For two decades Jill Skidmore-Erickson, PT has been relieving pain and helping her clients rehabilitate after surgery or injuries. Owner of Alaskan Physical Therapy on the Spur Highway in Soldotna Jill will be celebrating her 20th Anniversary with specials throughout the month of May. Jill says she decided to pursue a career as a physical therapist when she was in college, “I was working with special education students and decided that if their bodies worked better it would help their minds work better and today I continue my education to be sure we provide quality care for our patients with the newest with the newest researched treatments available. We specialize in quality care with one-on-one, hands-on treatment to rehabilitate the physical body and regain a healthy lifestyle following injury and/or surgery. It is our objective to provide effective interventions supported by evidence based principles that produce long lasting results. We combine manual therapy therapeutic exercise, and physical therapy intervention to target not only specific impairments, but the whole patient. Our patients get relief of their symptoms, and also gain lifelong lessons in exercise techniques and education to prevent reoccurrence of their problems,” she said.

At Alaskan Physical Therapy you can even find relief from the aches and pains of aging, “By making sure your posture is correct and working to make your muscles stronger to support your skeletal system you can make aging more pain free. We have a program where you can meet with a therapist and have a customized exercise program designed especially for you to help you maintain a better state of health and prevent injuries that may occur. And we have all the equipment here that you may need to obtain your goals,” she told the Dispatch. Alaskan Physical Therapy also has the ATM2 apparatus created by BackProject Corp. to give immediate back or neck pain relief, “The ability to cure chronic back pain continues to be one of the biggest challenges to clinicians worldwide, despite decades of back pain practice and research. The novelty of ATM2 exercises is that pain must be eliminated during the ATM2 sessions with of 50 to 100% expected to last,” she said. Jill holds a Bachelor of Science in physical therapy from the University of Utah since 1981. She had a spinal cord injury during her schooling due to an automobile accident, yet was able to complete the curriculum despite new limitations. She has presented a paper at the APTA Annual Convention on the “Competencies of a Paraplegic Physical Therapist”. She has also completed education in a manual therapy residency program. During their anniversary Alaskan Physical Therapy will have specials on massage, exercise, and on the new ATM2 back machine. To find out more call Jennifer Nelson, office manager at 260-2679 or log on to www.alaskanphysicaltherapy.com.