Tier 1 Physical Therapy

04/04/2025

Tier 1 Physical Therapy is growing, and we’re looking for a licensed physical therapist to join our team!

We’re looking for someone who:
✅ Is looking to grow as a clinician
✅ Has a strong interest in outpatient orthopedics
✅ Has a flexible schedule

(Be paid per patient!)

📩 Apply today or contact us for more details. Please email your resume to Dr.Dipersia@tier1dpt.com

10/01/2024

Check out this short video on diagnostic Musculoskeletal Ultrasound that can be used throughout physical therapy care. If this could be beneficial to you, feel free to give us a call. You can even schedule a FREE 20-minute discovery visit with Dr. DiPersia to ensure your best-personalized care!

10/22/2021

We are in need of a personable Physical Therapist, who is looking to spend more time with their patients.

Qualifications:
- Strong experience administering a wide range of physical therapy, such corrective exercise and manual therapy.
- Current Physical Therapy License for New Jersey.
- 2 professional references

06/01/2021

Being stronger in the posterior chain muscle group, makes you better at everything. Here's Why.....

The importance of being strong in the posterior chain

The posterior chain is made up of groups of muscle and connective tissue that attach at the back of the heel to the base of the head.

Think of the calves hamstrings gluts, erector spinae, traps and lats as being the largest contributors.

The reason it’s so important to strengthen this muscle group is because of body balance and activity demands.

Every second of every day our bodies face the unforgiving effects of gravity.
​
You add sitting and the growing need to use electronics with our heads down. It's no wonder our spines ache and poor posture sets it.

Posterior chain strengthening directly counteracts the negative effects that gravity has on our spine.

You can..."Stand up straight" with a stronger posterior chain.

Additionally, all sports require lift and pull activities and our body’s design has a tendency to favor the front or anterior chain muscle group.

Possibly resulting in an imbalance which may lead to dysfunction, decreased power output and even pain.

Here are 3 basic, yet effective, examples of posterior chain biased exercises that will bulletproof your postural muscles and give you more robust power with sport movements.

1. Hip Thrusters/Bridges
2. The Deadlift
3. Single Leg Deadlift With Weight

Please watch attached video for exercises and tips!

Why is it so important to be strong in the posterior chain?Let's dive in.The posterior chain is made up of groups of muscle and connective tissue that attach...

05/01/2021

Do you have enough ankle mobility to walk and run without risking an injury? Want to know if you have enough ankle mobility to run without risking injury?
​
Try this self-administered ankle mobility test. (video link).
https://youtu.be/aGj2BLqEX00

Heres what you’re risking if you don’t:

Shin splints
Plantar fasciitis or sole of the foot pain
Arch pain
Knee pain
Metatarsal or ball of the foot pain
Achilles pain
Even fractures to name a few

The lack of the upward movement of your foot or dorsiflexion doesn’t just mess up your run but will make itself known in other sporting movements like squatting and lunging.

Let’s take a look at how motion loss of the ankle affects the hip, knee and foot as a whole.

Hip:
A powerful gluteal or buttock muscle activation is pivotal for almost any athletic movement.

The lack of dorsiflexion can inhibit these muscles leaving the hamstrings more vulnerable to strains or tears and the low back more susceptible to injury.

Knee:
Your knee is the leg’s #1 shock absorber.

If your foot is forced to flatten (pronate) excessively because the ankle is limited, the knee is now subject to a whole slew additional unnecessary movements that it has to deal with.

Most often, this results in long-term injury and eventually may lead you to stop running or playing your favorite sport.

Ankle:
Your ankle MUST move into 10-15 degrees (or millimeters measured up from the ground) of dorsiflexion for normal walking and about 15-20 for running.

It must be able to move freely and without compensation.

If not, the muscles of your shin have to work even harder with a faster response time to make up for the motion loss, resulting in many forms of tendonitis or shin splints.

Your ankle is even more likely to roll when miss-stepping or stepping on uneven terrain.

Foot:
Your shin must be able to move over the mid portion of your foot without being ushered into another direction by tight tissue.

If not, the tissue under your foot called the plantar fascia is now at risk.

This tissue DOES NOT STRETCH, so your bones will start to create traction spurs (heel spurs) in efforts to lessen the pull on the plantar fascia.

The speed and impact on the ball of the foot is drastically increased, which could create stress fractures, excessive callus, neuromas and other problems that fall under the blanket of something called metatarsalgia.


Need some one on one instruction by a specialist?

Schedule a free gait assessment by calling, filling out the contact form on our website or by emailing us at
Dr.Dipersia@tier1dpt.com
201 588 5451

Try this quick ankle mobility test to see if you are potentially at risk for injury while walking or running. The average range of dorsiflexion (upward ankl...

04/01/2021

Just hurt your back? Try this immediate pain relieving emergency position!

The "90/90"
Check out this short video - https://youtu.be/BcT5iP_zZq0
​
Or follow the instructions below!

Did you bend the wrong way? Mess up a lift? Slept wrong? Try this!

Putting your legs up on a few couch cushions, a chair, or even a large storage container will significantly help take the strain off your back.
Try to place your legs in a “90/90” position.
90 degree angle at the hips and 90 degree angle at the knees.
If this position lessens your back pain, start with short intervals, for instance, 5-10 minute at a time..
If you continue to experience less pain when you stand up from this position, try lengthening the time frame to 10-15 minutes.
Try it with a heating pad!
Just be sure to take your time when getting up to a standing position, just in case you get dizzy.

If you are in too much pain or just want to skip the self treatments and want expert care immediately.

Please feel free to get in touch with us, we have a few options to make the process easier for you.

If you would like us to look over your problem beforehand, check out online booking or the FREE “How To End Back Pain” Guide on our website at tier1dpt.com. Or send us a quick message via FaceBook or Email (dr.dipersia@tier1dpt.com) so we can set up a free discovery session!

Cheers to getting rid of that back pain!

Lower back pain? Just moved the wrong way? Bad lift or maybe the pain came out of nowhere. No matter what the cause is you need to calm down the symptoms a...

03/09/2021

Just Hurt Your Shoulder? Now What?

The Essentials for Solving Pain from a Recent Shoulder Injury.

Shoulder pain is so common that it is the 3rd most common joint ache complaint your medical doctors hear about (1).

Activities like throwing, lifting, reaching, shoveling, poor sleeping positions and falls all can be a cause of injury to your shoulder.

Here are some common shoulder pathologies we see in our office.

Rotator cuff tears
Tendonitis and bursitis
Frozen shoulder
Shoulder dislocation
Shoulder arthritis
Fractures from falls

Sound familiar? Did you recently hurt your shoulder?

Here are some tips to get you back to being pain free.

If you recently injured your shoulder and don’t know where to start or were told to just "rest it" and its not getting better.

This post was made just for you!

Let’s start with the beginning.

You most likely have irritated your shoulder tendons, muscles or joint tissue.

Again, this is extremely common and there are solutions.

First off ICE!

Ice will...
Decreases inflammation
Reduces pain
Reduces Swelling
Reduces joint spasms and cramping

Modify your activity!

BUT don’t stop moving. Being too careful not to move your arm isn’t good either.

Active rest is best!

One of my favorite secrets that we immediately advise our patients to do is to keep their hand “in sight” while doing normal activities, as much as possible.

In other words, try to do all of your daily activities with your hands where you can see them!

And not…

High overhead

Reaching too far sideways

Or

Placing them behind your back (too frequently)

Another tip is to try to avoid lifting heavy objects as much as possible, however, gentle pain free daily activities are encouraged.

For instance, swinging your arms while walking, buttoning your shirt and bringing your food to your mouth while eating... are all examples of everyday movements that shouldn’t delay healing.

Lastly, avoid putting (even) small bags, straps or backpacks on the injured shoulder.

The rotator cuff muscle group is the first group of muscles to “turn on” when you’re lifting a cup of water or lifting an 80 lbs suitcase and if they’re injured they need a break!

Ok, so let's take a look at some starter exercises that can help you get back to moving again… Without pain!

Let’s Get Your Arm Moving... SAFELY

Our main focus at this early stage is on pain reduction and decreasing motion loss from your injury.

Here are 2 great example exercises to get you started.

1. Gentle, Pain Free and 100% Relaxed Arm Swings AKA Pendulums (See pictures)

Bend at your waist in a lunge position while holding onto a table with the other hand.

Gently swing your affected arm

Front to back
Side to side
Circles
​
(all performed by rocking your body and NOT actively lifting your arm).
​
You will want to start with 15-20 second intervals in each direction performed 2-3 times a day.

As you feel better you will be able to progress

And

2. Arm Sliders
(See pictures)

Slide The Injured Arm Back and Forth While Resting It On The Table.

You will want to start with 5-10 slides without leaning forward for 2-3 sets.

As you feel better you may want to lean forward to increase the shoulder’s range.

(Try it with a towel to reduce friction)

In addition to the exercises above, try out some of these actionable tips below.

They were designed to get you ready for the next phase of shoulder recovery.

1) Changing your sleeping position
Avoid sleeping on the injured side.

Try to place a pillow under the injured arm while lying on the opposite side.

Sleeping on your back may be best in the beginning.

2) When starting your strengthening program start with “position holds” or isometrics.

3) Be mindful of shoulder blade position while lifting your arm over 90 degrees in front of you.

Keeping your shoulder blade pulled back towards your spine significantly decreases the risk of re-injury with arm elevation.

Having the right position is critical to restoring full pain free future movements.

We hope this helps!
As we mentioned above, we are confident that relief is on the way if you start implementing these tips immediately.

But if you have any questions or would like more explanation, please feel free to reach out to us by filling the contact form on our site, emailing us or giving us a call.
201 588 5451
Dr.Dipersia@Tier1dpt.com

Cheers to your health!

03/20/2020

We will be closed next week and will be playing it week by week. Please remember to do your home exercises and please email with any questions! tier1dpt@gmail.com

03/17/2020

Important update on COVID-19. Link to the CDC website is in our bio, please stay home if you or someone in your house is sick! Please practice social distancing! @ Tier 1 Physical Therapy

03/13/2020

Correction of lateral shift after a disc herniation. Some herniated discs cause a very lateral lean in the spine. Here we are trying to improve mobility to sustain a more neutral pain free upright position. @ Haworth, New Jersey

03/13/2020

Working on encouraging a hip hinge bend to reduce back pain/excessive rounding. @ Haworth, New Jersey