Why Is Wellness Important In Physical Therapy?
When you pull out that old Webster’s dictionary from 1999 and look up the word wellness you will find the definition of wellness as “the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.”
So many people, especially us young folks out there, take for granted the state of being in good health, or what we perceive as good health. Countless Americans deal with the unfortunate side of poor health. And your health just isn’t physical. Emotional, physical, mental, spiritual are just some aspects of health that many Americans struggle with.
The Focus On Whole Body Health & Wellness
At Elite Physical Therapy and Wellness we want to focus on whole body health, mental clarity, and rejuvenation of one’s mind and body. We have several different treatments and programs that contribute to every person’s ability to improve their health. Many of these treatments are not considered “traditional” as American medicine would view it. However despite American medicine’s focus over the last several decades on quick relief or change in chemistry with the use of medication, more and more doctors and the general public are becoming aware of alternative ways to improve one’s health that are low safety risk, low side effect, and productive in their goal.
Elite Physical Therapy and Wellness offers several cash based wellness programs at an affordable rate for you, the client. People always ask me, why should I spend money out of pocket when I have insurance? My answer is usually this….If we all depended on insurance to get us healthy and to keep us healthy we would all be in a dangerous state of affairs. In actuality, when we invest a little in our health up front and maintain our health, we end up saving a lot more money in the long run. I have seen countless examples of this in my career. I won’t get on my soap box there. I’ll save the sad state of affairs on healthcare and insurance for another blog/discussion.
Wellness & Physical Therapy Philosophy
So what is the philosophy behind our Wellness services and what wellness services do you provide? The philosophy mainly centers around one main theme. Each of our modalities focus on providing and enhancing oxygenated blood flow throughout your body and increasing oxygenation while removing toxins such as lactic acid from your body. The chemical change that occurs when oxygenated blood flow rushes to every system in your body is much needed for your body to recover, perform and fight off sickness. This impacts mental health and focus, immune health, physical health and recovery, and emotional health.
Without getting too scientific here I want to explain why oxygenated blood flow is the key part of your well being. Simply put, every organ in your body, including your brain, your bones, your skin, your muscles, your eyes and your hair depend and consume on oxygenated blood flow that is rich in nutrients. When there is no oxygenated blood flow, there is death to cells and a buildup of metabolic end products such as lactic acid. When you have good oxygenated blood flow to every area of your body your muscles can work more efficiently and effectively, more white blood cells are fighting off infection and illness, and energy levels/focus can improve significantly, leaving you feeling productive and well. For you athletes and weekend warriors, this can have a tremendous impact on your performance and can add/enhance to your game.
I will breakdown each wellness service separately in future posts but I will list them for you below.
- Hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy
- BEMER mat
- Vasoneumatic recovery sleeves (Normatech sleeves)
- Class IV laser therapy
- Sports injury prevention and education classes
Where Can You Find A Physical Therapy & Wellness in Pittsburgh?
Elite Physical Therapy and Wellness takes pride in being one of the few clinics in the southern region of Pittsburgh with these therapies and the only in the Mon Valley with these therapies.
If you have further questions on our wellness programs and how they can impact you or your friends/family members please give our office a call at or email us at
With sincere wishes to health and wellbeing, Emilio Galis PT, DPT
