Service Description

This physical therapy appointment includes extensive medical history evaluation, tests and measures, and your initial treatment. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your appointment. ABOUT Functional Manual Therapy® is unique approach and is different than traditional physical therapy.  In this treatment paradigm, the human body is viewed as an integrated unit, connected through the fascial web. I often describe the body as an ecosystem where the parts are interdependent and play a key role in maintaining the balance of the whole. For example, when a patient comes to see me for knee pain, I am evaluating and treating the entire body to discover what factors could be contributing to that knee pain pattern. My training has provided me an understanding of the optimum state of human movement as well as the skills, tools, and experience to identify and treat mechanical, neuromuscular, and motor control dysfunctions.  I use a combination of these treatments with all of my patients. EXPLANATION OF THE METHODS I USE: MECHANICAL Hands on treatment, including myofascial release, craniosacral therapy and visceral manipulation, directed at soft tissue, joints, neurovascular structures and viscera.  Often these types of manual therapy can be extremely effective in improving the ability of a person to move more efficiently, placing less stress on painful structures.  Scar mobilization, another form of mechanical treatment, is also very important to consider after any type of surgical procedure due to its immobilizing effect on the surrounding fascia. NEUROMUSCULAR Hands on treatment targeting the firing pattern of muscles, which is typically altered if a person has experienced pain or compensatory movements for long periods of time.  Neuromuscular re-education is often used following mechanical interventions in order to reinstate the core musculature of a specific body part as well integrate that body part back into the body as a whole. MOTOR CONTROL Motor Control refers to the synergist firing of muscles to perform a task or movement pattern.  Efficient motor control relies on the dynamic interplay of the local or "core" muscle groups and the global musculature, which are primarily responsible for movement of the trunk and limbs. To fully heal from an injury, whether it occurred 20 years ago or yesterday, it is crucial to build awareness of that injured area with all functional movements, exercise and daily tasks.