Need Physical Therapist, Bodyworker, Chiropractor, or...???
I'm hoping someone can refer me to the right person to help me. At 42 years old, I feel I'm in the best physical shape of my life thanks to crossfit. But I have fairly significant scoliosis. It doesn't limit me in my workouts, but is affecting my SLEEP of all things! have back pain first thing when I wake up in the morning but it is now starting to limit how much sleep I get and is making it more and more difficult to get out of bed in the morning! I've been waking up at 5am lately and can't get back to sleep due to the pain. It is one-sided in the center of my back. Doesn't seem to be due to my workouts. Doesn't matter which bed in our house I sleep on. I feel like there must be someone out there who can help me- a physical therapist? Body worker? Chiropractor? I'm not sure who to go see, and don't have a ton of cash. I'm willing to pay for good treatment, but want to be confident that I'm going to someone who knows how to help me. I want someone to analyze why I'm having pain, recommend how I can sleep more comfortably, and teach me postural adjustments or exercises I can add to my workouts to help relieve my pain. Some manual therapy would be great too. Have anyone you can recommend, BPN community? THANK YOU!
Parent Replies
I just finished up a course of treatment with Jack at SOL PT on Piedmont Ave. Amazing! He has excellent hands on technique and got to the root of my issues while providing a home exercise program I could carry over. I typically saw him for 30 minutes and would then finish up with the aide (who were also great, mostly all individuals getting ready to go to PT school themselves). It was covered under my insurance with a $20 co-pay. Worth reaching out to see if you would be in network.
I complimented my work at SOL with going for chiropractor services at Awaken. It was interesting because both practitioners believed that while I was feeling back pain, the root seemed to be stemming from my neck and upper should area. Also worth trying a few different types of pillows too!
All the best
ICor, Integrative Chiropractic and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation on Piedmont ave in Oakland is a practice I can't reccommend highly enough. See Dr. Aaron Roselle or Dr. Eileen Karpfinger. Sapho Flor is a gifted massage therapist who is at the Berkeley Acupuncture Center on Fridays. And I have seen Pilates work wonders for scoliosis, mine included. I don't have anyone to reccommend, but surely someone else could. Good luck!
I've been very very impressed with Bob Baker who owns Emeryville Physical Therapy on Powell Street.
Bob is exceptionally intelligent, and on top of being well trained and having a lot of years in the business of PT, he's got an intuitive sense when trying to help figure out how to approach a problem. I've been to a lot of PT sessions over the past years for my bad knees and back (not to mention neck!) - Bob (and Tiffany, who oversees/explains the various exercises to remedy issues) are wonderful. You may have to wait to get an appointment with Bob, but he's definitely worth the wait!!
If you're open to different modalities, I would definitely consider osteopathy. I had chronic lower back pain for decades which has essentially been resolved after seeing an osteo for a while- I still do. I've tried PT, acupuncture, cupping, chiro, Rolfing, Alexander Technique, massage, tai-ji, even contact improv dance (to loosen up). Osteo is the real deal, IMO. Most insurance pays (Anthem/BlueCross and UHC, as an out of network provider, in my experience). Here's what seems like a short summary of some research on osteo for scoliosis: http://koya.nyit.edu/Clinical_Applications/clinical_docs/Pediatrics_Sco…
There are some (dated) recommendations here on BPN. An up to date directory of providers seems to be here:
www.cranialacademy.org
DM me with more questions. Good luck!
I recommend Michele Reddell. She's a craniosacral chiropractor, which means it's super gentle realignment of your whole body. She helped me greatly when I had chronic back problems (and believe me, I tried a lot of chiropractors and physical therapists). She's on Solano Ave. in Berkeley and her prices are reasonable. (510) 558-8258