As the Wellness Institute prepares to mark its fifth year in business, it is opening a Hilton Head Island satellite office and announcing that all three of its physical therapists have qualified to the fellowship and/or board-certified level.

Hours for the new 1,300-square-foot Hilton Head location at 1 New Orleans Road, Suite E, will depend on the demand from its clientele but will start with four afternoons a week.

Why the expansion?

“There is an increased demand from our existing island clients and a need for sports-specific rehabilitation for the tennis and golf community to have a convenient location. We decided to accommodate that with a Hilton Head Island location,” said Warner Peacock, CEO of Peacock Automotive, one of two partners in the Wellness Institute.

The Wellness Institute is a multi-faceted healthcare facility, headquartered at 100 Okatie Center Blvd. North, that offers physical therapy, rehabilitation, wellness instruction, personal training, massage, Qigong and martial arts instruction, yoga (both group and individual) and physical conditioning for golf and tennis.

Other special services include dry needling for pain, spine and peripheral joint manipulation, headache treatment, TMJ treatment, vertigo rehabilitation, medical massage and golf-specific myoskeletal stretching; tempering, cupping and instrument-assisted soft tissue manipulation; kinesiology tape for soft tissue support and athletic taping for joint and ligament support; as well as pelvic health and personal training in both individual and small group formats. The same services, with the exception of pelvic health services, will be available at the Hilton Head Island location.

“No other company has an across-the-board level of expertise like this. Therapists at the Wellness Institute are among the most highly trained in the Lowcountry,” said Craig Weyer, who is a partner with Peacock Automotive in the Wellness Institute.

“Training to the fellowship level requires postdoctoral professional, one-on-one training under the direct supervision of leaders in the field. It is an intense program, and the qualification is held by fewer than one percent of practicing therapists,” he said.

Research on the effectiveness of fellowship-trained therapist finds significantly greater improvements were achieved in treatment than those treated by therapists without residency or fellowship training.

Fellowship status is granted by the American Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapists, which is a member of the International Federation of Orthopedic Manipulative Physical Therapists Board and the American Physical Therapy Association Section on Women’s Health.

The Wellness Institute’s professional staff includes:

*Lauren Lee is fellowship trained in manual therapy and holds a doctorate in physical therapy. She holds a diploma in osteopractic manipulation, as well as certification in dry needling and spine manipulative therapy.

*Andrea Schultz, a board-certified clinical specialist in women’s health physical therapy, holds a doctorate in physical therapy and sits on the national board of the Achievement in Pelvic Physical Therapy Committee. She also is certified in dry needling.

*Wade Welsh is fellowship trained in manual therapy and holds a doctorate in physical therapy. He is a board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist and holds a diploma in osteopractic manipulation. He is certified in dry needling and spinal manipulative therapy. Wade is also certified in LSVT Big program for Parkinson’s Disease and Otago Exercise Program for Fall Prevention.

*Craig Weyer is fellowship trained in manual therapy, holds a doctorate in physical therapy and is a certified orthopedic manual therapist. He holds a diploma in osteopractic manipulation and certifications in dry needling, spine manipulative therapy and athletic training. Additionally, he holds degrees in Sports Medicine and Exercise Science.