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WASHINGTON D.C. (May 29, 2008) - Many of the physical tolls
professional athletes face are mirrored in professional soldiers.
Pulled muscles, back pain, and sprains are just a few injuries
soldiers face while conducting day-to-day operations in Iraq.
Enter the Army physical therapist -- a mobile, hands-on medical
professional who works with soldiers to alleviate their
neuromusculoskeletal problems in the thick of the fight here.
"We see our guys on the line as professional athletes," said
Army Capt. Christine Iverson, a physical therapist with 1st Brigade
Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
Iverson, who has been an Army physical therapist since April
2006, earned a doctorate of physical therapy from Baylor University
and has been helping Screaming Eagle soldiers reach their peak
performance ever since.
She and her mobile physical therapy team have helped more than
2,500 soldiers get back on their feet since being deployed here in
September.
The Bastogne physical therapy team handles an array of soldier's
injuries, from acute battle wounds to chronic orthopedic pain,
Iverson said.
"You name it, we're here to fix 'em," Iverson said.
"Physical therapy is not to be confused with massage therapy,"
said Iverson, who describes her operation as a one-stop shop for
relieving soldiers' aches and pains.
The physical therapy team here specializes in joint
mobilizations, manipulations and exercise therapies. They use
sophisticated machines, modalities and braces to help debilitated
warriors get back on their feet across the Salahuddin province.
Iverson said her team spends an average of 20 days a month
traveling to forward operating bases here providing treatment and
giving advice to soldiers on how to avoid injuries.
"As we are trying to do more with less, it becomes important for
our line soldiers to get the best treatment we can give them," she
said. "We want them to leave here as better soldiers."
A large portion of the cases Iverson's team deals with concern
back pain. As soldiers are being asked to carry a heavy burden
here, they carry equally heavy loads on their backs.
Core strengthening is key to avoiding back issues, Iverson said.
This entails building the muscle that acts as a weight belt
underneath the superficial layers of muscle around your core, she
said.
For many soldiers, the physical therapists here have been
instrumental in helping them recover.
"It's awesome because you don't have to go through a whole
deployment in pain," said Army Spc. Thomas Heppler, who suffers
from chronic back pain.
Heppler said he appreciates having a physical therapist at the
brigade level instead of having to seek help elsewhere. "It makes
it easier on me to have them here," he said. "They make themselves
real accessible."
For Iverson, there is no better place for a physical therapist
to be, than at the heart of the fight. "We belong down at the line
units," she said. "We owe them that."
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