LAPLACE — In high school, Chris Cancienne was a star football player for St. Charles Catholic. Today, he stands on the Comets sidelines, helping injured players while also managing his own physical therapy business.

Cancienne is the owner of Cypress Physical Therapy, which recently celebrated its first anniversary in LaPlace and expanded to include a new location in Gramercy.

He said he has always had an interest in helping people recover.

Growing up as an athlete while his mother worked as a nurse, he was no stranger to seeing injuries. Yet, along with the wounds, he saw healing.

Prior to opening his business, Cancienne played football at Northwestern State University and obtained degrees from Louisiana State University campuses in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

After moving back to LaPlace and starting his physical therapy career, he realized his true passion was in outpatient therapy and made plans to open his own clinic.

Office manager Rebecca Specht has known Cancienne for over six years, and she said she’s proud of the progress he’s made in that time.

“He had a dream and made it real,” she said. “You’ve got to have a lot of pride and respect for someone who does that.”

The clinic offers a wide range of physical therapy services, including muscle conditioning, trigger point dry needling and post-surgical, injury, neurological and vestibular balance rehabilitation.

When someone enters Cypress Physical Therapy, he or she will see Cancienne working with patients and equipment in the open area directly behind the front desk.

“We designed it wanting it to feel different and give off more of a welcoming vibe than other offices,” Cancienne said. “Instead of sitting in a separate waiting room, they can see what’s going on, and that adds to the experience.”

Patients have told them they notice the difference, and he replicated the layout in his new Gramercy location, run by his friend, Dustin Roussel.

Cancienne said the most rewarding part of being a business owner is receiving feedback from the community and having past patients refer others to him. Though he is excited to extend services to St. James Parish, he said further expansion plans are not currently in the cards.

Rather, Cancienne is focused on continuing to improve and perfect the services offered at his two existing offices.

“We’re eventually going to grow out of this location,” he said. “Ideally, I’d like to knock down walls and expand the space. The plan is to stay in LaPlace.”

Though he moved away for a few years in college, Cancienne has always called LaPlace home, and he wants to continue giving back to the community.

In addition to regularly attending SCC football games to provide physical therapy services and educate the team on injury prevention, Cancienne also visits various races and golf tournaments around the parish, where he gives advice on warm-ups and stretching.

Other Cypress Physical Therapy technicians volunteer time at the Council on Aging, hosting Wellness Wednesdays to discuss health and exercise tips for seniors, he said.

“I’m doing what I love every day,” Cancienne said. “If you are interested in physical therapy, stick with it. It’s a challenging but rewarding profession.”

— By Brooke Robichaux