SELBYVILLE– Atlantic Physical Therapy continues to expand its reach opening its sixth location in the area in March.
Robert Hammond opened the original branch of APT and his son, Bobby Hammond III, operates the newest branch at 37031 Old Mill Bridge Road in Selbyville.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 10,” Bobby Hammond said. “I’ve been around the physical therapy profession since my dad first opened it up.”
As a 10-year-old, Hammond, who recently earned a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, said his father let him do laundry and light cleaning chores. He also took note of the work his father and the staff were doing.
“The best thing in life is helping people,” Hammond said. “I always watched people come in and saw a lot of people that weren’t in the best shape. They were hurt or recovering from an injury and in this profession you’re able to help nurse them back to where they were.”
Hammond was also inspired into the profession by a personal experience. Fighting out of Main Street Boxing Gym in Salisbury, he injured his shoulder during a boxing match as a junior middleweight. While recovering, he used the equipment at APT.
“I had surgery, rehabbed it at one of our facilities and I was able to go back and compete for a national title in boxing,” he said.
Today the majority of clients at APT – like Hammond – are post-surgical.
“We see a lot of total hip, total knee (replacements),” he said. “We also see a lot of the geriatric population come in for fall risk reduction. Because we age, a lot of people are at risk to fall and some people don’t even know it.”
Using a Biodex Balance System™ machine, APT can compare data to age-related norms and evaluate patients that may be at risk.
“Technology has changed everything,” Hammond said. “You look at pro athletes and wonder, ‘Why do they get better so much faster than the general population?’ They’re athletes and they’re word class, but also they have access to technology that the general public doesn’t. When my father opened these clinics, he wanted to equip all of our facilities with the same equipment and the same things that those world-class athletes used.”
With the AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill®, APT uses NASA-developed technology to help clients recover faster from injuries by removing as much as 50 percent of their weight.
“If we have a patient that has a total knee replacement and has trouble walking, what that does is it takes their bodyweight off and allows them to walk sooner than they would have been able to,” Hammond said. “It helps them walk at a faster pace and it helps restore them. It’s crucial to have access to technology like that, and at Atlantic Physical Therapy we have that access.”
APT accepts walk-in patients and offers free fall risk assessments.
“In the future I can only see us getting bigger and better,” Hammond said. “We’re locally owned, so the clients always have direct access to us for any concerns, and our goal is always to help make you better.”
Robert Hammond opened the original branch of APT and his son, Bobby Hammond III, operates the newest branch at 37031 Old Mill Bridge Road in Selbyville.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 10,” Bobby Hammond said. “I’ve been around the physical therapy profession since my dad first opened it up.”
As a 10-year-old, Hammond, who recently earned a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, said his father let him do laundry and light cleaning chores. He also took note of the work his father and the staff were doing.
“The best thing in life is helping people,” Hammond said. “I always watched people come in and saw a lot of people that weren’t in the best shape. They were hurt or recovering from an injury and in this profession you’re able to help nurse them back to where they were.”
Hammond was also inspired into the profession by a personal experience. Fighting out of Main Street Boxing Gym in Salisbury, he injured his shoulder during a boxing match as a junior middleweight. While recovering, he used the equipment at APT.
“I had surgery, rehabbed it at one of our facilities and I was able to go back and compete for a national title in boxing,” he said.
Today the majority of clients at APT – like Hammond – are post-surgical.
“We see a lot of total hip, total knee (replacements),” he said. “We also see a lot of the geriatric population come in for fall risk reduction. Because we age, a lot of people are at risk to fall and some people don’t even know it.”
Using a Biodex Balance System™ machine, APT can compare data to age-related norms and evaluate patients that may be at risk.
“Technology has changed everything,” Hammond said. “You look at pro athletes and wonder, ‘Why do they get better so much faster than the general population?’ They’re athletes and they’re word class, but also they have access to technology that the general public doesn’t. When my father opened these clinics, he wanted to equip all of our facilities with the same equipment and the same things that those world-class athletes used.”
With the AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill®, APT uses NASA-developed technology to help clients recover faster from injuries by removing as much as 50 percent of their weight.
“If we have a patient that has a total knee replacement and has trouble walking, what that does is it takes their bodyweight off and allows them to walk sooner than they would have been able to,” Hammond said. “It helps them walk at a faster pace and it helps restore them. It’s crucial to have access to technology like that, and at Atlantic Physical Therapy we have that access.”
APT accepts walk-in patients and offers free fall risk assessments.
“In the future I can only see us getting bigger and better,” Hammond said. “We’re locally owned, so the clients always have direct access to us for any concerns, and our goal is always to help make you better.”