Terri Donahue
Terri Donahue is a licensed physical therapist based at our Paris clinic. She received her degree in Physical Therapy from Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and she is also a graduate of the Florida Academy of Massage. She has advanced training in myofascial release and soft tissue mobilization, aimed specifically at the treatment of back and neck pain. She is also certified in LSVT BIG, a program developed for Parkinson's disease that works on the size of movement itself: bigger steps, fuller reaches, steadier turns. It slows the progression of the disease, improves balance, reduces fall risk and produces a smoother, steadier gait, and it has proven effective for stroke and other neurological conditions as well. Most medical plans cover it, and we verify your benefits before you start.
I would like to thank my physical therapist and their staff for the expertise that they have shown me in healing me of my pain in my shoulders. It was so excruciating.
What guides the work.
Back and neck pain in older adults gets waved off more than almost anything else. Terri starts by finding the tissue and the joint that are actually restricted, then uses hands-on soft tissue and myofascial techniques to give that motion back before she asks you to strengthen anything. It is the wrong order to load a joint that cannot move yet. With Parkinson's, stroke and other neurological conditions, the LSVT BIG protocol is the opposite of gentle and vague: it is specific, repetitive and measured, because that is what the nervous system responds to. Sessions run 30 to 60 minutes, one on one, and you will always know which part of the plan you are on and why.
A Henry County native who came home.
Terri is a native of Henry County. She spent years working in a range of clinical settings in Michigan and Florida, and in 2008 she came home to Paris. Her training at the Florida Academy of Massage sits underneath everything she does with her hands, which is a large part of why the soft tissue work is as thorough as it is. Treating in the town you are from changes the job a little. The people on your schedule are neighbors, and you find out how they are getting on when you run into them at the store.