Meet Anne Hanson | Physical Therapist/Certified Lymphedema Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anne Hanson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anne, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
The value that matters most to me is honesty. I am always up front with a client if they ask me a question that I don’t know the answer to or ask my opinion about a treatment or diagnosis that is unfamiliar to me. I will often tell them that I need to look into the topic and will get back to them via phone or email or at their next visit. When I am working with a client they are putting their trust in me to tell them the truth and are seeking my hands-on help or my professional opinion to guide them in their healthcare related decisions.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
When I was 16 years old I decided I wanted to be a physical therapist. I grew up playing sports and my orthopedic surgeon was married to my physical therapist. When I was in one of their offices for a visit, they would each try to get me to go into their chosen profession. I chose physical therapy because there was longer interaction (hours, weeks, months) with the patient compared to the shorter visit with the doctor. High school and college were fairly easy for me, but I would say I didn’t really learn how to study until graduate school. We had to make an 80% to pass each course and it was really challenging to get through the program. I had two professors that told me I would never make it due to a physical birth injury. The friends that I met in physical therapy school are lifelong friends of mine and I value them and hold them in high regard. My father always said, “there is something to be said about shared misery” and he was right.

I started treating patients in a small private practice PT clinic in South Florida right out of physical therapy school. Before I moved there I thought that 65 was old because that was when people transitioned to Medicare for their health insurance. I quickly learned that 95 is old and many of my older patients were very active and played golf and tennis several times each week and could run circles around me. I worked with patients from all over the country that were “snowbirds” that would come down south to escape the cold weather during the winter months. It was there that I developed my love for the geriatric population and this experience helped me to learn about people from all over our great country and what motivates them to get better.

I eventually moved back home to Texas and worked in Las Colinas for several years. I love to get to the root cause of the problem and use my manual therapy skills to get people more mobility to get back to doing the activities that they enjoy.

In 2008 I traveled to Boulder, Colorado, for two weeks to obtain specialty training as a certified lymphedema therapist. I treated patients for a year and then studied and passed a national certification exam and am credentialed through the Lymphology Association of North America (https://www.clt-lana.org/). It is this specialty training that sets me apart from most physical therapists. I am one of only a handful of PTs in my geographic area that are also specialty trained for working with clients that have lymphatic disorders. This could be seen most commonly after treatment for breast cancer which can cause a woman’s arm to swell. I also see clients for swelling associated with lymphedema of the legs. Both of these conditions benefit from custom foam fabrication and use of short-stretch compression bandages, manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), and specific exercises to reduce the swelling in their body.

In 2021 the outpatient clinic I was working for closed down due to challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic. This opened up an opportunity to work with a mentor that I have known for many years at Jeff Rau Physical Therapy. It is a cash-pay clinic so I am able to market my skillset to clients that have had cosmetic and elective procedures as well as to plastic surgeons and other beauty and wellness practitioners. My physical therapy and specialized lymphatic training allows me to help clients after surgeries that cause bruising, swelling, pain and discomfort. I provide manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), compression garment selection, kinesiotape application and exercise prescription to help them recover more quickly and easily and return to their everyday lives.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Here is a sample itinerary: Day 1: I would take my best friend to Ft. Worth to wander around the stockyards, watch the Fort Worth Herd Cattle Drive and have lunch at the Tx Star Cafe for chicken fried steak. We would then have dinner at Lonesome Dove, catch some live music at the White Elephant Saloon and the Longhorn Saloon and fall into bed at the Hotel Drover.

Day 2: We would start the day in the Magnolia area with breakfast at Spiral Diner, shopping and sightseeing, then eating lunch at Heim BBQ. We would then head over to the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden for the afternoon and go to dinner at Riata to catch the sunset one the rooftop, wander around to take in the locals and stay at the Ashton Hotel.

Day 3: We would spend the day in Grapevine: Lunch at Tolbert’s for some historic Texas chili, shopping up and down Main Street to include window shopping at Kiss It Goodbye (the best resale shop ever), an afternoon pick-me-up at RE:defined Coffee House, snacks at ya ya yum boards and Dinner at Dino’s with an overnight stay at the Gaylord Texan.

Day 4: We would start off with breakfast at the original Norma’s Cafe in Oak Cliff, then down the road to shop in the Bishop Arts District. Next we would head to the Dallas Farmer’s Market and have lunch at Pecan Lodge BBQ. We would visit the Perot Museum, go ride the M-Line Trolley on McKinney Avenue and stay the night at Hotel Zaza.

Day 5: Starting the day off at Breadwinner’s for breakfast is always a good choice. We’d go to the Nasher Sculpture Center and have lunch at the original El Fenix location. Next we would hit up the Dallas Museum of Art, have dinner at Javier’s and finally crash at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t think one can ever thank their parents enough for giving them a successful start in life. I honestly couldn’t have asked for better parents who supported me every step of the way. I lovingly joke with them and say they groomed me to be their own personal physical therapist to take care of them in their golden years.

Years ago a PT friend of mine told me I needed to stop whatever I was doing and go work with her boss. His name is Jeff Rau, and Jeff was fellowship trained through the Institute of Physical Art in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. So I quit my job and went to work with him and learned treatment techniques that were so different, yet highly effective from what I learned in school. I took a couple of courses through the Institute of Physical Art and I was hooked. Jeff and I worked on and off together for approximately 15 years before I came to work with/for him at his current location in Hurst, Tx.

My husband has always pushed me to expand my knowledge base, to network and is always promoting my skillset to anyone he meets. I can’t thank him enough for his love and support of my professional career.

Finally, I give all glory and honor to God for all of the blessings in my life.

Instagram: @lymphaticmassage.dfw

Linkedin: Anne Hanson

Image Credits
Vince Lembo