It is amazing the unexpected turns that life can take.
  One minute you’re doing exactly what you want to do, what you love, and the next you have a completely new path that alters your life for the better.
  Such is the case for Paula Nickel.
  Nickel is a physical therapist at Performance Physical Therapy and loved the opportunities she had to help athletes and non-athletes with injuries or just day-to-day wear and tear.
  Until about a year ago there was nothing more, at least in her mind, that she could do to help her patients. And that did not sit well.
  “There are a lot of people out there in pain,” she said. “And people tell them there is nothing wrong with them because nothing comes out on a test. But they don’t feel well and they have pain. And that is no way to live.”
  Then, on a snow day and in an attempt to make the time pass a little faster, Nickel and some coworkers started flipping through pamphlets that had piled up.
  John Jams, a physical therapist for the past 30 years, wrote the pamphlet that caught her attention. The pamphlet outlined an innovative and revolutionary method to treat and look at injuries called Pain Reflex Release Technique (PRRT).
  In much the same way physicians test reflexes to see if the nerves are carrying messages from the brain to the body, Jams’ method tries to alleviate pain by relaxing contracted muscles. The key is not so much in the touch as understanding the anatomy and its complex circuitry well enough to pinpoint the source of pain.
  Often, patients who have had the treatment have found the reflex response that is elicited in the muscles and the tendons can restore blood flow and hasten healing.
  Once Nickel had seen what Jams had written, the rest — as they say — is history.
  “I have these two kids that came in with ankle sprains, one is a dancer and the other is a basketball player,” Nickel said of two girls she treated.

“The dancer girl and a friend of hers got injured at the same time spraining an ankle and she (the dancer) came in and got treated. She was better in two weeks. She still has to go through the cellular healing of the ankle sprain; like watching it, maybe taping. The other kid, months later, is still suffering from the effects from the ankle sprain.
  “It is simple injuries like that that are going to be hidden in your muscular system and haunt you.”
  Nickel is one of 65-70 physical therapists in the country who utilizes PRRT.
  “It’s definitely something I would look into once I got to know a little more about it,” said Brandon Yost, a chiropractor who practices in Greeley.  Nickel said the process usually takes between 10 and 15 minutes to complete and the patient will start to feel better after only two or three sessions.
  Nickel usually will probe the base of the skull, the temple, the upper back, lower ribs, tailbone and sacroiliac.  “Before I started going to Paula I had every major running injury you could get,” said Wendy Mader, who is a triathlete who twice has won the ITU World Championships in Hawaii. “And I don’t get them anymore. I have gotten faster and attribute that to being able to practice more regularly, harder and stronger. I love (PRRT). It’s different, but it works. And I know it’s a change, but I understand the change.”
  Said Doug Hay, another Nickel client “It’s so out of the ordinary. But once you try it, it’s amazing When I tell people about it and (Nickel) puts on a rubber glove to work in my mouth they start saying 'What kind of Voodoo stuff is that?' But it’s pretty incredible stuff.”
  Prior to getting treatment from Nickel, Hay was having myriad problems with his back and his hamstrings once he started getting active. After the first three sessions, he felt healthy for first time in years.
  “(Nickel) gave me these different stretches to work on, which is the maintenance part of it,” Hay said “By stretching I have gotten to know my body. When I am not feeling right, I go see her. Now I don’t have to go as much I had to in the past.”