A Mom’s Ultimate Goal
Becky Zaha Shares Her Story
As an ultimate Frisbee player, being athletic is a huge part of Becky Zaha’s lifestyle. Ever since her days as a collegiate athlete, she’s had low back pain. “After a day-long tournament, I’d wake up the next morning and my lower back would be completely stiff and immobile. I’d take an Advil, get to the fields for day two, and warm up until the stiffness went away” recalled Becky. She always thought it was just a consequence of playing cutting sports with quick jumps, turns, and stops.
In her twenties her body could recover, but as she hit 30 and 
had children, she found recovery did not come so easily any more. “I’ve had to limit the amount of time I play ultimate and I can’t run at top speed when I am on the field. If I try to be the player I was ten years ago, I wind up with back pain and strained hip flexors.” For Becky, the thought of quitting ultimate was not an option, so she decided to seek treatment.
“I’d had a good experience with Cioffredi in the past, so I knew that I would be Properly diagnosed. However, I had very low expectations that I was fixable…I was awaiting the inevitable: You’re just getting old and your body can’t handle high-impact sports anymore” recalled Becky.
She came in and started working with Marsha Wykes, PT, OCS, Cert MDT. “Working with Marsha has been fantastic. I am a very analytical person, including when it comes to my athletics. So when I am injured, I like to understand the process of what I am doing to rehab and how the movements I use in my sports can cause injury. Marsha is very thoughtful in her approach to her practice. She takes the time to really listen as I explain my injuries and tries to understand the goals I have to return to competition. She really understands the way my body needs to be strengthened, down to micro movements to improve neuromuscular control, and explains it to me in the endless detail that I like to hear. Additionally, Marsha has really pushed me to do things I didn’t know I could. My core is probably the strongest it has ever been! And best of all, my back pain is completely gone when I play ultimate!”
