Our Story

The Bamboo Brace was developed at Professional Therapies, the private physical therapy practice of Michael J. Workman PT, C/NDT and Sue Workman PT, MA in Salt Lake City, UT. It was created from a continual search for a dynamic elbow brace that encourages extension and promotes rather than interferes with motor skill development.

Starting with a passion to help children with hemiplegia learn to crawl, the use of The Bamboo Brace has expanded to become a very effective treatment tool for many children of varying diagnoses. The Bamboo Brace of today evolved from early prototypes using things like slit paper towel tubes with Coban wrap, rolled up magazines or newspaper and metal stays. What became evident to Michael J. and Sue, was that rigid, unforgiving elbow extension was only marginally more helpful than the excessive elbow flexion these prototypes were trying to prevent. The brace needed to be more flexible.

As the design of The Bamboo Brace became more dynamic so did the positive and lasting benefits at the shoulder and core musculature. It was evident that this was much more than just an elbow brace. In children with cerebral palsy specifically, the challenging “blocks” which prevent the shoulders from communicating with the core and the core with the hips could now be addressed with much greater success and repetition.

With much encouragement from patients' families and too many inspiring colleagues to mention, The Bamboo Brace was launched in 2010. Named for how it resembles the resilient properties of natural bamboo, The Bamboo Brace is a dynamic, adjustable, snug-fitting alternative to bulky rigid elbow braces that are often found in therapeutic settings.

As physical therapists and a husband and wife team, we get to work with some of the coolest kids and adults who teach us how to be better clinicians and leaders. We are passionate about our profession and strive to help individuals with disabilities improve their function and independence.