Melissa Mercogliano PT, DPT, OCS

About Me

Melissa Mercogliano, PT, DPT, OCS 

Melissa graduated from the University of Puget Sound Physical Therapy program in 1988. In 2006, she earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. She has held her APTA board certification in Orthopedics for 30 years and  her certification in edema management since 2000.   She was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Puget Sound in their Physical Therapy program from 2006-2022.   

Melissa started her career working with orthopedic and sports patients. In 1999, she had 5 female patients, who were breast cancer survivors, all struggling with shoulder and neck pain and limited function. Melissa decided to start a specific program to work with cancer patients early in their recovery to limit any longer term issues following their surgery and radiation therapy. This led to opening her own clinic, Center for Orthopedic and Lymphatic Physical Therapy, in 2000.   In the past 10 years, Melissa has been seeing patients who are struggling with chronic pain issues and is seeing amazing outcomes using Craniosacral Therapy, Neuromeningeal Therapy and Visceral Manipulation in addition to her joint and soft tissue manual therapy skills.

Melissa sold her Washington state clinic in August 2022 and worked there until November 2023.  Melissa now focuses only on patient care, taking continuing education classes to grow as a provider and making time to create work life balance for herself.   During the fall and winter months, you will find Melissa working in her own private practice in Rancho Mirage, CA. 

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My Skills

Soft tissue mobilization,
Myofascial release,
Joint mobilization for spine and extremities,
Manual traction,
Visceral manipulation,
Craniosacral therapy,
Neuromenigeal therapy,
Therapeutic exercise,
Stretching/Flexibility training,
Manual Lymphatic Drainage,
Compression bandaging,
Fitting for compression stockings,
Patient education,
Range of Motion,
Posture training,
Body mechanics training,
Balance training,
Fall prevention,
Coordination activities,
Gait training,
Wellness assessments

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Professional Associations / Memberships

Barral Institute Teaching Assistant for the following courses NM1, 2 and VM 1, 2

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Available for patients

Case studies, easy to understand explanations about the CranioSacral System, Visceral Manipulation, products to use between sessions, and much more.

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