Physical Therapist Starts Injury Prevention Program

Inspiration comes in funny places, and for Chris Pierce, his came from an airport billboard.

The advertisement had a simple sports statistic: female athletes are three to five times more likely to have an Anterior Cruciate Ligamant (ACL) injury than their male counterparts.

The message might stick out to a regular person headed to their flight, but for Pierce, who is a licensed physical therapist and certified strength and conditioning specialist, there might as well have been flashing lights around the billboard border.

"I was pretty stunned by that (statistic)," Pierce said. "I didn't realize there was such a discrepancy."

Pierce, who is the owner of Balance Physical Therapy in Windham, saw that sign about a decade ago, and since then he has used the experience to develop a program to help with the issue.

Its called ACL Be Fast, and it is based on years of studies done by what Pierce calls some "top level researchers."

"I'm taking my cues from a large body of research," he said. "There's a lot of orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists.

For instance, he referenced one program out of Santa Monica, which looked at young female soccer players.

The large group showed a 75 to 90 percent reduction in ACL injuries over two years after experiencing a program that is much like Pierce's ACL Be Fast.

"We've just taken from all of these different programs," he said. "What we know about women – there is certain things that we have the power over them to change."

A good portion of the six weeks of classes involves augmenting bad habits and movement patterns, such as the athletes angling their knees in ways that lead to the injury.

"We're going to teach them first of all not to do that and then we're going to train them not to do that," Pierce said.

The program has been tested by Pierce over the last four years on a one-to-one level. 

Balance Physical Therapy has also done components of the program with mostly male athletes, as well as a couple female athletes, over the past two or three years.

Pierce also has a personal connection. His wife, who is a former All-American collegiate soccer player, saw teammates go down all of the time with ACL injuries on the field.

What Pierce calls a "science-based" program will have a total of 20 participants, with each session lasting just under two hours.

The Balance Physical Therapy Website provides specifics for the program, which will begin on July 9 and run until August 17. It will take place at the Salem Athletic Club. 

Call Balance Physical Therapy at 603-890-8844 to register.