#MyPTStory
For years, Anne Ohman’s life was dominated by chronic pain. After enduring multiple car accidents during her younger years — including being rear-ended half a dozen times — she found herself living with persistent neck and back issues that no treatment seemed to relieve.
“I would go to physical therapy, but nothing ever helped. It would hurt me even more,” she recalled. The year 2000 marked her last car accident, but her pain persisted. Despite seeking help through various therapies, nothing provided lasting relief, and Anne continued to suffer.
After becoming a mother in 2003, Anne’s focus shifted to raising her son, leaving little time for her own health concerns. But by 2014, with her son’s growing independence, she decided it was time to focus on herself again and to try to get to the bottom of her chronic pain. However, before she could truly start her journey, Anne experienced a life-changing fall on an ice rink, leading to a traumatic head injury and a closed skull fracture. “I was lucky to be alive,” she reflected.
The fall, however, left her with even more pain and complications to manage.
Connecting the dots: new diagnoses
It was during treatment, while receiving steroid injections aimed at alleviating her excruciating neck pain, that Anne’s medical team discovered she had scoliosis, an unexpected revelation that added another layer to her health challenges. It turned out that she was living with an “S” curve in her spine, which helped explain much of the ongoing neck and back pain she’d been experiencing. The steroid injections offered only temporary pain relief, and Anne felt like she was running out of options.
Another turning point came a few years later in 2017 when her son was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder that affects collagen and causes hypermobility and joint instability. As Anne learned more about the condition, she started to wonder if her own pain could be linked to EDS as well. It was then that Anne began to piece together the full picture of her own health.
After seeing Dr. Elena Guggenheim, a specialist at OHSU, Anne, like her son, was diagnosed with the disorder, a diagnosis that, along with her adult-onset scoliosis, Anne believed likely explained much of her life experiences with pain.
Anne underwent a low back surgery that offered some relief for about a year. Then, in late 2022, she had neck surgery, which left her feeling worse rather than better. Desperate for answers, Anne again consulted with Dr. Guggenheim, who recommended the Schroth method of treatment for scoliosis, which ultimately led Anne to Therapeutic Associates Physical Therapy.
A new beginning: personalized care at Therapeutic Associates Physical Therapy
At Therapeutic Associates West Linn Physical Therapy, Anne found hope with physical therapist Patrick Bridge, who is certified in the Schroth method for treating scoliosis and licensed massage therapist Jocelyn Davis. Together, they developed a personalized care plan tailored to Anne’s unique needs.
When Anne first arrived at Therapeutic Associates, she was cautiously hopeful. After years of treatments that only worsened her pain, she carried some skepticism toward physical therapy. Patrick knew that his first step would be to listen.
“Anne had a history of chronic pain, so when I evaluated her, I knew that it would be incredibly important to listen first,” Patrick explained. “Evidence-based medicine is made up of patient preference, clinician experience, and current research, so seeking to hear about her past experiences and current preferences was critical to providing the best care.”
Patrick approached Anne’s care with special consideration of her unique needs and past experiences. He recognized the importance of meeting her where she was at and carefully incorporated the Schroth method, a specialized approach to spinal realignment in scoliosis patients, while also being mindful of her Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).
“The benefit of the Schroth method is that it allows the freedom to tailor interventions based on the individual patient,” Patrick explained. “I knew there was likely significant tissue tension present compensating for the excessive mobility often seen in people with EDS. It seems almost counter-intuitive, however, approaching that tension through soft tissue techniques seemed logical to begin to ease Anne’s symptoms.”
Addressing Anne’s muscle tension allowed Patrick to introduce correction exercises for her longstanding scoliosis more comfortably, ensuring that she could achieve the necessary positions with less pain.
“The challenge with EDS is that excessive strengthening exercises at the onset of care can actually worsen symptoms. Think of it this way — if the muscles in this patient population are constantly trying to maintain tension to allow for everyday function, then their body is always in a state of relative overwork,” Patrick continued. “You can actually compound the problem by intervening excessively at the onset. This would be like asking a marathon runner to deadlift after they finish a race.”
The power of a combined approach: physical therapy and massage
Recognizing the importance of a comprehensive approach to Anne’s treatment, Patrick turned to Jocelyn Davis, the clinic’s trusted massage therapist. He knew that her expertise in massage would be the perfect complement to his treatment plan and that she would provide the kind of care that would make a real difference in Anne’s recovery.
“Especially in an adult population, the soft tissue can be very restricted along the concave side of a scoliosis curve,” Patrick explained. “By utilizing Jocelyn to help release this tissue before a PT session, we could better align the spine with less restriction.”
From their very first session, Jocelyn and Anne saw significant improvements.
“We worked on a lot of her tissue stiffness to help increase her mobility and improve circulation around her spine,” Jocelyn shared. “We ended up seeing a great release in some of that tissue.”
The combination of physical therapy and massage became a powerful tool for Anne’s progress.
“This holistic treatment approach is really important to get the right patient to the right person at the right time,” Patrick said. “Whether this is within our clinic or to an external provider, we place a lot of emphasis on this.”
After each massage, Anne would immediately go into her physical therapy session.
“It was just this beautiful pairing,” Jocelyn reflected. “Anne would leave her massage therapy sessions feeling really relaxed, more mobile, and with better neuromuscular connection with her body. She expressed feeling like she had more control and understanding of what Patrick was asking her to do.”
This increased body awareness led to deeper, more effective physical therapy sessions.
Building long-term solutions through patient-centered care
Anne’s experience with Patrick and the Schroth method was nothing short of transformative. With his specialized training, Patrick had a deep understanding of how to approach her treatment with care and expertise. “He knows what he’s doing,” Anne emphasized, recalling how Patrick tailored each session to her unique needs. “He did things gently and appropriately. He took it slow, and it never hurt me.”
While there were moments of discomfort, Anne appreciated Patrick’s respect for her limits.
“I was uncomfortable at times, but it never hurt me at all.” This gentle approach fostered a great rapport between them, making Anne feel safe and supported throughout her journey. “He taught me to breathe,” she said, noting her deep appreciation of the comprehensive care she received.
“One of the basic tenets of Schroth is correcting the spine through breathing techniques that pull the spine back to midline,” Patrick explained. “In the beginning stages, a patient has to be taught to expand the ribcage in the right parts of the spine to allow this to happen. This, coupled with loosening tight tissue, was the beginning phase with Anne.”
Once Anne mastered these basics, Patrick taught her how to hold her body in specific positions while breathing into the curved areas of her spine. Finally, Anne learned to apply these corrections into her everyday posture, setting herself up for long-term improvements.
Incorporating the new breathing and posture techniques significantly improved Anne’s daily life, setting a strong foundation for her physical therapy progress. Additionally, massage provided benefits that extended beyond just preparing her body for PT sessions.
“With things like Anne’s car accidents, those types of incidents can cause trauma to get stuck within our body, and we hold that trauma,” Jocelyn explained. “Massage can help to release some of that, so we’re not holding onto it anymore.”
This was particularly relevant for Anne’s condition, where the fatigue and tension from her EDS and scoliosis created a heavy burden on her muscles.
“With her case, we were really targeting the supporting musculature to help soften the foundation, which helped with the spinal curvature,” Jocelyn said. “It can be tricky when sometimes you just want to go after the scoliosis curve, but there are other things at play that you need to be mindful of in a patient’s care.”
With her kind demeanor and attentive touch, Jocelyn proved to be an invaluable part of Anne’s care team, helping her manage discomfort while fostering a supportive environment for healing.
“Jocelyn is really receptive to what your body needs,” Anne shared. “That’s so important because if a massage therapist isn’t in tune with you, with how much pressure or which kind of technique you need, it doesn’t matter how good they are; they won’t be effective. With as tight as I am, Jocelyn really had to dig in every time, and she knew how to do that.”
Anne also appreciated how, with each session, Jocelyn began by checking in with her.
“She always asked how I had felt after our last session. Did I feel sore afterward? What seemed to help and what didn’t help? Where was my pain now and where did I want her to focus?”
Jocelyn’s diligence paid off, especially when it came to a particularly prominent bump on Anne’s back. “I’ve had this big bump from the scoliosis because my spine twists, pushing it out. Jocelyn worked on it a lot, and while it won’t totally go away, she got it to where it’s nearly gone,” Anne explained, acknowledging the effort it took.
Managing expectations while returning to life’s joys
Anne’s treatment plan, incorporating both physical therapy and massage, has allowed her to return to activities she loves with a greater sense of freedom and control over her body.
Still, she has realistic expectations and knows that while her journey has been more successful than she ever dreamed, living with a chronic condition means sometimes she will have pain and other challenges.
Patrick emphasized the importance of setting realistic expectations during Anne’s treatment. “Anne had a lot of fear around her scoliosis as it was progressing at a later age,” he explained. “We know that fear around our musculoskeletal conditions can actually magnify our experience of pain.”
With that in mind, Patrick committed to ensuring from the start that Anne knew perfect alignment wasn’t a realistic goal given her age and the degree of curvature. Together they agreed that it was okay not to reach perfection, that the real goal was to reduce her curvature and stop the progression of her scoliosis.
With this understanding, Anne feels empowered, knowing that with the expert care Patrick and Jocelyn, and the entire team at Therapeutic Associates West Linn PT have provided, she has made significant progress in managing her condition and achieved the best outcome in her journey.
That journey, Anne noted, hasn’t just been about managing pain; it’s been about enabling her to live her life more fully, and she appreciates even the simplest things.
“Walking has always been difficult, but now I am able to walk around the house or even take a short half-walk,” Anne shared, excitement and relief apparent in her voice. “At the grocery store, I was using one of those sit-down carts, but I don’t anymore – I can shop without it!”
For Patrick and Jocelyn, seeing Anne reach her goals is extremely rewarding.
“She had mentioned a couple of times how she loved being outside and doing things like weeding in her garden,” Jocelyn said. “But bending over was such a task for her back. After working with us, she could go into her garden, and while her back might still get tired, she is able to do the work. It’s a special thing to have been a part of that.”
Conclusion: The power of personalized care
Anne’s story highlights the transformative power of a combined approach to rehabilitation, utilizing both physical therapy and massage therapy. Through the expertise of Patrick and Jocelyn, Anne’s journey has led her to new levels of pain management and freedom, demonstrating the importance of personalized, patient-centered care like that which is always the focus at Therapeutic Associates PT.
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