First impressions at a new job are challenging enough, but imagine accidentally bouncing a ball off a trampoline and almost hitting the face of a coworker. Meet Ava Crowley, Teton Therapy’s newest Therapy Technician in the Riverton clinic. She definitely knows how to make an entrance!
Before she joined the Teton Therapy staff, Ava was referred to the Riverton clinic early this year for an ACL injury and torn meniscus. It’s a common injury for volleyball players like herself, and one that some researchers describe as becoming an epidemic among young athletes. The rise is particularly notable among female athletes, who are more likely to suffer from ACL injuries than their male counterparts. According to UCLA Health Studies, female athletes are up to four times more likely to experience ACL injuries than males, with the highest rates observed in sports like soccer, basketball, and gymnastics.
But Ava’s Physical Therapist at Teton Therapy, Luke Bennett, DPT, MDNC, didn’t let her become just a statistic: “Luke is really great. He’s a great motivator and he really pushes you to do more than you thought you could.” She continues, “I was seeing progress a lot faster than I thought I would, even in the first two weeks [of physical therapy].”
And for Ava, “PT” didn’t stand for “physical torture,” She laughs, “No physical torture. The therapists have you do what’s tolerable for you.”
In fact, the experience was so positive, she’s back at Teton Therapy as a therapy technician.
When not on the treatment floor, Ava is in her second year of Health Science Studies at CWC. She will go on to study Physical Therapy, a path that had its roots in Ava’s time as a patient at Teton Therapy. “I had been [trying to decide] between radiology and Physical Therapy. I loved the environment at Teton Therapy, and being active.”
Ava adds that as a patient, “having a good environment makes everyone feel safer, happier, and more motivated.”
Safer, of course, except around the trampoline.
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!
In Riverton, call 307-857-7074. In Lander, call 307-332-2230, or find us on the web at TetonTherapypc.com.
