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Russell Darrington : Osteopractic Physical Therapist
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Russell Darrington has practiced physical therapy for over 25 years. In addition to receiving his Master's Degree in Physical Therapy in 1994, he also completed Advanced Fellowship training with the American Academy of Manipulative Therapy in 2018. This included certifications in Dry Needling and Spinal and Extremity Manipulation, culminating in receiving his Diploma of Osteopractic. Russell has also completed continuing education courses in Functional Movement System (FMS), McKenzie Diagnostic Therapy, and is a Certified TPI Golf Performance Specialist. Previous to opening Phoenix Osteopractic Physical Therapy, he owned and operated his own home health contract company for 18 years.

What is an Osteopractor?

The term Osteopractor literally translates to “bone practitioner". Osteopractors are highly trained in diagnosing and treating most neuro-muscluo-skeletal disorders.  The Osteopractic Diploma is given only to PT’s, MD’s, or DO’s who
have completed a rigorous, evidenced-based series of courses including: 
  • Certification in Spinal Manipulation or Cert. SMT (series of four courses)
  • Certification in Dry Needling or Cert. DN (series of two courses, fifty-four total hours)
  • Extremity Manipulative Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM)
  • Differential Diagnosis & Multi-Modal Management of Upper and Lower Extremity Spine-Related Pain Syndromes.
A manual physical therapist will use a number of different hands-on techniques as part of their treatment. These may include massage, other soft-tissue mobilization techniques, joint mobilizations, manual stretching, and joint manipulation, etc.  An Osteopractor has and uses all those skills along with Dry Needling which is similar to acupuncture and Tool- or Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization Techniques, meaning we use other tools to get specific soft tissue treatments, as well as Cupping, Body Tempering, Stretching, etc.  An Osteopractor is essentially a Physical Therapist, Massage Therapist, Acupuncturist, Functional Fitness Instructor, and Chiropractor all rolled into one!

 
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