Reignite Rehab | ABOUT ME

Physical Therapy with me

DOCTOR OF PHYSICAL THERAPY
BOARD CERTIFIED ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALIST

DR. JESS VON DEN STEMMEN, MPT, DPT, OCS

I'm Dr Jess; a Physical Therapist with over 9 years of experience specializing in orthopedics. I have experience working with a variety of diagnoses and injuries and my patients have spanned all levels of fitness and ages.

Physical therapy interventions/tools I often use:

Manual therapy
- Joint mobilization, soft tissue mobilization/myofascial release
Functional exercise
Movement analysis
Return to Sport Testing
Muscle strength testing via Tindeq Progressor
- Allows for rate of force and peak load measurement
- Provides objective measures of improvement
Strength and conditioning education and exercise
Range of motion exercises
Gait or running assessment
Video movement analysis
Balance assessment and treatment
Temporomandibular (TMJ) treatment
BPPV evaluation and treatment
Recovery education
Activity modification education
- Allowing you to continue moving and doing life, even though you have pain
Taping techniques, including kinesiotape

In addition to the convenience of me coming to your home, you will have the benefit of:

1-on-1 care, spending the entire session focused entirely on you and your progress.
- Getting full attention leads to faster results and more patient satisfaction.
I provide detailed and personalized home exercise programs. For the more complicated exercises, or in-depth patient education, Video recording of exercises/education I provide in session, to ensure you have all the tools you need to manage your symptoms and get back to activity.
You will have the ability to have increased communication between sessions, so you never feel alone in the process.
Not only do I assess what is hurting, I determine the WHY. This leads to effective treatment interventions and prevention for future injury.
Your care is completely individualized. No two people are the same, and no two injuries are either. Let's focus on what YOU need to get better.
I use a scientific approach to maximize function and return to activity or sport that a traditional fitness program can't.

I have spent time sharing my skillset by mentoring doctoral graduate students, new graduates/PTs, as well as Residents in USC's Orthopedic Residency.

Education:

B.S. Sports Medicine- Pepperdine University

Graduated in 2010, Magna Cum Laude

Graduated in 2013, Cum Laude

MPT (Master Of Physical Therapy)- California State University Northridge

DPT (Doctor Of Physical Therapy)- Western University of Health Sciences

Graduated in 2019, Magna Cum Laude

OCS-Board Certified Orthopedic Specialist

Achieved in 2018 by the ABPTS

Education

What to expect

WHAT TO EXPECT:

What the session is like:
- Each session is specific and individualized to your needs; both overall and for that day.
- I'll come to you with a treatment table, resistance bands and light weights. The majority of treatment can be conducted with these tools.
  - If you are advancing and require more items, I will bring the appropriate resistance, or you may choose to purchase them on your own, so you can be independent with your program.
- You will be receiving evidence-based treatment interventions with the emphasis of attaining your treatment goals as fast as possible.

What do I need to do?
- Wear clothing that moves with you, as you will likely be moving/exercising/stretching during the session.
  - I may also need access to body parts to perform any manual therapy interventions.

How the treatment planning is discussed:
- I take the time to listen to you and your concerns. I believe information is power and patient education is one of the most powerful tools we have as therapists.
- I'll provide in depth explanations of what is happening to your body. Showing you the anatomy in 3 dimensions, going over the mechanics of joints, and explaining why you have pain. It is my goal to educate you on what is happening in your body, which empowers you and gives you control.

What about my imaging?
- Although Physical Therapists cannot legally diagnosis anything on your imaging, I can look at it with you and explain what the heck all those medical terms mean! I can show you the structures affected and explain the findings in a way that makes sense.

Do the treatments vary?
- In short, yes. I treat you based on what you need session to session, while still working on our overall goals of therapy.
- If treatment ever stagnates, I reassess what we're doing and make alterations as appropriate. This allows us to continually make progress toward your goals.

You will be listened to. You will spend 100% of your time with an experienced, compassionate, and very driven healthcare professional. Your questions will be answered in detail. If I don't know something, I'll go read the research and come back with answers. It is my passion to learn and help people.

About me

Who is Jess anyway??

Well, you've made it this far and I'm sure your dying to get to know the person with the beautiful pets pictured above!

In all seriousness, here is a little about me:

I'm a so-cal native, born and raised in Ventura County. As a result of that, I'm a real baby when it comes to "weather". I grew up playing sports: swim team and water polo. I was a clumsy athlete on land, but I took to water like a fish. Being an athlete in high school, and a little in college, is what brought me to the PT career field. At some point in an athlete's career, you become familiar with physical therapy (or maybe you're less injury prone than I). I loved everything about physical therapy. I still do. I'm an extroverted-extrovert, with a big heart. Finding a career that has allowed me to help others, has been a real gift and a good fit. Work isn't really "work" when you love it. I'm grateful I found it, or rather, it found me.

Other than my professional career, I have a lot of interests. I can never turn down a good psychological thriller novel, true crime is my favorite category of fiction. That and horror. Although, I can't stomach scary movies... the visuals stick with me! I've recently picked up photography, so on the weekends I'm running around with my camera, or harassing my pets to perpetually pose (...they love it, I swear. Even if they don't, they love the treats that follow!). I'm a big music enthusiast, and I love to go to concerts and I love to dance. I haven't been doing that as much, with COVID and all, but I can't wait to get back out there.

Speaking of BC time (before COVID time), I love to travel. I used to try to do one big international trip a year. Although I love seeing new places, choosing international trips all the time means that I have seen an embarrassingly small amount of the United States (cue shame smile here).

Other than that, I love cooking and crafting. Making things with my hands comes easy to me, which is probably why I picked such a "hands-on" career. ... see what I did there?? I also love to ride my Peloton (yes, very LA of me, I know) and lift weights. Oh! and Karaoke! Love me some of public singing. Whether you're good or bad, getting up there is hard and I love to cheer people on!

Hmm, that about sums it up. If you have any questions, just ask!

about me