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Visit TexasHealth.org/RehabilitationServices to learn more about Texas Health Allen Craig Ranch. 4 TexasHealth.org felt pain for a few years, and I thought it was just soreness," Maia remembers. "Last summer, I was hitting one day and I couldn't hold my racquet anymore. I had pain in my right arm, and I had numbness and tingling. I felt like my arm was pulsating all over." LOOKING FOR ANSWERS Maia's father, Ricardo Sosa, began taking his daughter to doctors, including sports specialists, a back specialist, general practitioners and a neurosurgeon, and Maia received a variety of diagnoses. "We did shots, acupuncture, sports massages — we tried everything," Ricardo explains. "Nothing was helping, at least for very long." Finally, Maia was referred to Jennifer Bullock, P.T., a physical therapist and orthopedic-certified specialist at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen Craig Ranch. After an evaluation, Bullock explained that Maia's right side was weak, causing her to overuse less-desirable muscles in the shoulder complex and torso. Because Maia's pain first began during tennis, but slowly became constant, Bullock recommended a treatment plan that included postural restoration therapy to help Maia's neuromuscular chain remember the proper muscles to recruit during rest and activity. A NEW TREATMENT Developed by Ron Hruska, Jr., M.P.A., P.T., a physical therapist in Nebraska, this new treatment method focuses on developing proper posture patterns that reflect our ability and inability to breathe, rotate and rest symmetrically. Bullock is completing a certification in the method to become one of 80 therapists in the country who are certified through the Postural Restoration Institute. Currently, there are only two certified therapists in the state of Texas, both located in Austin. "Basically, we all have a neuromuscular pattern that we tend to fall into," Bullock explains. "It's something you're not even consciously doing. For example, Michael Jordan sticks his tongue out when he shoots a basket. It is a neuromuscular chain that we can change originating from the central nervous system, but it takes effort and retraining. It all starts with the way we breathe." Bullock's continuing therapy with Maia includes postural restoration using deep core exercises that, when practiced, can break the neuromuscular pattern that causes Maia so much pain. These exercises force Maia to incorporate her diaphragm to breathe, rather than relying on her chest and shoulders. "Using this technique, I have treated patients ranging from ages 8 to 74 with multiple diagnoses," Bullock says. For Maia, getting better is serious business, and she happily does her homework. Teenage Tennis Phenom Nets Recovery With Help of Innovative PT Seventeen-year-old Maia Sosa's tennis serve not only devastated her opponents, it also caused this teen prodigy a lot of pain. "I notice that when I don't do the exercises, I feel pain again!" "Maia has benefited from it so much that now I have hope," Ricardo says. Maia focuses on her recovery, school and family, and she is beginning to return to the court — continuing to dream of one day becoming a professional tennis player. If Maia gets muscle cramps one day from signing all those autographs for her fans, she'll know to come to Texas Health Allen Craig Ranch to see about getting back on the court. " i

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