OUR APPROACH
IS FUNDAMENTAL:
RESTORE
Mobility,
RESTORE
Posture,
RESTORE
Movement,
RESTORE
Strength
and
REFINE
Skill.
Restoring
Mobility
How can you stand up straight if some muscles are too
weak and some too tight, joints are too stiff or too
loose, or your breathing is restricted? Before you
can stand up straight, the fascia (fibrous connective
tissue which is found between the skin and muscle,
around muscle bundles, fibers, and cells) needs to
give enough to allow proper skeletal alignment.
Sitting at a desk and driving are examples of daily
positioning which allows the fascia and muscle in
the front of our bodies to tighten up and loose flexibility.
This fascial shortening may lead to back muscles which
are weak, overused and painful. Therefore, for a successful
rehabilitation, mobility must first be restored to
allow us to assume a good position and then we are
able to strengthen the weak muscles.
Restoring Posture
Our therapists are trained in the Postural Restoration
approach to assess core alignment, which focuses on
diaphragm and pelvic position to create the foundation
for optimal function. The diaphragm is the center
of your core, and it is often necessary to assess
the tone of the diaphragm and breathing patterns.
Pelvic alignment dictates the positioning and function
of both the spine and the extremities. Once core posture
is restored, postural habits can be changed. Our therapists
then use other assessment and manual therapy techniques
to restore individual joint and muscle functioning.
Restoring Movement
We have strong manual therapy skills in assessment
of joint function. Joints which are found to be too
tight are mobilized using hands-on techniques (manual
therapy techniques) to restore normal range of motion.
Restoring Strength
Once joints are moving well, it is important to address
the strength of the muscles which control this motion.
Sometimes, a joint has full range of motion but the
muscle are either too weak to move through the range
or arent working well as a team to allow the
joint to move through a full range without pain caused
by impingement. Strong assessment skills of muscle
function are used to discover individual weaknesses
and dyskinesia. These problems are then addressed
with muscle energy techniques to reduce tone, muscle
re-education techniques to refine movement and strengthening
programs to improve skill.
Refining Skill
Our therapists last job is to teach you how to
control movement while generating the power necessary
to move the body through space in order to perform
work. This may be as simple as getting out of a chair
and taking a walk or as complex as completing a triple
axle on the ice rink or sprinting down a soccer field.
Functional exercises are exercises which perform a
task. An exercise program is quickly progressed from
isolating weak muscles to strengthen them to using
the whole body to complete a task.
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