Accidents are just a part of life. They can happen at work, home, or even on the road. And when accidents happen, injuries often follow. According to the CDC, the number of injury-related visits to the ER was more than 38 million in 2020. But not all injuries require the same treatment. Minor sprains and bruises can often be treated at home with rest, ice, and elevation. Other, more serious injuries necessitate ongoing care like sports rehab and physical therapy. As a combination of physical exercises and education, physical therapy in Summerville, SC, has incredible benefits for those who are injured or in constant pain. For many patients and pain sufferers, physical therapy is the key to a pain-free life - one without constant worry and debilitating pain, where joints and muscles don't ache, and everyday activities are easy to accomplish.
That's where Back 2 Health Physical Medicine comes into play: to help you rediscover the lifestyle you used to love.
Physical therapy centers around correcting impairments to your body's muscles, nerves, and even your brain. When you tear a muscle or break a major bone in your body, it's crucial to maintain careful stretching and training as your injury heals. However, trying to handle physical therapy on your own is quite risky. At Back 2 Health Physical Medicine, our team uses multiple diagnostic tools to monitor your injuries as you heal to ensure your treatment is helping to heal your body, not damage it further.
We help many different types of patients recover, from teen and adult athletes who play competitive sports to older adults and seniors who are retired. Our doctors and physical therapists find that immediate care often helps prevent minor issues, like sprains, from developing into serious problems. That's especially true if we can find a misalignment or weakness that led to the injury, to begin with.
When an injury takes you out of the game or affects your daily life, seeking physical therapy can get you back to normal as quickly as possible, without risking further damage. And that's the beauty of physical therapy from Back 2 Health.
Patients rely on our trained physical therapists to help them work through a myriad of issues, such as:
Unlike other physical rehab centers, however, we provide more than just physical therapy. Instead of focusing on one pain-relieving discipline, our team utilizes physical therapy along with medical therapeutics and research-backed solutions to give patients a multi-discipline approach to healing. We don't just have one or two physical therapists at your service - we have an entire team dedicated to your recovery, including:
At Back 2 Health, we believe the very best results are achieved by giving patients personalized treatment and access to a comprehensive list of rehab services. Our doctors and physical therapists do more than treat pain - we treat patients. Our goal is to completely restore the quality of life you deserve. We accomplish that goal by using all our resources to treat your pain, from the bottoms of your feet to tips of your triceps and everything in between.
And with decades of combined experience, we understand that no two patients or their injuries are exactly the same. The causes of back pain, foot pain, arthritis pain, and other types of pain are broad and change from patient to patient. The treatment of those conditions, then, must also have a broad range of pain treatment tools.
That's why, when you trust Back 2 Health Physical Medicine, you can rest easy knowing your treatment plan is crafted for you and your body - not someone within your age and weight range.
Our team treats a wide range of conditions, including:
By taking a focused approach to physical therapy, we can better understand your needs and the conditions causing your pain. Whether you're suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome or sciatica, our doctors and therapists have the tools and training to provide relief. And we keep doing it until you're back on your feet and back to your life.
And that, in a nutshell, is what separates Back 2 Heath from the rest of the pack: nuanced medical and physical therapy in Summerville, SC, that helps you rediscover what healthy, pain-free living is all about. During rehab, our therapists may use resources like massage therapy, chiropractic care, and even medical injections for a more well-rounded approach to your recovery.
Many of the patients we see who are injured report that conventional methods like pain meds and surgery don't really solve their pain problems - they just mask them. When you throw in the risks associated with surgery and pain meds, alternatives like chiropractic care make a lot of sense. If you're looking for a safe, non-invasive treatment, combining the benefits of physical therapy with chiropractic adjustments is a great option for pain relief and overall well-being.
At Back 2 Health, our chiropractic physicians diagnose and treat patients with health problems associated with the body's muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems.
As the saying goes, a healthy spine equals a healthy person.
Just about every type of chiropractic care revolves around your spine. When your vertebrae are misaligned, the nerves surrounding them become compressed, resulting in pain. When a chiropractor restores your spine's natural alignment, it reduces your pain and other medical symptoms. To achieve pain relief, Back 2 Health chiropractors use focused pressure to restore healthy vertebrae motion and loosen frozen joints. This process allows the nerves along your spine to properly function and carry messages to and from your brain.
There are many benefits of using chiropractic care alongside physical therapy in Summerville, SC, and other solutions like massage therapy. Some of the most common benefits of chiropractic care include:
Sitting in one spot for hours or frequently bending at work can cause horrendous neck pain. Whether from work or a car accident, our chiropractors ease that pain by realigning your spine, which reduces the tension on your neck.
The American College of Physicians says that doctors should recommend non-medical treatments for back pain prior to surgery. Chiropractic care helps tremendously in this regard, correcting subluxations through techniques like spinal decompression.
If you suffer from tension headaches that start in your upper spine or neck, chiropractic care may be the solution you need for relief.
Unfortunately, many people with back pain become addicted to pain meds like opiates. However, a study by the NIH found that adults who visited a chiropractor weren't as likely to receive an opioid prescription for pain when compared to those who only visited a medical doctor.
Our team of chiropractic doctors excels at finding and analyzing improper vertebrae placement. Once those areas are discovered, they use advanced techniques to correct subluxations, returning your body to its proper alignment. This strategy is key in correcting vertebral subluxation complex, which can affect your long-term health and how your body functions.
Like other practitioners, our chiropractors follow common standards and procedures to diagnose and treat you with chiropractic care. On your first visit, we'll get your medical history, conduct physical, orthopedic, and neurological examinations, and may order lab tests for further info. We may also use X-rays and other essential tools to focus on your spine and its proper function.
If needed, our chiropractors may conduct a postural and spinal analysis to discover if vertebral dysfunction is affecting your nervous system or causing a skeletal imbalance, which lowers disease resistance and causes additional pain.
Massage has been used for thousands of years to promote relaxation and relieve pain. And while most people think of getting a massage as a treat, purposeful massage therapy demonstrates an incredible ability to heal and restore overall wellness. In fact, modern applications have been proven to be very effective when used to supplement physical therapy. A complete review by the Institute of Work and Health found that massage had measurable effects vs. placebo treatments. That's excellent news for patients who need physical therapy to help heal injuries.
The benefits of massage therapy for issues like back pain and shoulder pain are numerous and include the following:
Deep Tissue Massage
Myofascial Release
Neuromuscular Therapy
Sports Massage
If you're suffering from a long-term condition like neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain, or arm pain, massage therapy could be a great option to consider. Though massage can't always solve issues like inflammation, it can help relieve painful symptoms and works very well when used as part of the multi-discipline approach at Back 2 Health Physical Medicine.
Massage can help treat many conditions, such as:
If we're being honest, few people look forward to a medical procedure that involves needles. But the proper injection may reduce or even eliminate joint, nerve, muscle, or spinal pain plaguing you for years, all within a few hours. At Back 2 Health, we combine medical injections for immediate relief with other treatments like physical therapy in Summerville, SC, that repair factors causing inflammation in your body, providing permanent results.
In many cases, inflammation is a good thing - it helps heal injuries and subsides when the healing process is finished. In many cases, however, inflammation doesn't go away. It actually becomes counterproductive, causing severe pain, swelling, restricted movement, and even structural damage that prevents normal bodily function.
Joint and inflammation injections from Back 2 Health help relieve pain and inflammation by reducing blood flow and limiting immune system cells at the affected joint. These injections typically contain a corticosteroid and an anesthetic. The corticosteroid helps with inflammation by limiting blood vessel dilation, while the anesthetic helps with immediate relief of pain.
Generally, joint and inflammation injections can serve two purposes: for pain relief and for diagnostic purposes. As a diagnostic tool, these injections can help our doctors identify the source of pain you're enduring. As a pain reliever, injections help reduce inflammation around the affected joint, providing localized pain relief with few, if any, side effects.
Patients who qualify for medical injections from Back 2 Health enjoy a number of short and long-term benefits, including:
Patients at Back 2 Health Physical Medicine use joint and inflammation injections for a variety of conditions, such as:
If you're looking for a truly personalized, complete approach to physical therapy and pain relief, contact Back 2 Health Physical Medicine today. As a team, we analyze every new patient's case and craft a customized medical treatment plan tailored to their needs. But unlike other "pain" clinics, we don't rely on one form of therapy.
Our doctors and specialists use massage therapy, chiropractic therapy, medical injections, and other treatments to give you long-term relief - not a short-term "band-aid" that only lasts for a few days. If surgery and opiates are off the table, contact our office to learn more about the Back 2 Health physical therapy difference.
SUMMERVILLE — Jacob Limehouse, 26, and his wife do not want children and had already discussed Jacob getting a vasectomy. Then the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June 2022, allowing states like South Carolina to seek to ban or severely restrict access to abortion, and that sealed it for them.“That definitely added to t...
SUMMERVILLE — Jacob Limehouse, 26, and his wife do not want children and had already discussed Jacob getting a vasectomy. Then the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June 2022, allowing states like South Carolina to seek to ban or severely restrict access to abortion, and that sealed it for them.
“That definitely added to the desire to get it done,” Limehouse said.
After doing what he felt was a lot of research, much of which downplayed the risk from the procedure, he went in for a vasectomy on Jan. 9. What followed was a trip to the emergency room and a week at Summerville Medical Center battling severe complications that have left him with lingering pain and extensive medical bills.
Limehouse wasn’t alone in his newfound interest in vasectomies. Immediately after the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court, the search for information on vasectomies hit a five-year high on Google Trends, according an article in the journal Fertility and Sterility. In many states, particularly those which banned or severely restricted abortion in the wake of the decision, interest in vasectomies took off, according to an analysis by The Post and Courier.
In Michigan, where a temporary injunction blocked a 1931 law that banned abortion except to save the life of a mother, inquiries about vasectomies at one clinic increased 225 percent compared to the year before, according to a study in the Journal of Urology. Another study at 10 academic medical centers spread across the country found an overall 10.9 percent increase in vasectomy interest among patients compared to a slight decrease the year before. The rates varied across the centers and were higher in states where bans or restrictions were enacted, the authors found.
In Ohio, where a ban on abortions after six weeks is on hold, the number of inquiries at one large clinic increased 22.4 percent in the months after the decision compared to the year before, according to a study in the International Journal of Impotence Research. More of those men, like Limehouse, tended to be younger and childless compared to those who sought vasectomies the year before, the Ohio study found, which lines up with the experience at other clinics.
Not every clinic is seeing an increase.
“We’re seeing roughly the same number of vasectomy consultations,” said Dr. Tracy J. Tipton of Urology Associates of Charleston. Because the practice sets aside a certain number of slots for vasectomies, the wait to get in has increased over the last several years, particularly during the pandemic, but is back down to about four to six months, he said, what it has been for the last couple of years.
While weighing the impact of the abortion ruling and surge of interest in vasectomies, there were also concerns about how the procedure was being portrayed on social media, according to a Perspective in the Journal of Urology, which is published by the 23,000-member American Urological Association. Particularly troubling were suggestions that vasectomies were a “solution” to contraception concerns and that the procedure was easily reversible, the authors noted. But reversal procedures are “technically challenging and expensive” surgeries that insurance companies are not likely to cover, the Perspective found.
Tipton of Urology Associates in Charleston said reversals are rarely covered by insurance and not likely to work if many years have passed, so he counsels his patients to consider a vasectomy as permanent.
“I try to tell them, yes, technically this is reversible but you should think about this like an irreversible procedure,” he said. “If you are on the fence, maybe we need to think about this a little bit more.”
The risks involved might also be downplayed on social media. When Limehouse did his research, he found the complications were portrayed as “super minor,” mainly swelling, bleeding at the surgery site and some persistent pain that could last a month. He got similar counseling about complications at the clinic.
On the afternoon he headed in for the procedure, “I wasn’t nervous at all,” Limehouse said. “I had read so many positive stories. I couldn’t find a negative story, to be honest.”
The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes under local anesthesia, he said, then he rested for five minutes before heading home.
But almost immediately, there was a lot more swelling than he expected, even when applying ice packs. Then he got nauseous, then dizzy, then tried to make it to the bathroom.
“The next thing I know, my wife was standing over me, trying to wake me up,” Limehouse said. It was the first time in his life he had ever fainted.
His wife, Marissa Christine Wiggins, called her parents for advice. When the nausea continued and Limehouse passed out again, they took him to the ER at Summerville Medical Center. Limehouse said he was only semiconscious then but Marissa told him he was extremely pale. He was rushed back for tests and a CT scan and eventually admitted for syncope, fainting or passing out, after his blood pressure dropped significantly when he stood up, according to Limehouse’s medical records.
The CT scan found a suspected blood clot just under 3 inches in diameter above his left testicle and swelling throughout the area but nothing else remarkable, the records showed. When he was again administered a test for syncope by standing for several seconds, “I passed out in the nurse’s arms,” Limehouse said.
His hemoglobin level, which measures the red blood cells that carry oxygen, and hematocrit level, which looks at the percentage of red blood cells, appeared normal at first but began dropping. A few days later, when his hemoglobin dropped to about half the normal range, nurse Ellen Patrick flagged it, records show. The urologist who performed the vasectomy, whom Limehouse does not want named, came in to perform surgery and removed the blood clot. But Limehouse said neither he nor his family was told about the clot.
Summerville Medical Center did not provide a relevant response for comment or make the nurses, whom Limehouse credits for getting the care he needed, available for comment.
Months later, he is left with some pain and a load of medical bills from his stay. He started a GoFundMe to seek help.
Still, “I don’t regret getting the procedure,” Limehouse said. “I’m happy I did it. But I regret the little research I did.”
Overall, the rate for serious complications for vasectomies is low, with infections and hematomas or lumps from blood clots, in the 2-4 percent range, according the World Journal of Men’s Health. But it is something to keep in mind, Limehouse said.
“What’s the old saying? It could happen to you,” he said.
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism recently granted nearly $34,000 to bring more people into Summerville.The town, acknowledged for its charm, history and its people, wants to make sure everyone gets to experience some of the Summerville way.“It feels good to be able to show off our hometown to people who can come visit and vacation here,” Town of Summerville Public Information Officer Chris Makowski said. “And to really see the beauty and the people that are here.&...
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism recently granted nearly $34,000 to bring more people into Summerville.
The town, acknowledged for its charm, history and its people, wants to make sure everyone gets to experience some of the Summerville way.
“It feels good to be able to show off our hometown to people who can come visit and vacation here,” Town of Summerville Public Information Officer Chris Makowski said. “And to really see the beauty and the people that are here.”
Summerville sees a record number of visitors, sitting at around 250,000 every year and housing more than 50,000 permanent residents.
The town hopes to boost the statewide economy by encouraging tourism and development in the area.
The community shared their thoughts on the funding and what they hope to see come out of it.
One family, planning to move to the area in just a few weeks, was ecstatic.
“As far as bringing tourists in, I do feel like it’s worth it,” future Summerville homeowner Whitney Mourlam said. “It’s just a gem, and it’s worth coming inland a little bit to check it out.”
“It’s a great location, like a little way from the touristy feel but you can really blend in and feel like you’re a local right away,” future Summerville homeowner Mark Mourlam said. “We want to grow our family down here and live everything Summerville has to offer.”
One long-term resident said he enjoys seeing his town thrive, but worries about what it could mean for traffic, infrastructure and the cost of living.
“I’ve watched the growth, and it’s terrific how fast and how large this place has gotten,” Summerville Homeowner John Calvert said. “But you can only build so many apartments and so many subdivisions. We’re running out of space!”
There are no specific projects or plans for the grant.
The Town of Summerville says they want to allocate the money toward marketing campaigns through social media, magazines and the local visitor center, to name a few.
Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Some businesses say prioritizing a sense of place in the town of Summerville is most important and sometimes that means new development, despite what some people might think.Dorchester County has a proposed plan to turn 500 N. Main St., also...
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Some businesses say prioritizing a sense of place in the town of Summerville is most important and sometimes that means new development, despite what some people might think.
Dorchester County has a proposed plan to turn 500 N. Main St., also known as their main county building, into a hotel, retail spaces, a parking garage and more.
Some businesses located in the heart of Summerville, like Eva’s Restaurant, think change is about time.
“If we don’t have growth, we don’t have a future,” general manager Tina Howard said.
Eva’s Restaurant has been serving the town since 1944. With the proposed development, Howard says she’s not worried about competition.
“I think it would benefit us as a small business with, you know, bringing in tourists,” Howard said. “...I don’t feel it would hurt us personally because we have such a strong, established business.”
Diane Frankenberger, the owner of People, Places & Quilts, says she’s watched Summerville grow for over 30 years. She says with the old post office as the new public works art center, the old Coca-Cola company as the new YMCA and an old hardware store as her own business, she believes both the county and town councils prioritize preservation.
“You have to go forward with the future,” Frankenberger said. “We still can’t have the same houses around here and the old town hall and no computers and blah blah blah. And so, it’s keeping a sense of place, but moving forward with an eye towards the future.”
The county has already approved plans to preserve part of the county building, which once was the old hospital, and improve the current Veteran’s monument.
“I think when people are calling names or say, ‘Don’t do something,’ let’s wait and see and work together and make the best use of what we’ve got there,” Frankenberger said.
Howard says she wants her 6-year-old grandson to be able to experience a flourishing Summerville, just like she has all her life.
“A lot of people complain about the growth and ‘People will stop coming here, we’re full, don’t come here,’” Howard said. “Without growth, we don’t have a future. The future is growth.”
Frankenberger says she’s ready to move forward.
“No more gas on the fire,” Frankenberger said. “Let’s put water on the fire.”
Dorchester County provided the following statement about the proposed plan:
Dorchester County is looking forward to having greater capacity and flexibility to complete the following projects from fee revenues of the redevelopment:
Funding to preserve the façade of the old hospital building.
A new civic park and improvements to the Veterans Memorial.
An additional $8 Million in funding to DD2 schools to supplement $2 Million from the TIF.
Provide $20 Million in funding for a Community Recreation Facility in the Summerville area.
Provide $2 Million in additional funding for streetscaping and improvements to Main Street and Cedar Street.
Provide credits for workforce housing for teachers, firefighters, law enforcement, and first responders within the multi-family development for at least 15 years.
A modern County office building and additional Class A Office Space in the downtown area.
A new downtown hotel and restaurant to provide much-needed retail and hospitality amenities in the downtown area.
Create additional parking by providing for the construction of a parking garage in the downtown area.
Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.
The Dorchester County Planning Commission approved more development for the town of Summerville Thursday evening.DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Dorchester County Planning Commission approved more development for the town of Summerville Thursday evening.Located at 1315 Orangeburg Rd., the development near the Mallard Road intersection will include 75 single-family homes in an area some Summer...
The Dorchester County Planning Commission approved more development for the town of Summerville Thursday evening.
DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Dorchester County Planning Commission approved more development for the town of Summerville Thursday evening.
Located at 1315 Orangeburg Rd., the development near the Mallard Road intersection will include 75 single-family homes in an area some Summerville residents say is already becoming too developed.
The over 40-acre project has been in the works for a few years with approval from the county and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control back in March.
One major concern with the project that the planning commission discussed at June’s meeting revolved around traffic flow in the area if the development was approved.
A representative for the developers during Thursday’s meeting said a traffic impact analysis conducted back in 2021 on the Orangeburg and Mallard Road intersection showed the approved development would increase traffic by 3%.
“More traffic means more people, and that means more people having to look out for each other, which a lot of people are not always looking out for each other,” Summerville homeowner Barbra Herbruck said. “What’s going to be an issue is how it affects the community.”
The representative added that during the traffic impact analysis, it was shown that the intersection currently operates at an undesirable service to drivers even before the development.
“We need to limit the development until the infrastructure can catch up,” another nearby homeowner Glenn Stephens said. “It’s everywhere you go; that’s the problem.”
As areas of the Lowcountry continue to grow, Herbruck and Stephens said they are not against growth, but there must be a smart way of doing it.
“We’re not spending enough money on the roads, the electric system, the water systems, the school system, to support this,” Stephens said. “We just don’t have the money; our roads are falling apart, and we just can’t really support what’s going on.”
Land near the approved Orangeburg Road development also includes newly constructed townhomes and homes.
“You have to add on to accommodate that growth,” Herbruck said
Members of the Dorchester County Planning Commission have not yet responded to requests for comments.
Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.
Summerville designer Gray Benko and her family are on a quest to bring color and life back to historic spaces in the Charleston area. It’s a feat they are accomplishing head-on in a new TV series called “Happy to be Home with the Benkos.”In six episodes, Gray Benko teams up with her craftsman husband, Mike Benko, and her father, Joe “Grumpy” Highsmith, to renovate portions of six historic Charleston-area homes.Each episode features a different house that dates back at least 100 years. The idea is t...
Summerville designer Gray Benko and her family are on a quest to bring color and life back to historic spaces in the Charleston area. It’s a feat they are accomplishing head-on in a new TV series called “Happy to be Home with the Benkos.”
In six episodes, Gray Benko teams up with her craftsman husband, Mike Benko, and her father, Joe “Grumpy” Highsmith, to renovate portions of six historic Charleston-area homes.
Each episode features a different house that dates back at least 100 years. The idea is to add color, texture and fun to each one while breaking away from the “stereotypical farmhouse concept that has been so popular for so long,” said Mike Benko.
Most of the renovated spaces are ones the homeowners were unhappy with. They were either looking for a change, or the space needed some sort of structural or construction work.
The crew works to salvage the integrity of each home’s history while adding the flair of Gray Benko’s designs. Once complete, most of the spaces are revived from floor to ceiling with brand new construction, vibrant colors and patterns, antique furniture and fixtures from local shops.
Each member of the trio has their own rule in the renovations. Gray, who is also a photographer, is responsible for the designs. Highsmith, a general contractor from Hilton Head Island, oversees the construction. And Gray describes her husband, Mike, as a renaissance man who’s “like a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy.” He completes a personalized, special project for each homeowner.
Gray, a Lowcountry native, said her family’s passion for this work likely stems from living in historic homes for so many years. They’ve renovated their own homes, “and that’s kind of how this whole things started,” she said.
“I did our houses, people saw it on my Instagram, loved it and then started asking me for help with their house,” she said. “And then it all turned into this whole TV show thing, and here we are.”
“Happy to be Home with the Benkos” airs on the Magnolia Network, which features original shows curated by Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of the hit home renovation TV series “Fixer Upper” and owners of the Magnolia home brand. The show can be streamed on HBO Max and Discovery+, too.
Since the Benkos utilize local businesses to help with the renovations, many Lowcountry faces are seen on the show, too, like Charleston upholsterer Kelvin Moultrie of Carolina Auto Trim, seamstress Elizabeth Wheaton of Wheaton Whaley Home and designer Sally Bennet of Mirth Studio, among other South Carolinians.
The Benkos are currently taking on new projects in the Summerville and Charleston areas. Homes that are built in the 1920s or earlier are preferred.
“We are looking for people who are not afraid of color, obviously, and who have renovations that they already want to do,” Gray said.
Those who are interested should send an email to [email protected].