Who knew needles could make you smile?
A speck of dirt brought Alice Ferris to Teton Therapy and made her an enthusiastic advocate for the practice of Dry Needling.
Alice is a 77 years-young Wyoming resident who has always been active in the community – following her grandkids and the students she works with in their various interests. About five years ago, Alice was attending one of her grandchildren’s softball games and thought she felt some dirt in her eye. Her daughter looked closer and noticed Alice’s eye was drooping. That led to a hospital visit, but luckily, not to a stroke diagnosis. Instead, Alice was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy, a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face.
Her symptoms progressed, and Alice soon had a hard time eating, talking – oftentimes stuttering – and her left eye and mouth were drooping. She was unable to drive, couldn’t read, and couldn’t do the traditional Native American beading she loved. Alice was referred to an acupuncturist but wasn’t seeing the results she wanted. That’s when Alice’s doctor, Dr. Mark Cardinal at IHS in Fort Washakie, referred her for Dry Needling. She decided to go to Teton Therapy for the treatment, and she’s been seeing positive results ever since.
Twice a week, Alice receives Dry Needling to gain strength in her facial muscles. While weather and stress can cause flare-ups, regular attendance at her prescribed appointments helps keep symptoms to a minimum. According to Teton Therapy Lander Physical Therapist Jason West, MPT, “Alice does very well managing her ongoing issues with Dry Needling, which is the only treatment we do [with her].” In fact, a week’s vacation away from therapy had Alice’s symptoms return and intensify, but she saw improvement after just one Dry Needling session.
Teton Therapy Lander Physical Therapist Theresa Shoemaker, PT, DPT adds, “Alice does the work and has been doing the work [to improve] since the beginning. Her attitude is amazing [and she] gives the best advice.”
Dry Needling at Teton Therapy has allowed Alice to get back to the Native American beading she loves, even beading a pair of shoes for one of Teton Therapy’s employees.
Alice tells anyone who might be hesitant to start Dry Needling to “just try it! So many people think it hurts, but it’s not bad and it helps so much. My goals were to be able to live the way I wanted to and I can do that now.”
Throughout the month of June, Teton Therapy is celebrating the amazing, inspiring, fun, and funny patients who make our clinics the incredible places they are. Watch this space for more posts about our patients’ success stories, and if you’d like to be one of these stories, schedule your free pain consultation today!
Call 307-332-2230 in Lander, 307-857-7074 in Riverton, or find us on the web at TetonTherapypc.com.
