Physical Therapy services include a thorough evaluation not just of your specific injury but of how it is connected to the whole body. If, for example, you have a foot injury, the problem might actually be stemming from something above the foot, such as misalignment of your pelvis.
Physical Therapy involves evaluation of posture, body alignment, strength and flexibility, whether you are recovering from injury or want a body assessment. From these findings a treatment plan will be developed and will involve specialized hands-on therapy to improve alignment and decrease pain. Options include myofascial release, craniosacral therapy, muscle energy and one-on-one Pilates. To continue your recovery you will be given home exercises and as you progress you will be given custom exercises on Pilates equipment.
So how will you benefit from Prehab Physical Therapy?
- You will always work one on one, up to one hour, with a physical therapist trained in multiple manual therapy techniques.
- You will be monitored closely with your individualized exercise program to make sure you are using proper form.
- We will change the way your body performs to prevent injury from occurring or recurring. Consider the analogy of a misaligned car. If you keep driving on poor alignment you will continue to wear out the tires. Your body is the same way. If you are not training your body on a balanced core you will keep wearing out the joints, soft tissue and muscle attachments.
Myofascial Release™
Jill has been trained in the John Barnes Myofascial Release™ approach, a safe, gentle and consistently effective manual therapy with lasting results. Myofascial Release ™ provides sustained pressure into restrictions of the body to eliminate pain and restore motion in areas that have become tight and restricted.
Fascia is the tough connective tissue which spreads like a web throughout the body. When injury, surgery, inflammation or physical trauma occurs, this fascia can “bind down,” creating excessive pressure on nerves, muscles, bones, etc. As the fascia becomes tight, the body compensates, leading to such conditions as headaches, back pain, pelvic pain or fertility issues in women, ITB friction in runners, Achilles tendonitis and much more. Myofascial Release™ decreases pain and stimulates faster healing.
Craniosacral Therapy
Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle hands- on approach that releases tension in the body to relieve pain and poor movement or dysfunction and is used alone or in conjunction with myofascial release. The touch consists of soft pressure to release restrictions in the soft tissues surrounding the central nervous system. Increasingly, this technique is used as a preventative health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease. This light touch is used to detect and correct restrictions that develop in the body due to everyday physical stresses, such as sitting in front of a computer or texting. Because of its light touch, CST is excellent for pregnant women and newborns.
Muscle Energy
Muscle Energy is a simple technique that brings results quickly. It is a hands-on technique in which your body is placed in various positions so you can use your own muscle contraction to realign your spine, pelvis or other joints. Muscle energy is effective in improving range of motion in joints that are tight or stiff (i.e., a frozen shoulder) and for relief of back and neck pain. It is an ideal technique for runners and other athletes with chronic hamstring strains that do not improve with traditional treatment.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes
Movement impairment diagnosis involves a series of movement tests in which certain criteria must be met for optimal functioning of the body. When the body breaks down and someone has pain, these tests provide a detailed look at what needs to be done to correct movement patterns. From the results, I develop the appropriate exercise plan to alleviate your pain and improve your movement pattern.
But what if you are not in pain? Can you still get a PT evaluation? YES! Many people simply want an individualized assessment of their body’s posture and alignment. In the evaluation, I look at the entire body and how it is functioning – what muscles are being overused and underused — and then develop an individualized program of exercises. As a physical therapist my expertise is my skill at identifying movement imbalances, establishing the relevant movement diagnosis, developing the corrective exercise prescription and carefully instructing the patient about how to carry out the exercise program.
My physical therapy approach is not “one size fits all.” Instead, I evaluate each patient and from the findings I choose exercises that are specific to their unique challenges. These findings then carry over to the development of their Pilates-based exercise program as well.
One-on-One Pilates for Physical Therapy
What drew me to a love of Pilates was not just the claim that it would result in “flat abs” and other body changes. It was the great results I achieved when I started using it with patients in the PT clinic. Those results have kept many of my initial patients with me almost 15 years later!
Pilates for physical therapy can be combined with manual work or done just on its own. We use a variety of Pilates equipment to design a program that aligns with what you need to recover. As founder Joseph Pilates said, “Movement heals,” but it must be the correct movement in order to recover from an injury. That correct movement will change the way your neuromuscular system works to change how you move. You get better and stay better.