Alleviating the aches and pains

For years, living in pain was a 24-hour certainty for Kater Danford.

At first, an ailing shoulder kept the 53-year-old from swimming, lifting heavy objects and sleeping on her right side. Then, a little more than a year ago, the piercing ache from a torn rotator cuff kept her up at night, literally, as Danford was unable to sleep unless upright.

“It was like somebody was sticking a hot poker in your arm. I had to sleep sitting up for a while,” said the Post Falls resident. About her favorite exercise, Danford added “I hadn’t been able to swim; I’d say four to five years I gave it up.”

But after shoulder surgery early last year and three months of post-operation rehabilitation with Mark Bengtson and the rest of the Pinnacle Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine crew in Post Falls, Danford is singing the praises of Bengtson and those who alleviated her debilitating ache and returned her active lifestyle. “I thought I’d give them a try,” she said, adding that her doctor recommended the rehabilitation center.

And how does Danford feel now? One look at her fitness routine, which includes yoga sessions, bike rides and even swims using the difficult “butterfly” stroke, illustrates an even-more active lifestyle than decades before the operation.

“It really encouraged me to get into better shape,” Danford explained about her rehabilitation. “I cannot tell you, I am a better person. Once I went to them, I stayed with them. Mark is just an amazing body worker. He builds a rapport so you feel safe, and when you are feeling vulnerable, that’s important … I cannot sing their praise enough.”

Since Bengston, CEO and physical therapist, and his wife, Jennifer, vice president, opened the first Post Falls location more than four years ago, their business philosophy has centered on one theme: “Back to work. Back to play. Back to life,” whether the patient is 8 or 108.

The family-owned practice – which recently opened a new office in the Mill River development just west of Coeur d’Alene – offers outpatient orthopedic physical therapy, pre- and post-operation rehabilitation and sports medicine, postural restoration, industrial rehabilitation, women’s health and vertigo treatment.

“Patients have a choice in where they want to go to physical therapy. We believe that we can provide the very best experience,” Jennifer Bengtson said. “I believe patients have a great experience with Pinnacle. They get out of pain. They get back to doing what they love to do. It’s the whole support system from the moment patients walk in the door to the moment they complete their therapy. That philosophy is how we built our practice, we feel blessed to have the opportunity to help people.”

The second office in North Idaho is a reflection of their patient’s successes. The Mill River location also added a new physical therapist, Jami Todd. Todd, who was courted to the area from Iowa by the owners, joins Pinnacle’s almost 20-person team.

“With the growth of our practice, we felt we needed to open another location to accommodate our Coeur d’Alene patients,” she added.

However, leaving a lingering pain in the past is only one part of a successful rehabilitation; educating the patient about the ache’s underlying cause is just as important, according to the owners. Each patient leaves with a tailored home exercise program that they can access online.

“We try to get to the root cause of a person’s painful condition and change it so that it lasts forever,” said Mark Bengtson, a Coeur d’Alene native who decided to return to the area after earning his Master’s Physical Therapy Degree from the Western University of Health Science of California. “I feel like if I give every single patient the type of care that I would give to my own family, you can’t go wrong. And that’s what we do is make each patient a part of our family.”

For Bengston, a former Lakeland High School quarterback, the Pinnacle Physical Therapy offices are the realization of a long-held belief that some injuries can be undone – life doesn’t have to be lived in pain. When a patient, who had only weeks before been in physical distress, graduates from their treatment plan, “it’s like a home run for me,” he said. “It just gives you a sense of satisfaction and it makes you feel complete in what you do. An injury gets in the way of life. It’s fun to have people go back to things.”