GSM Team News

Halloween has come and gone, so you should probably put that mask and cape away.  The GSM team thinks YOU can be your own superhero any time of year and we want to replace your cape with our new wristband!

It turns out we breathe a lot, all day long, and if we aren’t doing it correctly we may feel the results of poor spine stability, poor oxygen exchange and poor stress tolerance. The hardest part of intentional breathing is incorporating it into our daily lives and making it our new normal. But how do we remember to do it all day long? 

First, you could use pain as a catalyst for change. Do you have neck tension? Use that as a reminder to exhale longer. Or maybe your low back gets sore? Use that as a cue to maintain abdominal tension and breathe into your lower back ribs.  

Do you perform certain activities regularly? Identify an activity that you can use as a cue to focus on breathing and bracing. Washing dishes, commuting to work, picking up your grandchild, moving hay bales, or lifting weights are all actions that would be enhanced with bracing through breath.  

Or even better, stop by the clinic and pick up a GSM wristband that has the words right on it: Brace! Breathe! Not only will it remind you to focus on the techniques, you will feel like a GSM superhero. 

Our next topics will include stacking your spine and hip hinging, so stayed tuned over the next few weeks to build on this knowledge. In the meantime, build your foundation!

Go superhero! Go!

Physical Therapy was a natural career fit for me as an athlete and active community member, but my specialty as a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist typically generates questions. I’m often asked “Why the pelvis?” or “Why focus on bowel, bladder and sexual function?” Throughout my teen years, I battled urinary stress incontinence, which changed to pelvic pain as I got older. I chose this career because I’ve been there myself, struggling with isolation and no answers. I have been pain-free and continent for years now and I want to share this knowledge to help others feel in control of their bodies and confident in social situations.

1 in 4 Americans struggle with bladder dysfunction. 20% of adults battle with bowel and digestive dysfunction, and 1 in 4 Americans cope with chronic pain. Incontinence, bloating, cramping, constipation and sexual dysfunction are just a few of the symptoms that many of us suffer through, not realizing how many other people face the same struggles. Pelvic floor therapy is focused on normalizing and overcoming those situations. My passion is creating a safe, private space to provide support for women and men to connect with their bodies in a positive way and I’m grateful for the science pertaining to a region of the body that has been ignored for far too long. My WHY is because I want to help my neighbors understand what is “normal” for their body and to give them the tools to feel centered and confident throughout their day.

Let’s work together and get you back out there hiking, dancing, or skiing with your friends (without being distracted by the nearest restroom.)

Jennifer and Darcy had the good fortune to participate in the PCCF Discovering Wellness Retreat this weekend. Our lovely leaders Kristine Backes and Karen Stenseth lead us through a variety of mindful practices including breath work, yoga, and meditation. Not only was it relaxing and grounding work, we were able to connect with thirteen fabulous women that dedicate enormous energy and intention to our community. We want to remind you that meditation can be incredibly beneficial for your body and your mind. There are more ways to meditate than there are to cook an egg, so explore and find your favorite method! Meditation can involve taking in an awe-inspiring view, like Jennifer is doing in this photo on our “self-care break” over the weekend. Stay tuned for our Thoughtful Thursday tip on how to change your breath pattern to affect your stress response, or in other words, meditate!  

A big thank you and good luck to Max and Barb on their new adventures! Max is moving to Whitefish and is starting his own practice. More to come on that!  You will still see Barb’s smiling face around town and at the Park County Clerk and Recorder’s Office. They've both been amazing team members and we're sad to see them go. But onward and upward to the next chapter of life!  We will be closing today at 4:30 to send them off in style!

This inspiring video encourages us all to assess not what we do but WHY we do it, and the GSM team ate it up. So first up for Moving Mondays, Darcy’s Why.

I get asked regularly “Why did you go into business for yourself?” and I think my answer is much more detailed than anyone expects. First off, as many of you know, being a small business owner certainly doesn’t equate to more money or free time, at least not yet! What drove me was the opportunity to make a positive impact on the wellness of our awesome little community. GSM was designed to be a place of healing that is accessible and welcoming to everyone.  I also sought to offer an outstanding place of employment in rural Montana that cultivates team spirit and truly supports work-life balance. Let’s face it - we spend a lot of time at work and loving what you do makes the time fly. I’m proud to say that if you've been into GSM lately, you know we're crushing it! We have an outstanding team that loves their work and sincerely believes in what we do. So, what is my WHY? In a nutshell, it's caring for my community. Oh, and their dogs too!

October is National Physical Therapy Month and we are pumped at GSM! We are proud to see how much our profession has evolved over the years. Physical therapists are now being recognized as frontline providers! We can accurately diagnosis musculoskeletal pain, and we have a huge toolbox of different methods to help our patients. As this month unfolds, we will highlight why you should choose PT, answer some of the common questions we are asked, and offer tips on key foundational points that are applicable to all of us.

2017 was a whirlwind of activity, benchmarks, and growth at Granite Sports Medicine (GSM). We celebrated our 5 Year Anniversary and this year’s activities reflect the growth and breadth of our services and community involvement. We’ve really hit our stride with an amazing team of dedicated professionals who work together like champs to provide personalized and specialized physical therapy to our clients. We’ve upgraded our front desk process and restructured our administration to provide even better service and efficiency. Thanks to everyone who’s been part of this year’s celebrations, support, wellness, and learning. 

Highlights from 2017 include:

- At the 2017 Prospera Business Network’s annual Business Excellence Awards we were honored to receive Montana Women’s Business Center’s Start-Up of the Year. 

- GSM sponsored various teams and activities throughout the year, including the Western Sustainability Exchange’s Farmer’s Market, Livingston Parks and Recreation youth basketball team and Ultimate Frisbee with GSM’s Alison Shannon-Lier. You’ll recognize Alison and her family participating in nearly every public athletic activity in the community!

- Darcy Cook, in her ninth year of giving injury prevention workshops to fire and trail crews, worked with crews at Grand Teton Park, Yellowstone Park, Gallatin Forest service, and Zion National Park employees.

- For our 5^th Anniversary, we celebrated for a full month with giveaways and contests and capped it off with a fun Cinco de Mayo party. Thanks to all of you who showed up to celebrate!  

Building on this year's successes, we look forward to continuing our momentum. After hosting our first continuing education class 2017, we will offer more classes in 2018 including the popular new Mobility|WOD; a guide to resolving pain, preventing injury, and optimizing athletic performance and a Level 2 KinetaCore Dry Needling. We will create an online registration and payment system on our website in the coming year further streamlining the registration and payment process, and continue to offer a Prompt Pay Discount, increasingly necessary for the uninsured and underinsured with high deductibles.

GSM’s Darcy Cook is a popular annual presenter at Park High’s Trades Day and will go to Bozeman High in January this year and share some physical therapy inspiration with students interested in the medical field. Physical therapist Max Bartlett is working with Cross Fit coaches to help their athletes prevent injury, and Pelvic Floor specialist Alison Shannon-Lier is furthering her education with male-specific pelvic floor classes and is seeing more people of all genders and ages benefit from her services.

Remind your friends, family, and coworkers that physical therapy is your first line of defense for muscular/skeletal health care needs - no referral needed - as the American Medical Association recommends: choose physical therapy first. Learn more and make your appointment online at granitesportsmedicine.com.

Thanks to all the wonderful people we have had the honor of helping on their healing journey, our active community, and inspiring peers. Cheers to a fantastic 2018!

Can you believe Granite Sports Medicine (GSM) is 5 years old? GSM is proud to the celebrate benchmarks, achievements, growth and success stories from the active community we’ve served in our first 5 years over the next month. Thank you Park County! Follow us on Facebook or stop by the clinic to see how you can participate in our anniversary month and win cool stuff!

To celebrate GSM’s 5 years of Success Stories from our active community, we are having lots of drawings for fun stuff. To enter, stop by GSM to fill out our quick “Say Something Nice” form, and we’ll enter you into a drawing for stainless steel GSM water bottles. We have a bunch so increase your odds by filling out a bunch!

If you aren’t able to stop by, share your testimonial online at http://www.granitesportsmedicine.com/livingston-physical-therapy-testimonials/ or post a phots of you and a GSM logo doing something cool on our facebook page to be included in drawings for deluxe GSM soft-side coolers!  

At the end of the month, we will pick our 5 favorite “Say Something Nice” testimonials and each will win a cooler. The end of our 5-year anniversary month will culminate with a Cinco Tailgate party in GSM parking lot, 5/5/17 from 4 – 6 pm. We’ll have a full taco bar and more swag giveaways, so stop by and help us celebrate.  

GSM’s 5 Pillars: 
As part of a Prospera workshop on business startup many years ago, we created 5 Pillars that we felt were integral to the success of our business. It is interesting how these have summarized our culture at GSM and continue to be relevant.

1. Strong community presence
2. Client retention
3. Positive work environment
4. Efficient systems
5. Fiscal responsibility

These pillars lead to a customer experience that makes a lasting impression, “The clinic, including the reception, is efficient, very professional and makes the patient more knowledgeable. The clinic is the most dedicated that has ever treated me. The patient is made to feel comfortable and cared for,” says a client and another adds, “Entering Granite Sports Medicine is a happy experience! There is an infectious enthusiasm that helps patients want to get better.”

GSM’s 5 Year Benchmarks:

1. Remember the Main St Carwash?  We sure do, and we remember all the pigeons. Yuck. It was important to us to repurpose an old structure and contribute to cleaning up Livingston’s Main Street. Amazing that Randy Cook had the vision and the skills to remodel the old car wash into the extensive physical therapy hub GSM is today.  
2. Client Retention/Customer Service: you made suggestions and we implemented them. No unnecessary paperwork at check-in, virtually paperless clinic, clear explanations of client’s insurance benefits, and making sure our customers understand the process. Quote: “The front office staff is always welcoming, fun and positive. They are great with patients, explaining costs and insurance thoroughly, and juggling appointments around work schedules.”  
3. Winning the 2016 Montana Women’s Business Center’s Start-Up of the Year at Prospera Business Network’s annual Business Excellence Awards for exceptional contributions to the region's business community. “Prospera’s support has been a huge part of our success since opening our doors in 2012. Six years ago, I went into the Prospera office thinking, ‘Maybe I should open a physical therapy clinic,’ and here we are now with a beautiful 4,500 square foot facility and 9 employees. It’s been an incredible growth process and Prospera held my hand throughout; from developing a business plan, to formulating financial projections, securing gap financing, to building Human Resource manuals, and how to use social media. Prospera has been integral to GSM's success and I am so honored by this recognition. I feel like I went in as a pupil and recently graduated from their fantastic ‘Business Start-up School’,” says Darcy Cook.
4. Hosting a sold-out first continuing education class in Level 1 KinetaCore Dry Needling. Part of our big vision was to be able to bring quality continuing education classes to Montana. Not only does it keep our PTs up to date but it elevates our entire profession. Our first class was a huge success and there will be more to come. 
5. Incredible growth. We can’t thank our community enough for the support over the past 5 years. We are fortunate to have experienced incredible grow and recruit amazing staff members, for that we thank you, our supportive and active community.

GSM’s 5 Physical Therapists

GSM’s mission is to enhance health and wellness through innovative, evidence-based Physical Therapy interventions. It has been our goal to be the most current, progression clinic in Southwest Montana. Our physical therapists are passionate about the profession and pursue the highest level of evidence-based continuing education and certifications, offering clinical excellence.
We are proud to have all of our staff certified in Dry Needling as well as the following specialties:

1. Founder Darcy Cook, MSPT; headaches and facial pain, and bonus: the physical therapist for the U.S. Snowboarding Team.
2. Gary Miller, MS, PT, CPed; Orthotic Fabrication.
3. Jennifer Gauthier, DPT; Vestibular Rehabilitation.
4. Alison Shannon-Lier, DPT; Pelvic Floor Rehab.
5. Max Bartlett, DPT; Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Sports Physical Therapy.

A client says of GSM founder Darcy Cook, “It is evident she stays informed with the latest in physical therapy news and advances in technology regarding the profession. Darcy is organized and thoughtful about her individualized treatment protocols. Thanks to her and to the staff at Granite Sports Medicine, I left each visit feeling positive about my recovery. We are lucky to be able to receive such care in the state of Montana.”

GSM’s 5 Community Actions:

1. GSM sponsors various teams throughout the years, including Livingston Parks and Recreation youth basketball team (photo) with GSM’s Alison Shannon-Lier as one of the coaches.
2. GSM sponsors and joins Western Sustainability Exchange’s Farmer’s Market.  You may remember the awesome beer cozies we give away....
3. GSM’s Gary Miller does free foot screens for the Park High track team.
4. GSM’s Darcy Cook does physical therapy presentations at Park High’s Trades Day (back by popular demand!)
5. GSM offers free 20-minute sports injury assessment to Park High athletes performed by Jennifer Gauthier and Max Bartlett

Thanks for all the support, enthusiasm and for inspiring us with your recovery GSM clients and community! Here’s to many more years of healing and actively enjoying our wonderful region.

Granite Sports Medicine is located at 315 S Main Street in Livingston, phone (406) 222-4682. Sign up for our informative newsletter at http://www.granitesportsmedicine.com/livingston-physical-therapy-newsletter/, share your testimonial online at http://www.granitesportsmedicine.com/livingston-physical-therapy-testimonials/  and follow us on social media at https://www.facebook.com/granitesportsmedicine. 

Granite Sports Medicine recently held a roundtable discussion about Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy. Alison Shannon-Lier PT, DPT introduced information about what pelvic floor therapy is and how it can be beneficial to many patients, both men and women. There is a need for increased knowledge about this progressive therapy. The general opinion of those in attendance was that pelvic floor therapy is of great interest.

One local physician expressed that she is a huge advocate for this type of therapy. She feels that it should be included in preventative care, and utilized after childbirth and hysterectomy surgery. In France, it is routine to have ten to twenty sessions of pelvic floor therapy after each birth. Dr. Shannon-Lier pointed out that there are other medical conditions this therapy can treat including abdominal surgery, pelvic surgery, hernia repair, back surgery, C-section, chronic low back pain and pelvic pain. Dr. Pinango, an OB physician at Livingston HealthCare, felt that earlier post-partum visits would be a good practice as it would help patients be prepared for the first six weeks of post-partum health.

The topic of men and pelvic floor therapy was brought up. The U.S. Military sees quite a few male patients for pelvic floor chronic pain therapy. Anyone doing heavy lifting, straining or physical work should be aware of this therapy and what it can do for them.

Many great ideas and opinions were given by the community members who came. Dr. Shannon-Lier said, “Everyone’s opinions and questions were helpful for what the community needs.” Positive feedback from current patients and amazing testimonials of success were given to the group. One patient who was unable to attend sent a moving letter telling of her journey of misdiagnosis, decreased quality of life, and prescribed pain medication. She shared her success following treatment with Dr. Shannon-Lier stating, “I am no longer taking pain medication or sleeping with a heating pad.” 

Another takeaway from the event was that people should know that others have symptoms and pelvic floor issues; you are not alone. New patients have booked appointments and there have been many requests for informational packets.

Learn more about at Dr. Shannon-Lier, Pelvic Floor Therapy, and our recent pelvic floor blogs here and here. Make an appointment online at  http://www.granitesportsmedicine.com/livingston-physical-therapy-contact/ or phone 406-222-4682. Thanks to everyone who participated in this successful roundtable!

You are invited to a roundtable discussion about Pelvic Floor Therapy on Thursday, March 30^th from 6 to 7 pm at Granite Sports Medicine, 315 S Main Street in Livingston. Granite Sports Medicine’s Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist Dr. Alison Shannon Lier, who was recently certified through the Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation Institute Hermann & Wallace and has been a practicing physical therapist for eight years, wants to share her new expertise at a roundtable discussion. Lier has been interested in Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy for 5yrs and is new to Park County, she's seeking input and opinion on how best to get the word out about the emerging field of Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy.

Come enjoy light snacks and beverages during a short presentation and share your thoughts with us. Your voice matters!

Unfamiliar with Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy? It’s the evaluation and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction, caused by a wide range of impairments within the muscles of our pelvis. The pelvic floor muscles make up a sling within your pelvis and help support abdominal and pelvic organs, as well as help control bladder and bowel function, and sexual activity. 1 in 5 Americans – men, women, and children – suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction that goes unidentified or undiagnosed. Lier herself suffered from incontinence during middle school and high school and knows personally how frustrating and embarrassing it is. She’s also seen firsthand and with patients how pelvic floor therapy can more than improve someone’s symptoms. It can improve their quality of life as well.

To learn more join us March 30^th and visit  http://www.granitesportsmedicine.com/livingston-physical-therapy-pelvic-floor-roundtable-discussion-3-30-17/

Phone 406.222.4682 with questions.