Philosophy
The pain we are most familiar with is acute pain. It is well-understood by patients and practitioners alike in that it is the pain associated with an injury such as a fracture. This pain usually causes some form of swelling, redness, and tenderness. It is helped with rest, ice, medications, etc and usually goes away in 4-6 weeks after healing has taken place.
More unfamiliar is the chronic or recurrent pain that plagues a growing portion of our population. When similar methods of treatment, as are used in the treatment of acute pain, are applied to this group of individuals, results are less than stellar. Sometimes, there is no relief of pain whatsoever. The solution to this pain is not found in repeated steroid injections or chronic narcotic pain medications, but rather a closer examination of the human myofascial system.
Myofascial System
The human myofascial system exists as a continuous structure from head to toe. Think of the stringy tissues, or gristle, on meats. It encapsulates all of the cells in our body and can hold on to years of trauma whether it is physical, mental, or emotional. Evaluation and treatment of this system involves examining the musculoskeletal system of the body in a whole new way. It involves a significant amount of training and time for a practitioner to be skilled in the approach, but the results are often nothing short of amazing.
Treatments involve detailed, hands-on, structural and postural assessments with treatment sessions that usually last between 30-60 minutes. See section on treatments for more details.