A former professional ballet dancer turned physical therapist, Lisa Apple, is bringing a new twist to local PT treatment – working to make good on the promise she made herself when she went back to school for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy… treating the whole body – not just the specific body part. To do that, she is utilizes the power of Pilates in her PT practice.
Lisa is opening Revitalize Movement Physical Therapy Studi0 in March in the Venture Commerce Building on SE Center Street in Snoqualmie. She offers one hour one-on-one physical therapy sessions, as well as Pilates mat and apparatus classes. She has a specialty in treating adolescent and adult scoliosis through the Schroth method (more info on Schroth at www.revitalizempt.com) and also treats orthopedic injuries and movement dysfunction.
The Pacific Northwest native originally started her business in North Carolina two years ago, but a recent move to Snoqualmie sparked the desire to put down some business roots here as well.
Lisa spent her first career as a professional ballet dancer for the San Francisco Ballet, Les Ballet Des Monte Carlo and as a principal for Pacific Northwest Ballet. She has experience in the physical and mental aspects of injury recovery, not only from her ballet career,but also from working as a sports physical therapist with the pain management team at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she spent five years working on their sports physical therapy team creating programs for scoliosis, dance rehabilitation and working with adolescent chronic pain.
According to the vision statement from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), “physical therapists strive to transform society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience.” Dr. Apple explained, that utilizing a multi-modal approach with manual therapy, therapeutic exercise with Pilates exercises tailored to the patient, Pilates Reformer and physical therapy tools can enhance a patient’s movement system, with a return to their former level of function and fun.
Dr. Apple said every person is unique and requires a plan that is tailored to their injury or health issue, and Pilates based Physical Therapy is a perfect tool due to the ability to modify any exercise as needed, offering many options for addressing the needs of each person.
Lisa says it’s so important to remember that our bodies move in three dimensions, and the biomechanics of movement must be assessed in all three planes of motion in order to find the reason for the injury or breakdown of a specific part of the body. Research supports that a multi-modal approach that addresses, biomechanics, joint and muscle imbalances and pain science education is often the key to a successful outcome for the patient.
Dr. Apple hopes the community will find a nurturing environment at Revitalize Movement Physical Therapy Studi0 – one that offers a philosophy of health and recovery through a collaborative effort between doctor and patient.
Community members are invited to Revitalize Movement’s open house on April 23rd from 1-4 PM. They’re located at 35314 SE Center Street in the Snoqualmie Ridge Business Park.
Good Luck, Lisa!