Welcome Kyle!

Kyle received his Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular and Integrated Physiology from The University of Illinois in 2003. He received his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from St. Ambrose University 2005 and completed a year-long Orthopedic Residency Program through St. Ambrose and Rock Valley in 2006. He became board certified in Orthopedic Physical Therapy in 2008 and was a primary mentor for the orthopedic residency program through St Ambrose and Rock valley from 2008-2011. Kyle is a member of the Orthopedic section of the American Physical Therapy Association and a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy.

  
Kyle grew up in Normal Illinois and currently lives there with his wife and daughter. Kyle enjoys football, golf, and spending time with his family.  He will be serving the area by practicing 3 days per week in our Peoria office, and 2 days in Washington.

Covering new ground - Washington, IL

We would like to officially announce the opening of our second central Illinois clinic, just across the river in Washington.  We're excited to be able to continue to help patients in this and surrounding communities.  If you or anyone you know in this area might need our help, please don't hesitate to give us a call!  Thank you for trusting us with your care!

This office will be led by Amy Johnson PT, OCS (formally practicing at our Peoria office), and also staffed by Kyle Cottone PT, DPT, OCS (see separate blog post for his welcome info and credentials).

Washington office phone number: (309) 444-1030

What are we Thankful for?

Greetings again!  It feels like a monthly blog-post aligns well with a "holiday theme" for these last few months of the year.  We'll try to accomplish that without being too cheesy!  First of all, with it being Thanksgiving week, we want to recognize yet again just how thankful we are for you - our patients - and the support and loyalty you have given us the past 2.5 years.  We certainly do not overlook your role in the success of our business (or the fact that we have a business at all!), and we appreciate the positive words you have shared with your friends, loved ones, and physicians.

We hope that this holiday will be a wonderful time for you and your families.  As I (Rachael) anticipate heading to my hometown of Indianapolis, IN, I'm excited about the tradition our family has started, participating in the local "Drumstick Dash" to raise money for hungry families.  It's something my sister and I started doing three years ago, and have since recruited our husbands, dad, and her children to join us.  Thinking about this got my mind spinning on traditions, and how they are formed.

We function like detectives everyday with our patients, and often times look for habits or patterns that contribute to their pain or dysfunction.  I thought about the connection between a habit and a tradition...  the definition of a habit: a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.  And when I got thinking about it, you could say that a tradition is sort of a glorified habit, a fancy habit.  They can be anything from: going out to a certain restaurant every Sunday, to sitting around the turkey table playing cards, to braving the shopping world on Black Friday.

As we love to promote wellness and active lifestyles, I wanted to challenge you to reconsider your family "habits" this holiday.  By all means, eat until your heart's content, enjoy the company and storytelling, but also take a moment and think about the type of traditions you want to feel proud of, what it is that's meaningful to you.  Get outside and play ball (the weather's going to be great this year!), serve local people in need together, go for a walk or hike... remember all traditions started somewhere!

(WebMD has some good new habit-forming ideas for this holiday in this article on "10 Tips for a Thinner Thanksgiving.")

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from RVPT!
We hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween this week, whether it's spent tricking or treating!  Please feel free to share photos of your little ghosts, goblins, or princesses with us.  And remember, if you end up getting smashed liked a pumpkin, or stub your toe on a gravestone, come in for a free screening and we'll be glad to see if we can "spook" the pain out of you!

If our patients come in feeling like this...

We hope they leave feeling like this...

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And also, just before then end of the month:
October is National Physical Therapy Month!

We are proud to support the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), as they work to raise awareness of our profession and all that we have to offer.  As members of this organization, we have invested time and resources into protecting, promoting, and growing physical therapy, so that we can continue to help more and more people.  National PT Month is a month dedicated to celebrating our past and our future as a profession, but more importantly celebrating our patients!  We feel so fortunate to be able to play a role in the lives of such wonderful people.

For more information on physical therapy, where we're headed, and how we may be able to help you, visit MoveForwardPT for patient-friendly resources.

Thanks again for your support & we look forward to continuing to serve you!

Vestibular Rehabilitation

Did you know that Rock Valley Physical Therapy now offers evaluation and treatment of vestibular disorders, which may cause symptoms of dizziness, imbalance, or instability?  Our staff is specially trained to assist you in identifying and treating vestibular dysfunction.  Below are some of the common complaints associated with these disorders.  If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these symptoms, we would love to help!

 
Vertigo (dizziness) can be caused by many different bodily structures being in a state of dysfunction.  The most common cause of this symptom is a condition called BPPV (Benign Positional Paroxysmal Vertigo), and involves abnormality of one or more “canals” in your inner ear that sense position change. 

Common aggravating factors involve position changes of the head, such as:

• Rolling over or sitting up/lying down in bed
• Looking up into a cupboard or down towards the floor

 

This condition can be very successfully treated in therapy with specific “repositioning” maneuvers.

Oscillopsia (a bouncing or shaking of your vision) can be a secondary complaint to BPPV or a standalone symptom of vestibular dysfunction.  It is directly caused by a weakening of your vestibular-ocular reflex which normally functions to stabilize your visual field as you do things like walk, jog, or ride in the car.

Physical therapy can help, by applying specific exercises to engage and re-train this reflex.

 

Disequilibrium (light-headedness) and imbalance (unsteadiness) are two related symptoms that can be caused by dysfunction of the vestibular system.   Common causes include: recent infection with resulting neuritis (nerve inflammation), labrynthitis (inflammation of the vestibular organs), impaired circulation, or cervical (neck) misalignment.

These symptoms may come on rapidly or gradually, but will likely come and go with:

• Position changes of the head
• Certain times of day
• General sense of “good” days and “bad” days
• Dark settings or busy environments
• Fatigue

Vestibular rehabilitation, administered by a licensed physical therapist, helps your body compensate for losses within the system, restoring comfortable & confident movement.

Welcome Rachael!

 





As a new addition to the Rock Valley family, I thought I'd better introduce myself in RVPT "blog-world" as well.  I am so excited to join this team of extraordinary professionals, and look forward to meeting and helping many new faces in the Peoria community.



I grew up in Indianapolis, IN where my interest in physical therapy was sparked; this is what drew me west to Peoria to attend Bradley University.  Although I had not intented to stay in this area after obtaining my Doctorate (DPT) degree in 2010, I was blessed to meet my husband while at Bradley, and we have decided to call Peoria "home."  With him growing up in a small town south of Springfield, IL, this is a perfect middle ground for us in many ways.

In our spare time, we enjoy spending as much time as we can outdoors with a variety of recreational activities.  We also love to travel to see friends and family as often as possible.

Professionally speaking, my background is two years practicing in a rural community north of Peoria where I treated a wide variety of diagnoses and age-groups.  I have also developed a niche interest Vestibular Rehabilitation, treating individuals with complaints of dizziness and imbalance, and have advanced training in this area.