Amy Riddick, Registered Physiotherapist
Amy Riddick is a Registered Physiotherapist and a member of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and the Women's Health Division. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy and immediately began working in the Niagara region in orthopedics. Her special interests include shoulder injuries (she used to be a windmill baseball pitcher - see the Resource page for more on the rotator cuff/ shoulder impingement) and Women's Health (prenatal, postpartum, pelvic/low back pain, incontinence and prolapse). Her experiences include being the Clinic Director/sole physiotherapist at ACT in Niagara Falls, treating people with repetitive strain injuries, car accidents, and workplace injuries; and working as part of the multidisciplinary team at Niagara Rehab in Thorold, helping patients with arthritis, hand injuries, fractures and surgeries including joint replacements. Over the years, she has had very successful results with an active approach, i.e. precise assessment of muscle balance, alignment and other factors followed by selective exercise prescription/ progression and education, with manual therapy and modalities as needed. Acuhealth or Dolphin (a hand-held TENS machine which stimulates acupuncture points) is a popular treatment option, as it typically relieves nerve irritation and muscle tension quickly. Ultrasound treatments, cupping and kinesiology tape are also available.
Amy enjoys helping people to work towards their goals of regaining their strength, mobility and independence, and teaching them how to prevent a recurrence of symptoms. To accomplish this, people are assigned at least one home exercise during the first visit, and the importance of active participation in their home program is emphasized throughout treatment. By the time they are discharged, patients are well-versed in a few key exercises that they can do to maintain their pain-free status or manage their condition. If a Dolphin machine is purchased, it can be used at home at the first sign of a flare-up. All of this enhances a person's control over their symptoms, which results in fewer visits to the doctor, fewer medications, and improved quality of life.
In her free time, Amy enjoys cycling, hiking with friends, elliptical machine, the occasional jog in her barefoot runners, and working on her balance and alignment with one bare foot on the earth. Ask her how to elevate your workouts to help you to age gracefully, balance your muscles, strengthen your core PROPERLY - including your breathing muscle, which forms the ceiling of the core - and never be bored with your workouts again.
Amy accepts private insurance/ benefit plans, MVA (car) insurance, and WSIB (workplace injuries). She can bill many private insurance companies directly, as well as MVA and WSIB, but is not OHIP-funded.
HST is NOT added to physiotherapy goods and services.
More on what Amy has been helping people with lately (among other things):
- back pain - strengthening the deep transversus abdominis muscle, as well as other core muscles as needed
- deep breathing - to help with back pain, headaches, acid reflux, digestion in general
- knee pain - usually only two or three gentle exercises are needed
- retraining muscles in flat feet to eliminate dependence on orthotics and reduce/ prevent bunions
- proper strengthening of ‘shrug’ (upper fibres of trapezius) muscles to reduce/ eliminate neck tension (see below)
- pelvic floor exercises to resolve incontinence and to support the lower back
Many people are amazed at how little time it takes, and say they wish they came sooner!
If so, you may have stretch weakness of your upper fibres of trapezius. The treatment includes avoidance of stretching this muscle and instead, strengthening it, which stretches its opposing muscle (lower fibres of trapezius), and balances them. This gets your shoulder blade gliding upwards when you reach above shoulder height, reducing the chance of rotator cuff impingement. So if you stop stretching this muscle for a couple of weeks and feel better, or at least not worse, you may want to consider an assessment to check your muscle balance.