Specialty Treatments Offered
John F. Barnes’ Myofascial Release
All of our Physical Therapists specialize in the John F. Barnes’ style of Myofascial Release, one of the true specialty niches of our practice. It was this approach that allowed Dr. Jereme to completely rid himself of chronic back pain after suffering daily for 20 years and what inspired us to open Balance Within PT! Hailed as ‘The Missing Link in Traditional Therapies’, this powerful form of Myofascial Release is also incredibly gentle.
How it works: Stubborn, tight restrictions of the fascia are released through hands-on techniques and exercises that stretch the body’s muscles and connective tissue to their (gentle) barrier and held for a sustained period of time (usually 2-5 min). After this time, deep and often long-lasting releases occur. Many people describe the feeling afterwards as ‘the straightjacket is gone’ or ‘that crushing pressure on my back/neck/knee/etc disappeared’. It’s estimated that compression or torque forces from fascial restrictions can exert forces of up to 2,000 lbs per square inch so it’s no wonder people feel so great when this is released!
While there are many different types of Myofascial Release and just about any Physical Therapist or Massage Therapist will tell you that they practice MFR (myofascial release), it is extremely rare to find someone (let alone the majority of PTs in one practice) that have completed 200+ hours of training in this specialized approach with Advanced or Expert level certifications. Most other types of MFR are very aggressive and not long-lasting (ie: deep tissue massage, Rolfing, Graston, etc) so it’s very important to make this distinction when you’re looking for long-lasting results. We’ve had a lot of success helping people with chronic pain that has not responded to other approaches, especially when we integrate this style of approach in their care.
CranioSacral Therapy
Visceral Manipulation
Visceral Manipulation is a gentle manual (hands-on) therapy that facilitates the release of restrictions throughout the organs and viscera. Why is this important? When we walk, bend, twist and breathe our internal organs (viscera) are supposed to move within our abdominal and chest cavities. For example, our kidneys move one cm when we breathe. This movement is vital to our health (helps with circulation, ridding of toxins and allowing for full-body movements). When we are healthy, these structures move more fluidly. When this normal motion becomes restricted, your body is forced to compensate which often leads to functional and structural problems throughout your body (which you might feel as stiffness, pain and difficulty with digestion!) Loss of motion occurs when tissue in your body becomes inflamed because inflammation causes a direct loss of elasticity. Inflammation has many causes: infections, direct trauma, repetitive motion, diet, environmental toxins, emotional stress.
Our wonderful PT Jill Fraundorf specializes in the prestigious style of Visceral Manipulation taught by Jean-Pierre Barral, D.O. She has taken multiple high level specialty courses through the Barral Institute; she is a rare find in the PT world and we are very lucky to have her! Visceral Manipulation has helped our patients receive great improvements with: digestive problems including heartburn and constipation, endometriosis, headaches & migraines, post-operative scar tissue pain, low back pain, pelvic pain, joint pain, whiplash, scoliosis, and tricky pains elsewhere throughout the body that is all ‘connected’. Visceral Manipulation been called the “Missing Link” to the neuromusculoskelstal system. Click here to check out our blog post on Visceral Manipulation.
Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Physical Therapy
Women’s Pelvic Health
The pelvis is an area of the body that is sadly neglected in our lives, in medical practice and in the Physical Therapy world as well. The pelvis is the foundation of the body and if it’s not in alignment and/or our muscles aren’t stabilizing it properly, all sorts of joints up and down the chain start talking to us… and eventually even yelling with pain. The pelvic floor and core musculature are vitally important stabilizers that especially deserve some attention. We’re proud to offer Women’s Pelvic Health Physical Therapy that truly integrates this powerful part of our body into our whole. We have a strong track record of helping women with urinary leakage (incontinence), diastasis recti, prolapse or painful intercourse/pelvic pain/dyspareunia. For our prenatal ladies, we are grateful to be able to provide a much more thorough approach to preparing for baby & doing all we can to facilitate an easier birthing process while keeping you comfortable. For our postpartum mamas, restoring the strength and coordination of your core & pelvic floor as well as teaching your body how to stabilize and lift/push/pull/get back to being fully active safely is incredibly empowering. And for our patients with joint pain, many are surprised when we start to address core and pelvic stabilizer strengthening to help take the strain off their joints and to get their muscles acting like the ‘shock absorbers’ throughout the body that they’re supposed to be.
While we do offer many ‘specialties’ at Balance Within PT, truly our body is a whole and we work as a team to integrate whichever specialty components of care each of our patients need and deserve to help them meet their goals, get them back to feeling great and living to their best lives. To learn more about our unique and integrative approach, please CLICK HERE.