Friday, January 16, 2009

My first post

Hey guys. So I thought now was as good a time as ever to finally start one of these. My friend Stephanie has been trying to get me to do this for a LONG time. I kept refusing, simply because I don't want to have to keep up with one of these!! Anyway, after much convincing, and Steph actually starting one for me, here I am. Thanks Steph!!

I thought it would be nice for people to get an idea of what kind of therapist I am and what kind of work I do. I like to include ALOT of stretching in my sessions. Stretching the muscles before I get in there and work is vital!! It helps get the muscles loosened and warmed up. This also helps me understand what muscles and parts of the body need attention. The first thing I try to do is have my client show me their range of motion. I have them move in every direction as far as they can comfortably. After this I generally like to do some passive range of motion exercises with the neck, arms, back and legs as the body is all connected and problems in one area of the body can stem from a completely different area of the body. For instance, I have had clients come in complaining of strictly neck problems, and as we get into the session, we realize that the low back has tension and trigger points that radiate pain up into the neck. Oftentimes, if both of these areas are massaged and worked through thoroughly, the client is able to move and leave painfree. There are other times when the neck pain, is just that.....a pain in the neck! For this, I would spend the session focused on just the neck.....stretching, massaging, and using different exercises to work through the issue.

Another case I have had is with the knees. I have had a client complain of problems behind and around the left knee. The knee hurt all the time and was beginning to cause problems with walking. After massaging around the knee and up and down both legs, I found that the iliotibial band (which runs on the outside of the thigh connecting the hip to the knee) was extremely tight and causing a pull on the knee. After stretching this out and massaging the iliotibial band, the knee felt fine.

There are so many facets of the body and everything is connected. These are only a couple of cases I've had. But everybody has different issues with their bodies. I would love to hear your story and see how I can help you. Hope to hear from you soon! Have a wonderful day!