Beyond Compression Offers Occupational, Lymphedema Therapy and Treatment

Chelsea Brown never imagined that she would ever open her own business, but when the opportunity presented itself, her drive to help people in this area as well as a great need for her services prompted her to move ahead as an entrepreneur.

Brown, a Lincoln High School graduate who grew up in Ellport, is an occupational therapist and a certified lymphedema therapist and owner of Beyond Compression LLC. Although Beyond Compression has been in business since 2022, she just recently began operations at her new location at 638 Portersville Road in Ellwood City. She previously provided services at Air Physical Therapy on Mercer Road. Brown established Beyond Compression to provide occupational & lymphatic therapy services to individuals who require skilled treatment for improving their overall health and increasing independence with activities of daily living.

“I am the only lymphedema specialist in area,” she said. “I knew there was a need, and I get a lot of referrals from doctors in the area. Many folks had to go to Pittsburgh to get treatment for lymphedema, but now they can just come here right down the road.”

Lymphedema is a condition where an abnormal collection of protein-rich lymph fluid affects one or many parts of the body and causes swelling. In most cases, the extremities are affected – however, the face, neck, abdomen, or genitals could also be affected. This swelling occurs due to damaged or deformed lymphatic vessels or nodes.

Before starting Beyond Compression, Brown worked for same company for about 7 years and loved being an occupational therapist. But then she began to see such a need for ongoing care.
“When I was doing home care, I was limited in how long I could treat patients,” she said. “I got to the point where I realized could not take care of these people the way they needed to be taken care of.”

Brown provides services and treatments for the following needs:

• Occupational Therapy: Occupational Therapy services available to assist in reaching your goal of being able to complete your activities of daily living with increased independence.
• Manual Lymphatic Drainage: Manual Lymphatic Drainage is completed by a skilled clinician to promote lymphatic fluid movement in order to reduce edema in affected limbs and remove waste/toxins from the body.
• Compression Bandaging: Compression bandaging consists of short-stretch compression bandages applied to affect limb with specific techniques in order to reduce edema and improve skin integrity.
• Compression Garment Fitting: Fitting and measuring affected limbs for appropriate size and compression level as needed for custom or OTC compression stockings and garments
• Lymphatic Exercise: Muscle movement plays a key role in lymphatic system function. Specific exercises are required to complete during treatment in order to promote fluid movement.

On the occupational therapy side of things, Brown treats common conditions such as: carpal tunnel syndrome, stroke, hand/upper extremity injuries and wrist fractures. She provides treatment sessions including but not limited to:

• ADL Re-Training (daily activities)
• Upper Body Range of Motion
• Upper Body Strengthening
• Dynamic Balance
• Coordination
• Hand/finger Dexterity
• Adaptive Equipment Training
• DME Recommendations (in-home)
• Develop Home Exercise Program
• Paraffin wax bath

Brown said helping people through occupational therapy is always rewarding, but being able to help people with lymphedema has been especially rewarding. She said many patients come in and seem hopeless.

“The only thing that helps is the therapy that I do,” she said. “And when they come in with lymphedema and I can educate them and they ask if I can help them, I get excited to say yes because I know the lymphedema treatment that I do will help.”

Brown especially likes to help breast cancer patients who are facing the possibility of lymphedema and said it can be prevented if caught in time.

Owning her own business has been a learning curve for Brown. She said her specialty is therapy, not billing. But she is quickly learning the business side of things as well.

“I am first and foremost a therapist, so the billing is new to me,” she said. “I am currently a one-man show, trying to juggle all the different parts, and keep organized.”

Brown said that challenge has just made her stronger, and she is looking forward to the future of her business.

“I am very excited to be able to help more people improve the quality of their life,” she said. “There are so many people who don’t know they have lymphedema, and when they do now they have a place to get treated locally.”

As Brown’s practice grows, she hopes to add an administrative assistant and an additional therapist.

To see Brown, patients need a referral. However, she does offer some private pay options.

To learn more, visit the Beyond Compression website. Follow Beyond Compression on Facebook.