She'll help your mobility go upward

TOUCH: Physical therapist works on injuries, disorders and education for
patients at her Manhattan Beach clinic. There’s a lot that goes into a touch. Manhattan Beach resident Sylvia Mehl has devoted a career to using touch
to heal her patients.

Mehl, 43, has worked as a physical therapist for 20 years. Last year, she opened Head 2 Toe Physical Therapy in Manhattan Beach. Mehl started her physical therapy career at a Culver City hospital. She worked at two private clinics before starting her own business. Mehl employs three part-time therapists.

What does job entail?
We treat orthopedic injuries like spine injuries, jaw disorders, knee and ankle injuries, post-surgical conditions. Anything related to the muscles, bones, joints of the body and how they function. We work on posture, which does influence neck and lower back pain. And we work on education, how to not get injured again.

What techniques to use?
We’re mainly manual therapists. We use soft tissue mobilization, which is a type of massage. We do deep tissue massage or rolling massage.

Give an example.
We get patients with problems in the spinal, shoulder or jaw joints. So we create mobility in the joints where there wasn’t movement for some time. Then we strengthen the muscles around the joint and make the muscle more flexible so they have normal movement.

What equipment do you use?
Free weights, therapy balls, balance boards, steps, a trampoline.

Brad Graverson / Daily Breeze