This year OrthoSport Physical Therapy Center celebrates milestone anniversaries for both locations with10 years for Grosse Ile and 20 for Canton.
Owners, husband and wife team Veli and Satu-Paivi (SP) Sipila, have combined over seventy years in physical therapy expertise and are proud to be serving the Downriver community specializing in orthopedic, sports injuries, spine care, accident rehabilitation, exercise health and wellness, pre/post surgical care, manual therapy, joint and spine mobilization and dry needling.
Veli explained that his interest in physical therapy started over forty years ago when his mother was working in a hospital surgery room in Finland. “She always told me that in the hospital she worked was a nice physical therapist doing a great job helping people. At that time, I was in sports, but had never gotten injured so I didn’t know anything about physical therapy. But when applying to college, and in Finland you have to pass tests for the schools that you are applying to, I got the highest points possible for physical therapy and thought, ok maybe this might be something for me.”
What makes the Orthosport Physical Therapy Centers stand out in addition to an excellent, highly skilled staff, is the extra training that makes them different from everyone else.
“In Europe where we were educated it’s a pretty demanding process to be certified in Orthopedic Manual Therapy. It’s a three-year postgraduate residential training at the highest levels. Nowadays, many therapies are getting to be exercise-based without manual therapy component. Our extra training and skills give us an ability to identify and correct the underlying specific dysfunction leading to faster recovery and higher level of functional ability as an end result.”
Veli also wanted to highlight their newest treatment of integrated dry needling, a technique that uses a needle without any medication to address areas of nerve/joint/muscle/soft tissue pain and/or movement impairments.
“There is a lot of science behind the process, but simply put it can be used to calm down inflammation, normalize the blood flow and normalize muscle tension. When the inflammation goes down, it leads to pain relief. It can be done independently or can be used as a part of the physical therapy approach to help with something that can be difficult to manage otherwise.”
He says it feels great to serve the people Downriver and that being on Grosse Ile is special because of how small and tight knit the community is. The elderly who may have trouble leaving the island can get to the center easily and the high school students don’t have to be dropped off by their parents but can walk or bike over after school to receive treatment.
Veli also shared that anyone on the fence about pursuing physical therapy can have a quick free consultation to guide them through the process and assess what kind of care, scans or therapy they may need. There’s no reason to wonder or miss out on important treatments.
Call 734-307-7037
8950 Macomb St., Grosse Ile