Today's Woman

Dr. Karen Scott says pain is the body’s messaging system, “screaming out that something is not right.”

The problem, says the doctor of physical therapy, is that the root cause of pain is often not where we feel it. The only physical therapist in Kentucky certified in NeuroKinetic Therapy® and Amino Neurofrequency Therapy, Karen explains that even a decades-old injury can cause chronic pain by blocking normal neural communication between the brain and injured muscles. The result is that other muscles take the brunt of stress — for example, when a woman has a C-section, her abdominals become underactive and weak and can remain that way for decades until the scar is properly addressed. This leads to increased back pain and pain in the hips due to lack of abdominal support.

Karen, a Kentucky native, describes herself as a nontraditional, holistic physical therapist. At Pain and Performance Solutions, her Louisville private practice, Karen specializes in restoring hope and function back to people who have tried numerous other therapies and failed treatments and have lost hope of ever returning to a normal lifestyle or doing the things they love again. Karen’s unique approach typically gets positive results on the first visit. For the curious, Karen offers all new patients a free “discovery visit” to get acquainted with her and her techniques. She provides an assessment and pinpoints areas of the body where brain-muscle breakdown has occurred.

Ultimately, Karen says, each treatment plan is unique. “What I look at today and fix today for you shouldn’t be the same the next time I see you,” she explains. “I re-check everything every single time, and I go where the body tells me to go, so there’s no guesswork. They call NeuroKinetic Therapy ‘the missing link’ because there’s no guessing where to fix, what to activate, because the body tells me exactly what needs to be done.” She is able to get to the root cause of the symptoms once and for all. Painandperformancesolutions.org offers tips on easing back pain, as well as options to receive free reports on your well being.

What would life be like if you didn’t have to worry about how your pain is going to affect your activities?