Karen Ambrose of Upper Saucon Township is backing to making beautiful music again.
Few people in the audience were aware of the miracle taking place when Karen Ambrose’s bow danced across her violin strings to help create the strains of Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 for the Lehigh University Philharmonic Orchestra at Zoellner Hall last December.
Just four months earlier, Karen, an Upper Saucon Township mother of three, found herself in such debilitating pain that she couldn’t place her chin on the chin rest.
After a chiropractic visit failed to provide relief, a friend told her about Giovanni Stracco, DPT, Director of the Spine Program for Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s.
“I knew right away I was in the perfect place,” Karen said of the St. Luke’s Spine Program. “Giovanni diagnosed the problem right away, and every time I went back, I was getting better.”
Karen has been playing the violin for more than 40 years. She served as the Concert Master while a student at Lehigh University, and now volunteers as a violinist with the Philharmonic. Not being able to play because of injury was devastating.
“I injured my lower back and my neck while sailing,” Ambrose said, “and then when I was working out, I partially dislocated my first rib, which threw my whole chest, neck and shoulders into muscle spasms. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t drive or move my head.”
Karen’s visits with Stracco weren’t the first time she needed physical therapy. She maintained a physically active lifestyle with tennis, skiing, weight training and cardio exercise. She suffered from typical shoulder and elbow issues, and had fractured her right wrist–her bow-holding hand–14 years earlier.
But the neck and back injuries in August caused extreme pain.
“She was completely debilitated when she came in,” said Stracco, who has advanced training in orthopedic manual therapies for the spine.
Through his initial examination, Stracco determined that Karen’s partially dislocated first rib, not the neck injury, was the major reason for the painful spasms that led to the dysfunction of her neck.
Stracco used orthopedic manual therapies such as the Maitland ® concept and Mulligan for a “hands on” approach. He often uses a combination of methodologies and modalities in order to get the best results for his patients.
“When someone is in tremendous pain like Karen, they’re not only looking to relieve that pain, but to trust someone who literally has their head in their hands, their spine in their hands,” Stracco said.
Stracco worked with Karen on her neck, her spine and normalization of posturing by mobilizing the shoulder and elbow to get her back to violin and playing tennis. He also provided her with core and scapula-stabilizing exercises.
“We have patients come in for therapy and they’re fearful,” he said. “They don’t want someone touching their neck if it’s extraordinarily painful. It’s about developing a trust. Karen was able to get to where she was because we developed that level of trust.”
And the success Karen received through therapy with Stracco has her inspired her to do more.
“I had broken my wrist 14 years ago and I never got the flexibility back that I needed because it had plates and screws in it,” Karen said. “Giovanni worked with me on that and I haven’t had this much flexibility since before the accident. I think that’s a really great bonus, especially for the violin.”
Karen Ambrose is now back to making beautiful music thanks to extraordinary care from Physical Therapy at St. Luke’s.
Note: This story was contributed by St. Luke’s University Health Network. Its publication is part of a local health news partnership between Saucon Source and SLUHN.
