As you reach your midforties and beyond, joint pain can become a fact of life. You may suffer from arthritis or old sports injuries, suddenly develop a frozen shoulder, or tear a meniscus in the knee.
Whatever the cause of your pain, Secrets of a Pain-Free Life offers a simple, nonsurgical solution that may be right for you: physical therapy.
The goal is to recover your ability to do everyday activities. Painful joints can affect many tasks, from the mundane to the specialized, and therefore relief can improve your entire outlook on life.
Dr. Stacey Raybuck Schatz, DPT, MS, OCS, presents a reader-friendly overview of how and why physical therapy can help many patients regain pain-free movement naturally and without medications, injections, or surgery. She provides helpful advice on topics such as quick pain relief, the wisdom of treating the symptoms versus the causes of pain, and signs that therapy is working. She also steps back to cover the basics, such as when to seek treatment and where to go.
Pain-free movement is often achievable through physical therapy. You owe it to yourself to give it a try before you resort to more intrusive treatment strategies.
About the Author: Dr. Stacey Raybuck Schatz, DPT, MS, OCS, has been providing physical therapy in clinical settings for thirty years. Concentrating in orthopedics and sports medicine, she owns and directs Professional Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Franklin, Massachusetts.
As a board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist, Dr. Raybuck Schatz has treated a wide range of patients, including athletes of all levels and nonathletes of various ages.
Her current clients are other healthcare providers across the nation, including clinicians for professional teams and for hospital or rehabilitation facilities. Alongside other providers, Dr. Raybuck Schatz advocates for choice-of-provider legislation and for policies that improve consumer protections.
Dr. Raybuck Schatz earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts and master's and doctoral degrees from the Institute of Health Professions. She is a longtime member of the American Physical Therapy Association.
