Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Bailey Denno, PT, DPT.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My personal history:
I was raised as the 5th generation on a grass seed farm in Tangent, Oregon. I participated in 4-H showing my Arabian, Mynx. I was homeschooled from 1st-12th grades. I held jobs such as yard maintenance, waitress and barista to fund my equine and 5.0 Ford Mustang habits. I job shadowed PT and OT practitioners in pediatrics, work hardening and home health.
My education:
I attended LBCC then transferred to Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. After receiving my Bachelors of Science I took time off before graduate school living in Portland and working for Providence Health Services as a Physical Therapy Aide. I worked in out-patient clinics across the western region of the Portland Metro area as well as at St. Vincent Hospital. On my days off I used running as a way to explore Portland and reduce stress, this is where my love of recreational running started. My husband and I moved to Abilene, Texas in 2009 where I attended graduate school at Hardin-Simmons University. I graduated with my Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2011.
My professional history:
From graduation until January 2020, I treated all orthopedic conditions with a basis in functional manual therapy and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) for an insurance based practice in Salem, Oregon. In 2018 I found BSPTS (Barcelona Schroth Physical Therapy School), an excellent PT training course in Schroth principles for managing scoliosis and other spinal deformities conservatively. I received the first level of certification in 2018. My mind was blown by what I didn’t know about spinal deformity. I also realized how few people clients and medical practitioners in Oregon know this information, my clients were often coming to me with mis-information.
In February 2020 I returned to complete the second level of BSPTS Schroth practitioner training and certification, I also opened my own direct-pay practice in Corvallis, Oregon. I now treat spinal deformity diagnosis exclusively with BSPTS Schroth principles and supported by my skills in manual therapy and PNF to address pain and movement dysfunction as appropriate. After top level clinical experiences during graduate school and then 8 years treating out-patient orthopedics with a manual therapy focus, I believe in treating the entire individual.
Treatment of scoliosis:
Scoliosis is a spinal alignment dysfunction driven by neuromuscular imbalance with possible bony malformation and is treated very effectively and specifically with the Schroth Method. I outline my evaluation, assessment, and the majority of treatment using the BSPTS Schroth tools. I am increasingly amazed by how effective gentle and specific training can be. This method is best performed daily and intensively, yet brief and gently to yield improvements in body balance, muscle balance and deep core activation.
My current vocational status:
I am passionate about teaching clients what I have learned and equipping them with knowledge and tools that will last them their lifetime. Our bodies are a puzzle and there is so much we still don’t know. Clients often remark that the Schroth Method is addressing the missing pieces in their specific body’s health/movement training. Pieces they have felt they were needing but had yet to meet someone with the specific knowledge/tools to provide those pieces to them.I believe my calling is inspiring educator and I am skilled in meeting each person where they are when they walk in my door. I will push them as hard as they are willing to be pushed and I will give them tools to build and maintain a body that functions well and bolsters participation in whatever brings each person their joy!
My current personal status:
I am currently passionate about well-rounded health for myself so I can continue to support clients as I enter perimenopause. I eat lots of colors of fruits and vegetables daily. I am a foodie but I also believe food is fuel and needs to be comprehensive. I am currently prioritizing building strength and keeping my cardiovascular system healthy so I can hike (I have more mountains to summit), mountain bike, jog, travel (I’ve only been to 3% of the world’s countries) and maintain 2 acres without hurting my own body.
My goals:
Climb more mountains, literal ones.
Explore more of the US and world.
Try more types of food internationally.
Continue well rounding my education in deep core/spinal stabilization and scoliosis specific schools of thought (French, Polish and Turkish).
Continue to educate current PT’s and DPT students.
Open a Pilates/Yoga studio specifically for those who are continuing to manage their spinal curves/asymmetries.
Work 10 months out of the year.
Continue to spread education about spinal deformity to the medical body of knowledge in Oregon.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Insurance:
In 2016 insurance hoop jumping had become such a significant part of the practice where I worked (nearly 1:1 ratio of support staff to practitioners), I felt I was being bled dry. I was spending more and more unpaid time filling out insurance forms to request more visits for clients, visits they had paid premiums to receive. I was increasingly asked to justify my treatments (even though I wrote a very comprehensive note after every single client visit) via arbitrary forms with limiting boxes to check and having my professional opinions questioned by non-medical persons/systems. I reached a point where I decided insurance was driving me to either stop contracting with insurance companies or to go into politics to try and fix the insurance travisty from the inside. Since that felt more soul sucking then the forms, I decided to transition out of insurance-based care, refusing to contract with any insurance company. This way every client and I can decide on a treatment plan that best serves them without insurance coverage dictating the plan for us.
This was a major ethical dilemma for me, I could reduce access to myself and the knowledge/expertise I have, by only accepting direct pay. Or I could continue to underserve my clients by narrowing my treatment of their bodies to the one/two regions of which the insurance company had decided was covered. In not contracting with insurance companies, I am enabled to treat the whole person top to bottom without risk of insurance denials and big unexpected bills for clients. In not taking insurance I was able to stop focusing solely on pain, I can now treat pain, function, quality of life or functional goals and even fitness goals. I am free to do more for my clients. I no longer have to justify to an insurance company why they should cover care for someone who isn’t in pain or isn’t functionally limited.
The freedom to treat comprehensively came with a cost, and I am well aware of it. What I do is not for everyone, it takes commitment and consistency and a level of function and comprehension. But my clients are invested and see the value in what I have to teach them, and I have so much fun practicing, learning and teaching!
We’ve been impressed with Scoliosis Studio, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy.
I am specialized in spinal deformity via BSPT Schroth method with Rigo concepts.
I work with people ages 7 years old – the lifespan.
I treat pre-surgical, post-surgical or non-surgical clients.
I have treated post Harrington rods and post VBT surgical types.
I am currently the only employee at my business so I directly communicate with prosepective and current clients.
I treat one-on-one with every client unless they have scheduled a class.
I treat people from the Oregon coast, S Washington and N California.
I perform insensive 2-3 hour sessions across multiple days for people travelling a distance and staying in town or 1 hour sessions.
The goal is 10 hours of time working one-on-one with me to fully train your brain/body well to perform this method/technique well independently at home.
Scoliosis/spinal deformity is progressive, it does not stop when we stop growing, it continues to decline through the life-span, at times is onsets un adulthood. Onset only in childhood and stopping at end of the growth phase of life, is a common misconception.
I also screen clients who are suspected of having a spinal curve, to decide if an x-ray is necessary or not.
There are very few spinal deformity PT specialists in Oregon, however that number is slowly growing, I am so happy the word is getting out that these conditions can and should be managed but not by a generalist.
I do not follow up on MD referrals, lots of times those are sent to me without a commitment from the client/patient.
I ask that clients call or, better, email me directly if they want to schedule. This way my time (when I am not with clients) is more efficiently used by following up only with people who are interested in knowing more or who are ready to commit to the process.
My website is an excellent resource, I recommend familiarizing yourself with it to decide if it sounds like the best intervention for you! I am always available to answer questions if you are unsure.
When you are ready to schedule here is the
FIRST STEP:
Send me the most recent x-ray images you have of your spine, typically these are electronic or on CD format from your imaging records department.
I do not need the written summary, I need the actual x-ray image before I put you on my schedule.
I will then decide if we can book an evaluation or if we need a different or more updated scoliosis x-ray series (there is more information on what type of x-ray to get on my website).
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Email is the best way to get ahold of me. If you want to chat on the phone, we can use email to schedule a phone conversation around my client schedule!
You can also text the clinic number to schedule a phone call, remember it is just me, I don’t have a receptionists!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.scoliosisstudiopt.com/
- Instagram: Scoliosis.Studio.Oregon
