By: Kristen Wolosonowich
For Dr. Amber Schlemmer, treatment is a partnership. She can give a patient the tools, but how they are used is up to the patient. As the owner of Primary Prevention Physiotherapy (PPP), she teaches prevention to patients in handling an issue before it becomes a real issue. Physiotherapy, as Dr. Schlemmer so eloquently explained, is effectively what the rest of the world calls physical therapy with a holistic twist. “Physiotherapy takes a more holistic approach to the entire body. If someone comes in with a knee problem, we don’t just look at the knee but the whole human. We look at your emotions, your experiences, your pain levels, your nutrition and your activity levels,” Dr. Schlemmer said.
Primary Prevention Physiotherapy’s entire staff literally treat body, mind and soul, because as the years of the staff’s combined experience has told them, it’s all so much more than just a microscope on the part of your body you have received surgery or are experiencing pain. Primary Prevention Physiotherapy is located in downtown Flushing, Mich., and they have been in business for a little over three years. If you look closely at their logo, it consists of three P’s that look like circles. The creation of the design is extremely intentional, as it resembles a Venn diagram. There are three components to wellness, Dr.
Schlemmer explained.
You have to pay attention to your movement, which is one of the circles. You have to pay attention to what goes into your body, which is another one of the circles representing how we fuel ourselves. The third circle is mindfulness, or “our knowledge about who we are and how our body works,” she said.
Without those three integral pieces, that middle piece is never fully attained; therefore that Venn diagram provides you the masterpiece fourth circle representing the coveted centerpiece.
One of the outlier philosophies of Dr. Schlemmer is her commitment to customized and personal care, specifically catered to each patient’s individual needs. There is nothing cookie cutter in treatment and Dr. Schlemmer is strategic in keeping patient numbers at a level in which her entire team can provide maximum results to every patient who walks through their doors. Typical length of care is roughly four to six weeks unless they are at post surgical, which may require more time for recovery. She and her team have seen improvements in people in just one or two sessions, but know patient treatment varies from post-surgical recovery, to arthritis, to pain management to a slip and fall. All of the healing depends on a full assessment of the severity of each case.
As a former strength and conditioning coach from Michigan State University, Dr. Schlemmer received her undergrad from MSU and then went on to earn her doctorate from University of Michigan. Her experiences and foundation built at these two universities have overlapped and become core values within her business acumen, and in conjunction with physical
therapy, PPP also provides personal training and nutritional consulting. PPP treats non-traditional conditions as well, such as vertigo, interestingly, with a specific maneuver of lying down and spinning around which can cause the patient extra nausea or dizziness. Believe it or not, this treatment is similar to living in a new house right by a train. At first, it may seem overwhelming and loud, but after a while you become desensitized and don’t
hear it.
The primary goal and objective of PPP is to educate. The team has key relationships with physicians around the state, and aims to educate the public. Once you receive the green light for physical therapy, then do your homework and find the best physical therapist and personal treatment for your specific needs.
Physical Therapists do not have the ability to prescribe medications and this is exactly why Dr. Schlemmer gets to the root cause of the issue, whether it’s damage from years of labor intense employment, playing a sport, or an inflammatory diet. The team does a full mind, body and soul assessment and creates an entire plan to treat and heal the entire human body. Dr. Schlemmer promotes the holistic, whole person and treating you as a human while introducing and creating this wonderful relationship with movement as well as exercise, allowing you to get to the next level and truly live your best life.
Dr. Schlemmer said to eat more plants and whole food, and live in a manner that nature intended us to consume food. Diseases like heart disease, hypertension and diabetes can legitimately be reversed. Dr. Schlemmer sings it, but she also brings it. She educates the public and has created a document to take to your primary care physician to open up dialogue with all the professionals and specialists whom are inclusive with the respective patients’ care and treatment plan.
Dr. Schlemmer said, “We are so reactionary as a society and now we need to switch that pendulum to move towards being more preventative.”
Primary Prevention Physiotherapy’s focus on mind, body and soul is exactly the way to recover, heal and progress, and Dr. Schlemmer’s vision for health and wellness is only the beginning of saving countless lives.
“eat more plants and whole foods, and live in a manner that nature intended us to consume food.”
For more information and to schedule an appointment, call 810-487-9733 to speak with a patient experience specialist.
Primary Prevention Physiotherapy
209 S. Cherry St.
Flushing, MI 48433
primarypreventionpt.com
