Before the MRI, Injection, or Surgery: Try Physical Therapy First By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC When back, neck, shoulder, or knee pain develops, most people want one thing: to get better as quickly as possible. For years, the traditional healthcare pathway often looked something like this: Pain → medication → X-ray or [...]
Before the MRI, Injection, or Surgery: What Physical Therapy Can Do? By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC When pain shows up, many people immediately wonder if they need an MRI, an injection, medication, or even surgery. That reaction is understandable. Pain can be frustrating, scary, and disruptive. It can affect how you sleep, […]
Pitching Spin Rate: Why It Matters, Why It Can Be Dangerous, and How to Protect the Arm By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC In modern baseball, spin rate stands out among pitching metrics, but its true value lies in its effects on performance and injury risk. Spin rate—the speed of baseball rotation in revolutions [...]
Baseball Sports Performance: Early-Season Arm Injury Prevention: What Youth, College, and Pro Players Need to Know By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC Every spring, baseball players ramp up throwing, bullpens, long toss, batting practice, and games—often all at once. That is exactly when elbow and shoulder injuries start to spike. Whether the athlete [...]
Why Chronic Low Back Pain: Manual Therapy, Exercise, & Laser: Why the Combination Works Best! By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC Low back pain is nearly universal. About 80% of adults will experience it at some point in their lives. For many, symptoms resolve within weeks. For a significant minority, they do not—and [...]
Sarcopenia: Rethinking Normal Aging! Why “Getting Older” Isn’t the Real Problem By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC As we age, many people accept a gradual decline in strength, balance, and mobility as inevitable. Slower walking, difficulty rising from a chair, joint pain, and fear of falling are often chalked up to “just [...]
Red Light Therapy vs. Class IV Laser Used in Therapy: What the Evidence Really Says By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC As musculoskeletal rehab continues to move away from opioids and toward non-invasive pain management, photobiomodulation (PBM) has become a serious clinical tool rather than a fringe modality. At one end [...]
Low Back Pain? Why Hands-On Care and Exercise Beat Pills and Procedures By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC If you live long enough, your back will complain. Low back pain is now the most expensive health problem in the United States. In 2016, Americans spent an estimated $134.5 billion on low back and [...]
A Physical Therapy Playbook for Primary Prevention of Dementia and Alzheimer’s By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC In the U.S., ~7.2 million older adults are living with Alzheimer’s in 2025; without breakthroughs, prevalence could approach ~13–14 million within a few decades. Total annual care costs are ~$384B in 2025, trending toward ~$1T [...]
Baseball Pitchers - Shutdown or De-Load? By Dr. John Mishock, PT, DPT, DC As baseball season winds down, pitchers face an important decision: should they take a complete break (“shutdown”) or follow a gradual “de-load” period to protect their arm health and maintain performance? Research over the past decade has begun to reshape [...]
