ASHTABULA — Synergy Physical Therapy and Wellness, located at 4510 Collins Blvd. in Ashtabula, is offering a new service — massage therapy.

Currently there are seven different kinds of massage therapy available, including migraine treatment, stress relief, hot stone, and swedish massage. Massage therapy serves a range of purposes, from relieving muscle soreness to reducing mental and emotional stress. Patients with fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, migraines, or other chronic musculoskeletal diseases may find massage therapy helps to relieve their symptoms without the use of medication.

Karen Keener, who is certified both as an athletic trainer and massage therapist, is the newest professional employed at Synergy. An Ashtabula native, Keener has a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology.

"Massage therapy is our first step outside of the physical therapy 'bubble'," said Cara Ogren. "My job as the owner of Synergy is to push the boundaries."

Ogren, a licensed physical therapist and the owner of Synergy Physical Therapy and Wellness, grew up in North Kingsville and attended Daemen College in New York for Physical Therapy.

In 2008 she obtained her Ph.D. In addition to her extensive studies in college, she has traveled all over the country working with physical therapists. She said that doing so enabled her to incorporate a range of different approaches to physical therapy.

Women's health is a specialty of Ogren's, and she is particularly knowledgeable about sacroiliac pain. Sacroiliac pain, she said is a condition involving the lowest part of the spine. Injury can cause misalignment of this part of the spine, which causes severe lower back pain. The condition, which is misdiagnosed a great deal of the time, can occur in men but occurs most often in women. Some people needlessly suffer from sacroiliac pain for years — even though it is completely treatable without surgery. Ogren's knowledge about the condition comes in part because she herself has it and was misdiagnosed for some time before learning about it from another therapist.

Ogren noted that physical therapy's biggest draw is that it is a way to avoid surgery and drugs.

"Popping an aspirin will only help temporarily," she said. "We fix the pain, not just cover it up."

Synergy Physical Therapy and Wellness is dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to rehabilitation and wellness. Ogren stated that her ideas for expanding and developing Synergy come primarily from client feedback. For example, the fitness training classes developed from clients who wondered what kind of physical fitness program was best for them.

"People who had just had surgery wanted a workout that would be safe yet effective," Ogren said. "Women who were pregnant wanted a pilates program designed with them in mind."

Ogren keeps her fitness classes small — from four to six people in each class — in order to better tailor them to clients' needs. Some clients may be interested in circuit training, while others may prefer to try yoga or pilates.

Ogren's vision for Synergybinvolves continuing the center's interdisciplinary approach to wellness. She would like to expand the fitness side of the practice and also attract different practitioners, such as dieticians and accupuncturists. In five years she would like Ashtabula County residents to have one place for a variety of services like physical therapy, massage, life coaching, and nutrition advisement.

"I am really passionate about the interdisciplinary approach," Ogren said. "Rarely is there one magic bullet to fix everything."

Ogren encourages anyone suffering from chronic pain to investigate treatment possibilities.

"Pain is not a part of normal healthy living, nor is it a part of aging."