Dr. Joseph Adamchak, DPT at Valley Ridge Performance Physical Therapy is highly trained in the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of orthopedic and sports injuries. He provides care based on the current best evidence during one-on-one sessions to facilitate a rapid recovery for even the most involved patients.

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He knows that getting patients back to their active lifestyles is a top priority, and that physical therapy at Valley Ridge Performance Physical Therapy is a great first step in the process. Experience care that used to be only available to professional athletes, is now available to the community members I serve. I take pride in providing one-on-one attention, in a warm and caring environment, to each of the patients that I treat.

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I see a variety of patients each with their own specific needs, daily demands, and personal goals. That’s why I take the extra time to provide a customized program to each new patient I see.

 

Conditions I Successfully Treat on a Regular Basis:

 

Tendon/Ligament Disorders

• Sprains

• Strains

• Tendonitis

• Tendon Ruptures

Muscle Injury / Disorders

• Muscle Bruises, Contusions

• Muscle Ruptures

• Muscle Contractures

• Myositis

• Muscle Spasms

Pain Management

• Headaches

• Myofascial Pain

• Neck Pain

• Low Back Pain

Joint Injuries / Disorders

• Osteoarthritis

• Dislocations

• Subluxations

• Ligament Injury

• Cartilage Tears

​Whether you’re a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone who enjoys an active lifestyle, my sports therapy services are designed to get you back to doing what you love—pain-free and stronger than ever. I am here to guide you through every step of your recovery journey.

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What is Sports Therapy?

Sports therapy is a specialized branch of physical therapy that focuses on preventing, diagnosing, and treating injuries from sports and physical activities. It’s a holistic approach that helps you recover from injuries while improving your body’s performance to prevent future problems.

At Valley Ridge Performance Physical Therapy, I customize my sports physical therapy to your unique needs, helping you recover from injuries, improve mobility, and boost strength and flexibility.

 

Common Sports Injuries I Treat

Sports injuries can affect anyone, regardless of age or skill level. I treat a variety of common sports injuries, including:

• Sprains and Strains

• Tendinitis

• Rotator Cuff Injuries

• Knee and Ankle Injuries

• Shin Splints

 

How Sports Therapy Can Help You Heal & Perform

At Valley Ridge Performance Physical Therapy, my sports therapy services are designed to do much more than simply treat your injuries. I focus on your whole body to improve overall function, mobility, and strength.

 

Here’s how my services help:

• Pain Relief: Using specialized techniques such as manual therapy and cupping, I target the root cause of your pain and relieve discomfort quickly and effectively.

• Improved Mobility: Tight muscles, stiff joints, and poor flexibility can limit your range of motion and hinder performance. I will work with you to restore full mobility, ensuring you can move freely and efficiently.

• Enhanced Performance: Whether you’re recovering from an injury or looking to improve your athletic performance, my physical therapy services are designed to optimize your strength, endurance, and flexibility.

• Long-Term Injury Prevention: Preventing future injuries is a major part of my sports therapy program. Through mobility and injury risk assessments, strengthening exercises, and personalized treatment, I equip you with the tools to stay injury-free.

 

Why Choose Valley Ridge Performance Physical Therapy?

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At Valley Ridge Performance Physical Therapy, I stand out for my personalized care, experience, and comprehensive approach.

 

Here’s what makes my services unique:

• Expert Sports Therapists: I am highly trained and experienced in treating sports injuries from weekend warrior, high school and collegiate athletes to elite Special Operations soldiers and professional athletes.

• Personalized Treatment Plans: I assess your unique needs and design a treatment plan tailored to your injury, goals, and lifestyle for effective recovery.

• Preventive Care: My sports therapy services include injury prevention strategies, mobility assessments, and strength training to help avoid future injuries.

• Comprehensive Services: I offer manual therapy, sports-specific rehab, mobility training, and injury risk assessments to optimize your performance and get you back out on the field or the ski hill.

• Flexible Options: Currently I offer personalized treatment in your home and virtual treatment if needed. 

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My Approach to Your Post-surgical Sports & Orthopedic Rehabilitation

After surgery, regaining your strength, function, and mobility is crucial. As a physical therapist, I work closely with surgeons who routinely refer their post-surgical patients to me because I specialize in helping individuals like you make a complete and confident recovery.

 

I provide one-on-one, evidence-based physical therapy sessions designed specifically to:

• Accelerate your recovery process.

• Restore your full function for all your daily activities.

• Safely guide your return to work, recreational pursuits, and even competitive sports.

 

Conditions I Expertly Rehabilitate:

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The rehabilitation process I design is always tailored precisely to your specific injury and the type of surgery you've undergone. I have extensive experience helping patients recover from a wide range of orthopedic post-operative procedures, including:

 

Joint & Ligament Repairs:

• Knee, Hip, and Shoulder Joint Replacements

• Knee Ligament Reconstructions: Including ACL, MCL, PCL, and LCL repairs.

• Arthroscopic Knee Surgeries: Such as meniscectomies and meniscal repairs.

• Ligament and Tendon Repairs: Including Achilles tendon repairs.

• Arthroscopic Hip Surgeries: Such as labral repairs.

• Shoulder Post-Surgical Recovery: For rotator cuff tears, labral tears, SLAP tears/lesions, arthroscopy, and more.

 

Spinal & Nerve Procedures:

• Neck and Back Surgery: Including fusions, laminectomy, decompression, and discectomy.

• Nerve Releases: Such as cubital tunnel, radial tunnel, carpal tunnel, and tarsal tunnel.

• Nerve Compression Release

 

Fracture & Other Orthopedic Surgeries:

• Bone or Joint Fusion (Arthrodesis)

• Tendon Transfers

• Surgical Fixation of Fractures: Including Open Reduction and Internal Fixation (ORIF), where broken bones are reset and internally stabilized with devices like screws, plates, rods, or pins.

 

My goal is to get you back to your optimal self, safely and effectively.

Exercise isn't just about big workouts; it's about optimizing how your body functions every single day. From getting out of bed to enjoying your favorite activities, how well your body moves impacts your safety and independence.

 

Coordination and Balance Exercises

• Every move you make, from walking to preparing a meal, challenges your body's coordination and balance. Without good equilibrium, you increase your risk of falls and injuries. These exercises are crucial, especially after an injury or illness, to help you regain control over your body and maintain your independence.

 

Posture Exercises

• Did you know your posture directly affects your muscle power, coordination, and even your risk of injury? Long hours at desks, poor muscle tone, and bad postural habits can all lead to discomfort or disability. Our posture exercises help correct these patterns, easing aches and pains not just during your sessions but in your daily life too.

 

Range of Motion Exercises

• These exercises are designed to increase the flexibility and movement in your joints and soft tissues. Through active, passive, or assisted stretching, we help your joints move more freely and without pain, improving your overall mobility.

 

Muscle Performance Exercises

• Building power, endurance, and muscle strength is fundamental for good balance, stability, and strong bones and joints. Our resistance and endurance exercises are carefully designed to increase your muscle strength safely, without risking further injury.

 

Area-Specific Exercises

• While we often think of exercise in terms of muscles, it benefits your body's other systems too. We design exercises specifically focused on areas like your arms, legs, or back, tailoring the approach to target your unique needs and challenges.

 

Relaxation Techniques

• Even though exercising your muscles, joints, and soft tissues is essential, helping them relax and release tension is equally vital. Resting allows your body to kickstart the healing process. We also incorporate pain-relieving therapies like heat, cold, electrical stimulation, massage, and trigger point therapy. These methods can aid recovery, improve sleep, lower blood pressure, and keep you ready for more activity!

 

By incorporating these targeted exercises and techniques, we aim to enhance your overall well-being, reduce pain, and empower you to move with greater ease and confidence.

Joint Pain Relief Through Joint Mobilization

Joint pain is a very common condition I successfully treat every day. One of the powerful techniques I'm highly trained to use as a physical therapy professional is Joint Mobilization. This hands-on technique is designed to:

• Relieve your joint pain.

• Improve your mobility (how well your joints move).

• Enhance your physical function (your ability to walk, move, and perform daily activities).

 

Types of Joint Mobilization Techniques I Use

I use a variety of specialized techniques to mobilize (move) joints in your body. Many of these methods are named after the clinicians who developed and perfected them.

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Some common joint mobilization techniques I employ include:

• Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM): Using specialized tools to address soft tissue restrictions around joints.

• Mulligan Manual Therapy (Mobilization with Movement): Techniques that combine passive joint movement by me with your active movement.

• Neural Tension Mobilization: Specialized techniques focused on carefully moving and freeing nerves that may be restricted and causing pain.

• Graded Mobilizations: Gentle, low-velocity movements applied to the joint with varying depths, designed to reduce pain and improve joint play.

• Manipulation: A high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust applied to a joint at or near its end-range of motion.

 

My Focus on Spinal Manipulation

At my practice, Spinal Manipulation (sometimes called "spinal manipulative therapy") is a technique I frequently utilize. I perform spinal manipulation by applying a controlled force to a joint in your spine, either with my hands or a specialized device. The specific amount and type of force I use depends on your condition and the manipulation technique chosen.

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The primary goals of spinal manipulation treatment are to effectively relieve your pain and improve your overall physical functioning.

Ready to explore how joint mobilization can help alleviate your pain and improve your movement?

Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) is a highly effective, targeted treatment technique that uses specialized tools, typically made of metal or plastic, to perform precise massage and manipulation of soft tissues.

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This versatile approach helps to:

• Break down scar tissue and adhesions, which can restrict movement, reduce inflammation in affected areas and improve range of motion and overall function.

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IASTM is often used to treat common conditions like muscle strains, tendinitis, and chronic pain. We use these tools to address various tissue layers, including the skin, fascia, and nerves. This allows for targeted tissue mobilization and specific neuro-sensory stimulation, which can help modulate pain and improve tissue glide.

Despite the tools having a hard edge, IASTM techniques don't need to be aggressive to be effective. Light, gentle strokes can be just as beneficial, and more pressure can be applied as needed, making IASTM an adaptable and impactful addition to your comprehensive physical therapy treatment plan.

Taping is a powerful tool I use to support your recovery and boost your performance. Whether you're an athlete or simply dealing with daily aches, taping can:

• Relieve pain and provide immediate comfort.

• Stabilize injured joints and body parts.

• Reduce swelling and speed up healing.

• Protect you from re-injury during activity.

• Improve your confidence in your movements.

• Correct faulty movement patterns to prevent future issues.

• Enhance your body's awareness (proprioception).

I use different types of tape, including strong rigid sports tape for maximum support, flexible elastic tape for gentle compression, and advanced Kinesiology tape, which dynamically assists your muscles as you move.

Ultimately, taping can help you move better, feel more secure, and get back to doing what you love faster.

Looking for a unique approach to soft tissue mobilization? Cupping therapy may be just what you need. Unlike traditional massage, which applies compressive forces to the tissues, cupping creates a decompressive force by gently lifting the skin, tissue, and muscle upwards. This unique action can offer a welcome relief from the constant pushing, pulling, and compressing your tissues experience every day.

 

Cupping can be performed in two ways:

Static cupping: Cups are left in place on the skin for a specified time.
Dynamic cupping: Cups are moved around on the skin, sometimes paired with specific movements.

 

By increasing blood flow and circulation, relieving muscle tension, and promoting cellular repair, cupping can help manage pain, facilitate new connective tissue formation, and encourage the creation of new blood vessels. As a complementary treatment, cupping can be a wonderful addition to your rehabilitation and and wellness routine, helping you feel and move better.

Video running gait analysis is like having a superpower for understanding your body's movement. By recording you as you run from multiple angles and playing it back in slow motion, we can pinpoint exactly what's happening with every step. This deep insight allows us to:

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1. Identify the Root Cause of Pain and Injury
Often, pain in your feet, knees, hips, or back isn't just about the painful spot itself. It can be a result of subtle imbalances or inefficiencies in your running form. Video analysis helps us:

• Uncover atypical movement patterns: We can see exactly how your body moves and identify any deviations from optimal mechanics.

• Pinpoint muscle imbalances: Discover areas of weakness or tightness that might be contributing to your issues.

• Understand why injuries aren't healing: If you're struggling with recurring pain, the video can reveal underlying biomechanical factors preventing full recovery.

 

2. Prevent Future Injuries
Don't wait for an injury to strike! By analyzing your gait proactively, we can:

• Detect risk factors: Identify potential problems in your form before they lead to pain or injury.

• Make targeted adjustments: Implement specific training and movement modifications to reduce stress on vulnerable areas.

• Ensure long-term health: By promoting proper mechanics, we help protect your joints and tissues from premature wear and tear.

 

3. Improve Running Efficiency and Performance
Even if you're pain-free, optimizing your running form can make a significant difference:

• Run faster with less effort: More efficient mechanics mean you use less energy to cover the same distance, enhancing speed and endurance.

• Optimize your stride: Learn how small changes to your foot strike, cadence, and body lean can dramatically improve your running economy.

• Receive personalized recommendations: Get tailored advice on footwear, training adjustments, and specific exercises to maximize your running potential.

 

4. Provide Visual Feedback and Empower You

Seeing is believing! One of the biggest benefits of video analysis is the ability to visually review your own movement:

• Gain a deeper understanding: You'll see first hand how your body moves and better understand the "why" behind any issues or recommendations.

• Track progress: We can compare current videos to past ones, clearly showing your improvements over time.

• Guide your choices: The insights gained can inform everything from shoe selection to your personalized home exercise program.

In essence, a video running gait analysis provides a precise, data-driven approach to understanding your unique running mechanics, leading to more effective treatment, smarter injury prevention, and optimized performance.

Had a few tough days on out on the Ski Hill, in the gym, at the golf course, or training for your next race. 

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Treat yourself like a pro and get a Recovery Session to help you manage your soreness and jump-start your recovery for your next go-round. Using a combination of techniques and modalities I can address: 

• Any tissue mobility restrictions

• Muscle soreness

• Joint soreness

• Joint swelling 

 

​Ready to feel your best and get back to what you love? I'm here to help!