back to healthy! 5 stars isn’t enough! – M.R. Ludington

Sore Knees???
Pain site does not always equal pain source!

Just because your knee hurts doesn’t necessarily mean that the problem lies only with that knee.  You’ve got numerous joints above and below that must move correctly to take the pressure off the knees.

One of the prime examples (or prime offenders) is the ankle joint.  A stiff ankle will negatively affect your walking and running stride, ability to squat down, walk up/down stairs, balance, and more.

The client from the testimonial above was a great example of this.  Resolving her ankle mobility limitations went a long way toward making her knees feel better.

Check our the link below for a short article/video on how we assess and solve the problem of ankle mobility:  https://elitepttc.comankle-mobility-update/

This is exactly the kind of thing our free screening day is for!

Til next month

Joe Heiler PT