Following a complete biomechanical assessment, the professionals will use electrical modalities, manual therapy and exercise to correct ailments. Physiotherapy is effective for muscles strain, sprains, spasms, tendonitis and various post operative rehabilitation like total knee/hip replacement, ACL repairs, Rotator cuff repairs etc. Physiotherapists use various different techniques to help your muscle, joints, nerves and circulation work to their full potential, help repair damage, reduce pain, inflammation, stiffness and maximize muscle strength/endurance.

At Progressive, our physiotherapists commonly treat and establish a goal oriented individualized program for clients with motor vehicle accidents, work realted injuries, sports injuries/prevention, repetitive strain and chronic muscle/joint pathologies with special emphasis to accelerate safe transition to active living.. They employ various treatment techniques and approaches to help you move better, recover from injury or reduce the pain you may be experiencing. These include but are not limited to :

• Hands on manual therapy
• Exercise Therapy ranging from gentle exercises to advanced athletic exercise programs
• Electrical Modalities (e.g. ultrasound, IFC, Tens, heat, ice, paraffin wax etc)
• Ergonomic Education and advice to ensure proper set up and prevent re-current painful conditions

• Taping Techniques
• Sahrman Tecnniques
• Anatomical Acupuncture
• Muscle energy techniques
• McKenzie Approach
• Muligan Techniques
• Education On Your Condition

Please expect to spend 35-40 minutes each treatment. We do ask that you wear comfortable clothes as exercise is a critical component to most treatment plans.

If you are unsure if physiotherapy will help, book a 20 minute free consultation.

Chiropractic is a health discipline that addresses the musculoskeletal system in a holistic manner and uses a hands-on approach for treating pain and dysfunction. Chiropractors are trained to provide diagnosis and analyze the relationship between muscles, joints and nerves in order to determine the source of physical pain. With this knowledge, chiropractors provide treatment to relieve present pain and prevent future pain.

Chiropractic is a regulated health profession, recognized by statute in all Canadian provinces and American states. More than 1.2 million patients in Ontario rely on chiropractic care every year to help them live healthy, active lives. Chiropractic care can benefit all types of patients from children, pregnant women, athletes and elderly.

There are many reasons to see a chiropractor:

• Back Pain
• Neck Pain
• Headaches
• Whiplash Associated Disorder
• Frozen Shoulder
• Strains and Sprains
• Work Injuries

• Sports Injuries
• Chronic Pain
• Arthritis
• Repetitive Strain Injury
• Limited Range of Motion
• General Health and Well-Being

At Progressive, our chiropractors combine a variety of treatment techniques tailored to the individual needs and goals of each patient to correct “misaligned” or locked joints, restore motion, reduce muscle tension and guarding, and promote healing. They will use various treatment techniques including, but not limited to, chiropractic manipulation/mobilization, soft tissue therapy such as myofascial release technique and acupuncture, exercise prescription, postural evaluation, nutritional/lifestyle counseling, and custom orthotic therapy.

Progressive chiropractors work in conjunction with the entire clinical team to ensure optimization of a client’s recovery. A referral to other specialists is facilitated as required.

If you are unsure if chiropractic will help, book a 20 minute free consultation.

The staff at Progressive Rehab have a special interest in sports therapy. This means that we can understand the small changes in biomechanics that can make playing your favourite sport not only difficult, but painful. We are also trained to prevent injury by planning sport specific exercise programs . Finally, after injury, we are ready to push you that extra bit to get you ready for the playing field, reducing the chance of re-injury and returning you to the level of performance you are used to.

Massage Therapy reduces stress and can restore muscles to their maximal performance by increasing blood flow and make healthy nutrients available to the muscles. The therapists can stretch sore and painful muscle with tone and encourage proper movement patterns to reduce the aches and pains. Additionally it stimulates the autonomic nervous system via therapeutic touch resulting in relaxation of mind and body.

Occupational therapy is a health profession concerned with promoting health and well-being through occupation. Occupation refers to everything that people do during the course of everyday life which gives meaning and purpose to their lives.

Occupational therapists use a systematic approach based on evidence and professional reasoning to enable individuals, groups and communities to develop the means and opportunities to identify, engage in and improve their function in the occupations of life. The process involves assessment, intervention and evaluation of the client related to functional performance in self-care, work, study, volunteerism and leisure.

At Progressive, our Occupational therapists may assume different roles such as advising on health risks in the workplace, Ergonomic advice for home or office, Home assessments, Physical demands analysis, Education session of healthy living within the client’s personal environment, Functional abilities assessments, Prescribe assistive/adaptive devices to simplify functional tasks and much more...

Chronic pain develops gradually and is complex in its causes which affect all parts of the body; it involves the tissues, bodily systems, and the mind. The journey down a path to daily suffering and loss often starts with a simple injury and cascades innocently downward with continued pain, imperfect healing, medical complications and failures, loss of job, loss of financial support, loss of friends, and depression.

Because chronic pain is multidimensional, it is never adequately addressed with a one-dimensional treatment. Pain management must extend beyond physical approaches to include the psychosocial and functional restoration. Effective integrated treatment fosters self-awareness and encourages self-management strategies. In time, complex issues are managed, pain is reduced, and the patient moves toward improved physical and psychological functioning.

Our core team of health professionals who care for patients in the Pain Management Program include physiotherapists, occupational therapist, kinesiologists, psychologists, and psychotherapists. Our focus is to create an individualized, goal directed, graded activity reactivation program with self-monitoring strategies. We believe in keeping the client, third party funders, physicians and specialists actively involved and engaged in setting the individualized goals to ensure successful outcomes.

PGAP was developed by University Centre for Research on Pain and Disability which states, “Resumption of occupational activities is a central objective of PGAP”. This program was designed as a disability prevention program and is used to identify and treat individuals who are considered to be “at risk” for the development of chronic disability resulting from pain. As individuals become disabled due to an injury or debilitating illness, they avoid participation in many important activities of daily living. Some of these tasks are abandoned due to significant functional limitations whilst others are due to psychosocial factors like fear of re-injury, pain “catastrophizing” or client’s high “perceived disability” which result in subsequent loss of confidence and a pessimistic outlook on their lives delaying their overall functional recovery. PGAP is a 10 week standardized program that can be provided one-on-one in-clinic or in-home once a week by our trained physiotherapist or occupational therapist. The initial treatment sessions focus on activity re-integration by providing education on hurt vs. harm, encouraging strategies like pacing, activity planning and energy conservation. Later sessions focus on decreasing the psychosocial barriers identified via the initial assessment. Return to meaningful vocation is encouraged towards the end of the program based on the client’s initial goals, overall success, and compliance within the program. The main goal of the program is to improve quality of life and “maximize activity in spite of pain”. The main focus of PGAP is on disability reduction as opposed to pain reduction. However, pain management strategies are provided through the course of the treatment.

Who is an appropriate client for PGAP?
PGAP is appropriate for clients who suffer significant loss of function, have poor awareness of pain science, high perceived disability, ++pain focused behaviour or are unable to return to meaningful vocation due to persistent pain either through injury or illness. An initial evaluation to determine the fit/appropriateness for participation in the PGAP is done by asking the potential clients to complete three questionnaires which when scored, place them in one of the three categories; low risk, moderate risk or high risk to develop chronic disability.

Reflexology is a natural, non –invasive form of hands on therapy that uses the application of pressure to specific points in your feet to treat a variety of symptoms and conditions. It is based on the principle that there are reflex points in the feet, hands and ears that correspond to every part of the body. Through application of pressure on these reflexes with the hands, reflexology helps relieve tension, improves circulation, opens the flow in blocked nerves and helps promote the natural functioning and healing of the body. Reflexology is a holistic approach in which the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of the whole body are treated rather than a specific condition.

Yoga is a combination of flowing postures to systematically stretch and strengthen the muscles. Focused on fine tuning the musculoskeletal system it increases functional strength and flexibility, core stability and mental focus, balance & coordination & breathing awareness & efficiency. It also creates body awareness and overall wellness. Led by a certified Yoga Instructor with kinesiology training, at Progressive Rehab, we focus on your individual needs and goal oriented results.

Pilates is a form of exercise developed by Joseph Pilates which emphasizes the balanced development of the body through core strength, flexibility, and awareness in order to support efficient movement.

Pilates focuses on stabilizing and strengthening the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor muscles are the deep internal muscles of the abdomen and back. In many moves, you hold your torso in place while moving your limbs in different directions, which challenges your balance, core strength, stability and flexibility.

This ancient Chinese treatment can be used on its own, or in combination with another therapy. The use of needles at specific point along the energy pathways (meridians) to correct energy flow has been found to be successful in reducing pain and tension in the body. The modern western medical or ‘neuroanatomical’ acupuncture approach stimulates release of body’s pain relieving endorphins and utilizes therapist’s knowledge of anatomy, neuro-phyisology to assist with appropriate point selection.

At progressive, our physiotherapists have successfully completed acupuncture training from the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute, a well recognized organization that trains already practicing health professionals in the area of acupuncture within their scope of practice. We only employ acupuncture to treat conditions that we would normally already treat using other physiotherapy approaches.

ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. The technique is founded by Dr. P. Michael Leahy. Micro-trauma, pulls, strains, sprains, collisions and hypoxia are a few ways our body (soft tissue) can be injured. Soft tissue that is affected will result in production of tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down its free movement. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker subsequently resulting in shortening of tendons and entrapement of nerves in the surroudning area. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness. Headaches, back pain, neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART.

What can a client expect during assessment and treatment?

ART is a manual technique, where the ART provider uses hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements. There are over 500 specific treatment protocols where are unique to ART allowing providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. A combination of examination and treatment is provided on each session.

Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) is a total system for the diagnosis and treatment of myofascial pain syndromes (chronic pain conditions that occur in the musculoskeletal system when there is no obvious sign of injury or inflammation) developed by Dr. Gunn and has a solid foundation in its radiculopathic model of pain, which is now supported by many experts in the field.

A thorough evaluation will be performed to determine the appropriateness to utilize IMS technique as a part of the client’s rehabilitation process. This evaluation is conducted by our competent certified physiotherapist trained to recognize the physical signs of neuropathic pain. IMS relies heavily on the physical examination which is indispensable since chronic pain is often neurological as opposed to structural, and therefore, invisible to expensive X-rays, MRI tests, Bone and CT Scans. Failure to recognize these signs will result in an inaccurate diagnosis, and thus, a poor starting point for physical therapy.

IMS is a dry needling technique, aimed at releasing muscle shortening that may cause pain or dysfunction in an affected area. It assists with desensitizing of supersensitive areas and treats the underlying neurologic condition that causes the pain. The therapist inserts an acupuncture needle into a tight band of muscle or irritated nerve root near the spine evoking a threefold reaction. First, it evokes a reflex relaxation (lengthening) response in the shortened muscles. Second, the needle causes a small injury that draws blood to that area thereby initiating the natural healing process. Last but not the least, it creates an electrical potential in the muscle normalizing the nerve functions in the affected area. When the muscle relaxes it reduces the pressure on the tendons and joints subsequently reducing pain and inflammation in the affected area. Nerve root impingements are resolved by reducing the muscle spasms in the surrounding muscles.

Our feet take a beating daily. Proper alignment is critical for joints to move efficiently and painlessly. An Orthotic is a specialized insole manufactured from a three dimensional model of foot. Orthotics can be helpful in treating knee, back and foot pain by correcting the biomechanical errors that may cause an imbalance in the lower extremites.

Some common conditions treated with orthotics include:

• Plantar Fascitis
• Morton’s Neuroma
• Achilies Tendonitis
• Heel Spurs
• Generalized foot pain

• Patellofemoral Syndrome
• Low back pain
• Diabetic foot
• Metarsalgia
• “Flat Feet”

At Progressive, our therapist is specially trained to perform comprehensive biomechanical assessment, gait analysis and create a custom foot impression using foam/plaster from which the orthotic is fabricated and fitted into your shoe.

Regardless of therapy, bracing is sometimes required to return to sport, or to return to sport quickly. At Progressive, the therapists are trained to assess the best brace for your needs and can custom order the brace in a timely fashion. Through a relationship with various bracing suppliers, we can provide quality and cost effective service.

Functional Abilities Evaluation (Functional Capacities Evaluation) is conducted to provide objective data regarding an client’s physical abilities and limitations. These results, in some cases are compared to specific occupation and provide a clear determination of client’s ability to perform the essential tasks of the job. Additionally, this information assists with appropriate vocational or rehabilitation planning.

At progressive, this comprehensive evaluation is performed by Phyisotherapist and Kinesiologist/Occupational therapist that use valid and reliable test measures to determine the client’s functional capabilities/abilities. A thourough musculoskeletal screen and review of documentation is compeled by the physiotherapist to rule out contra-indications/appropriateness for participation in the test is prior to the functional assessment. Components such as range of motion, strength, coordination, balance, mobility, sensation, endurance, functional tolerances for specific tasks, cognitive ability and material handling capabilities as appropriate are assessed. This testing is done one on one and is customized to every client’s specific needs which may take 4-5 hours. A detailed objective report is complied outlining the test results and recommendations are provided regarding occupational readiness and/or rehabilitation potential.

Work site assessment is performed to identify potential barriers at workplace that may be interfering with the client’s ability to work successfully. Recommendations are subsequently made to improve work performance by removing the barriers , applying strategies like pacing, energy conservation, modification of the specific parts of the job that’s was painful due to the injury.

This assessment is designed for clients who are at work but may be having difficulty with specific parts of the job or for clients to establish an appropriate return to work plan. The workplace and workstation are evaluated for unsafe work practices and an appropriate detailed report with clear recommendations are provided to improve function, training, education needs and change work methods/workstation . Accessibility, work methods, workplace design and ergonomics, productivity demands, equipment in use, and the individual’s abilities and limitations, are some of the factors that are considered.

At Progressive, our Occupational therapist or certified Kiniesiologist performs this test at your worksite and takes about 2 hours of direct time.

Work hardening and conditioning program is designed to facilitate safe and successful return to work following injury or illness. An individualized, goal-oriented program, which includes an assessment of the individual’s functional abilities, the work demands, and the work environment, all of which are critical to designing an effective program. Graduated return to full time /modified time based on demonstrated abilities will be established as needed. The Case manager of the team acts a liaison between the employee, the employer, and the medical/rehabilitation team, and monitors the program regularly (minimum once per week), to ensure successful transition back to work. Programs are designed to minimize disruption of work routines and impact on other employees. A detailed initial report, with a specific return to work plan; regular progress reports; and a final report outlining the program outcomes are provided.

The treatment interventions are focused on participation in an active conditioning program. The program consists of a functional exercise routine focused on work-simulation type of activities, cardiovascular, endurance and strength training. Coordination with employer/rehab consultant to facilitate appropriate graduated return to work is incorporated. Additionally, concepts like activity re-integration, functional retraining, hurt vs. harm and proper positioning/posturing are included.

Ergonomic assessments can be conducted at home or workplace to assess the relationship between the environment and the client. It assists to identify factors that pose a potential risk for injuries with activities such as high repetitions, contact stresses, akward/sustained postures and strength demands. Furthermore, it identifies factors that may reduces productivity and promotes prevention, such as job demands, job design, nature of work, physical environment and the organization of workspace. The recommendations assist in developing a good fit between the client and the work environment in order to improve health, comfort, productivity and to prevent injury.

At Progressive, these assessments are commonly conducted by Occupational therapists or Kiniesiologists. The assessment is conducted off site. It generally would last a maximum of 2 hours. A comprehensive report outlining the results of the assessment with recommendations is provided to the funder as appropriate. The recommendations may include modification to the environment, work practices (ie proper posturing of the body, job rotations, work breaks) tools and/or equipment.

In Home Assessments are performed to increase independence and safety at home and community by assessing needs for appropriate assistive devices, need for assistance or supervision with personal care and daily activities at home.

At Progressive, our Occupational Therapist persforms a comprehensive evaluation of a person’s home and community environment, and his/her ability to perform daily living activities such as personal care (e.g.: dressing, bathing, transfers) and home management (e.g.: cooking, cleaning, managing finances, shopping). Addtionally, cognitive, emotional and physical function, along with family support is evaluated. An objective report, outlining functional abilities and limitations, and recommendations to improve function is provided. Recommendations might identify changes to the environment, equipment needs, adaptive techniques, education needs, and the necessary level of assistance required in the home.

The physical Demands Analysis (PDA) is an objective measurement of the functional, congnitive and physical requirement s of that specific job. It identifies essential job requirements and includes detailed information regarding strength, mobility, endurance and functional tasks like sitting, standing, walking, climbing, pulling, pushing, reaching, gripping, dexterity, tool/equipment use, vision , perception, concentration and decision making. It provides detailed information regarding the frequency, duration and intensity of of work demands placed on a worker at a specific job and it also classifies the job into a general occupational category (ie light, medium or heavy level of work).

The PDA is an important tool for developing appropriate protocols for post-offer screens and essential tool to ensure establishment of early and safe return to work plan. It is the tool used to perform a job match and/or determine the appropriateness of client for that specific work by compairing the current functional abilities of the client.

At Progressive this service is provided by Occupational Therapist or certified Kiniesiologist who will conduct this assessment at the workplace.