By Dr. Steven T. Gough, PT, MS, DPT, OCS

Pittsburgh’s star athletes Sidney Crosby and Troy Polamalu have increased awareness of concussions in sports.  Head injuries are on the rise for athletes at all levels of play. An estimated 4 to 5 million concussions occur annually, with increases emerging among middle school athletes.  The risk of injury increases when the athlete participates in contact sports (football, rugby, soccer, lacrosse and field or ice hockey).

What is a Concussion?

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body. There may be no visible signs of a brain injury.  Your brain is a soft organ that is surrounded by spinal fluid and protected by your hard skull. If your head or your body is hit hard, your brain can crash into your skull and be injured.

How can athletes prevent concussions?

Athletes in any sport can do several things to reduce their chance of concussion.  Here are just a few:

• Cross-train to maintain strength throughout the body, rather than only the muscles used for your sport.  Working on lower body strength and balance could help avoid collisions on the field.  Strengthening the muscles surrounding the neck can also help reduce head movement after a hit.
• Wear the proper protective equipment.  A helmet is essential to protecting your brain and can reduce your chance of serious injury by as much as 85%.
• Follow the rules!  Many of the rules put into play have been written specifically for the safety of the players. In an effort to reduce the type of hits that can cause concussions, the NFL has stepped up its enforcement of rules against helmet-to-helmet contact.

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By Stephanie Barr, Esq.

In an effort to improve the therapy payment system, Medicare now requires that Functional Reporting be completed for all Part B outpatient therapy claims for physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and speech-language pathology (SLP) services regardless of practice setting. Section 3005 (g) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Creation Act (MCTRJCA) amended Section 1833 (g) of the Social Security Act to require a claims-based collection system for outpatient therapy services. A six month testing period ran from January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2013. The July 1, 2013 deadline for Functional Reporting on claims has passed and if practitioners are not submitting G-codes with the respective severity modifiers they are or will begin seeing claim rejection letters.

Functional Limitation Reporting under Medicare presents a significant challenge to health care practitioners.  The coding is complex and burdensome.  However, for reimbursement purposes it is essential not only to include G-codes and severity modifiers on claims, but also to understand the complexities of coding.
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While many say that life ends after having children, others say having children work is a wakeup call into the real world. If you are wondering how you are going to support your new bambino, there’s no need to panic. You won’t be cleaning houses or waiting tables forever, and if you pursue one of the following four healthcare careers, your life will be changed for the better.

Physical Therapist Assistant

Job growth in the physical therapy field is astounding. According to the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics), this industry is slated to grow by 46 percent during the next ten years, thanks to the increased healthcare demands of our aging population. As a PTA (physical therapy assistant), you will guide patients through physical therapy exercises, and you will help them using pain-relieving and mobility-boosting techniques like massage and stretching.

You can get the training you need to start this career in just two years. Once trained, you can look forward to a median income of about $38,000 per year. When you are ready for a greater challenge, you can easily head back to school to become a physical therapist, a move which could increase your income substantially.
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Congratulations to the pt GROUP for celebrating 34 years! They recently posted an entry at its PT Pittsburgh blog which we shared below:

“I’ve been doing this blog for well over a year now and you’ll notice that I very rarely talk about my own practice, THE pt GROUP.

Well, today I am going to stray from that strategy because I am very proud to say that THE pt GROUP is 34 years old.

This is a quite an accomplishment. We’re a small business that has been going strong in a market filled with health care giants. While these giants sacrifice care in order to see more patients and maximize profits, we have stuck to our roots and put our patient care above everything else in our mission to help people rehabilitate from their injuries and ailments.

We’ve weathered the storms of recessions. We’ve adapted to countless industry changes and advancements in order to provide the most up-to-date care out there. And we’ve treated both our patients and employees with the respect they deserve.

Sure, there have been some tough times in the past 34 years. But that’s what makes me so proud of this practice. We have never sacrificed our goal of getting patients better, no matter what obstacles are thrown at us.

We’ve spent every one of our 34 years to building a reputation as the best physical therapy practice in the Pittsburgh area; and we’re still thriving to live up to that reputation every day.”

For more information, visit pt GROUP.

By Susan C. Clinton PT, MHS, OCS, WCS

For 30 years, physical therapists (PTs) have treated women and men with pelvic floor weakness or spasm.   PTs apply their broad knowledge of anatomy, physiology, evidence based clinical assessment and interventions to enhance pelvic floor health.  Post graduate programs such as American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) credentialed residency programs and certified education programs exist to expand the depth of clinical practice to include the pelvic floor both in isolation and in conjunction with other comorbidities such as low back pain (LBP).

General PT practice serves to develop, maintain or restore movement.  The pelvic floor muscles (PFM) do not create large movement patterns, but work in synergy with other muscles to stabilize the trunk and pelvis during movement.  Muscle or soft tissue dysfunction may lead to symptoms such as incontinence or pain during movement and may lead to a change in movement patterns and/or result in lack of movement altogether.^1,2   PFM dysfunction became the primary focus of the manifestation of pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence in 1991.³  Many researchers suggested that PFM dysfunction may lead to the development of urinary and fecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, sensory and emptying abnormalities of the lower urinary tract, defecatory dysfunction, sexual dysfunction and chronic pelvic pain syndromes.⁴  PFM dysfunction is not a normal consequence of aging and is noted throughout the life span from young children to the geriatric client.  Pelvic floor dysfunction etiologies are classified as predisposing, inciting, promoting and decompensatory.

The predisposing factors include genetic, neurological, anatomical, collagen, muscular, cultural and environmental.  Examples of inciting factors are childbirth, nerve damage, tissue disruption and radiation.  Factors that are responsible for the promotion of dysfunction are occupation, constipation, obesity, surgery, lung disease, smoking, menstrual cycle, infection etc.  Decompensation occurs with ageing, debility, and disease.⁴  PFM are continuously under postural strain throughout the lifespan and may require regular intervention and training to stay healthy.

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