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- ACTIV Physical Therapy is a unique physical therapy practice in Richfield, Ohio that opened in 2007. ACTIV’s core programs include orthopedic, spine, and sports rehabilitation. Additional proactive programs emphasizing injury prevention and functional training complete ACTIV’s spectrum of care. This progressive approach allows ACTIV to change traditional perceptions of physical therapy by revealing a more contemporary clinic that is accessible to both the injured and anyone else who wants to prevent injury, solve movement dysfunction, and stay active.
- The ACTIV therapeutic philosophy is based on the International Academy of Orthopedic Medicine’s (IAOM) model that successful treatment follows a thorough history, detailed examination, and an accurate assessment of the problem. After a thorough explanation of the problem, the therapist and patient work closely together to achieve a successful outcome. Along the way, the therapist teaches the patient specific exercises that target their strength and control deficits. Manual therapy is added to almost every treatment session to improve joint or soft tissue mobility and decrease pain. This kind of approach takes time, so each one-on-one session can last up to an hour or more, if needed. The focus is on the solution, period. This comprehensive and caring approach works especially well with recurrent or chronic cases that have been resistant to other methods.
- Even though Ohio law does not require a physician’s referral for physical therapy, we still communicate and work very closely with each patient’s physician, and an always growing network of specialists including: sports medicine physicians, interventional pain physicians, family physicians, orthopedic surgeons, sports performance and fitness professionals, massage therapists, athletic trainers, coaches, pharmacists, nutritionists, psychologists, orthotic specialists, and a network of physical therapists from around the nation and the world. In addition to serving patients and the community, ACTIV will host annual courses with internationally-trained instructors for physical therapists and students committed to broadening and improving their orthopedic manual therapy skills.
- The ACTIV concept has been developed by Ed Ash, PT, ATC, OCS, COMT, CSCS. He is a licensed physical therapist and athletic trainer, board-certified orthopedic physical therapy specialist, certified orthopedic manual therapist, and a certified strength and conditioning specialist. He graduated from John Carroll University with a Psychology degree in 1993, and then from Columbia University in New York in 1996 with a Master’s in Physical Therapy. He has worked exclusively in private practices specializing in outpatient orthopedic and sport physical therapy in Ohio, New Jersey, and Alaska over the past 11-years. While in Alaska he worked closely with the founder and director of the IAOM-US, Valerie Phelps, PT, OCS, COMT, FAAOMT and helped grow and direct a multi-discipline pain clinic with physical therapists, health psychologists and fellowship-trained pain physicians. He completed a mentorship in Boca Raton, Florida with Juan Carlos Santana, M.Ed., CSCS in who is the one of the world’s leading experts in functional training. He has been an invited speaker to national conferences and an instructor for continuing educational courses in orthopedic manual therapy for physical therapists. He has worked as a consultant for a modern virtual rehabilitation system called the Cybex TRAZER® which is at the clinic.
- ACTIV will have some of the best and most modern rehabilitation and fitness equipment available including a climbing machine, a rowing machine, top-of-the-line treatment and massage tables, and the same treadmill used by major universities and professional teams. A movement analysis system will help patients and clients improve faster by visually reviewing their own problematic movement patterns and then quickly correcting them. ACTIV can use this same technology to create custom video exercise programs for any patient or client.
- ACTIV will have a variety of simple and inexpensive functional exercise products like stability balls, elastic resistance bands, medicine balls, balance devices, and sport-specific equipment. Many of these unique items that patients use in the clinic will also be available for purchase so patients can seamlessly continue the valuable programs they have learned after they “graduate”. These simple and functional exercise products create an extremely productive, fun, and cost-efficient home gym. ACTIV wants to make it easy for people to continue to exercise independently, get stronger, and stay active without feeling like they have to join a gym or buy an expensive piece of home exercise equipment.
- The Functional Training concept centers upon training “movement” and “control of movement” not just “doing exercises”. Regardless of ability or level, the human body moves and functions in very predictable ways, the problem is that we were never given a “user manual” on how our bodies move and what to do when things aren’t right. The first step is to achieve quality movement patterns while “anchored” on a stable, balanced, and strong base of support. In other words, we need to learn how to effectively produce and reduce everyday forces while standing or moving on our own two feet! The next step is progressively challenging these functional movement patterns with more resistance, more speed, or a more challenging support surface. It’s really simple, and fun! The ultimate goal is heightened awareness of movement, confident and efficient movement patterns, improved performance, and significant less risk of injury. Every ACTIV patient and exercise client will learn the “pillars” of functional movement and be able to easily incorporate these into a meaningful, intelligent, and long-term exercise program.
- The Injury Prevention approach centers on identifying and avoiding faulty movement patterns that have been identified in recent research as predictors of sports-related injury. Other goals include improving “anticipation-strategies” and maximizing specific strength and coordination. Recent international research has outlined specific exercise programs that significantly decrease the risk of serious knee, ankle, hip, injuries. There is growing evidence that almost every injury related to overuse can be prevented through better awareness and an intelligent and functional training program. This approach eliminates training errors, solves the movement problems, and specifically addresses the strength and coordination deficits.
- ACTIV wants to help active and athletic individuals of any age or ability stay active. This includes: youth sport injury, adult sport injury, “everyday” injuries, back and neck pain, work injury, and post-surgical rehabilitation. Special populations include: runners, bikers, baseball and softball pitchers, nordic and alpine skiers, dancers and performing artists, gymnasts and tumblers, “everyday athletes” like moms, and gardeners, and “occupational athletes” like firefighters, policemen, and heavy equipment operators. ACTIV also brings hope and success for longstanding and complex cases like stubborn sports injuries, chronic back and neck pain, and chronic headaches, and even Fibromyalgia. We often work very closely with a fellowship-trained interventional pain physician, and other physician-specialists for these complex and chronic cases.
- Most of all ACTIV is a motivating place where people of any age or ability can come to get better, whether they are injured, seeking to prevent injury, or dedicated to improving their everyday movement function. ACTIV’s mission is to find solutions and share information. This philosophy helps every ACTIV patient and client achieve the same long-range goal of restoring confident movement and regaining the freedom of an active lifestyle. Because movement and behavior are so linked, patients and clients experience that as they move with more efficiency and less pain and resume their normal activities they will learn to trust their movement again. Therefore the successful outcome includes an outer and an inner transformation, and ACTIV does not take this important and powerful process for granted. The ACTIV experience can be summarized in the following steps: Seek solutions > Apply awareness > Anticipate success > Practice movement > Achieve transformation.