What techniques do our providers use?
Explore below to learn more about our array of treatment techniques & modalities
Manual Chiropractic Adjustment
Chiropractic adjusting is a powerful therapeutic technique for the treatment of muscle, joint, and nerve pain. It works by increasing joint mobility, increasing blood flow, and decreasing neural tone (tightness) in muscles.
During an adjustment the joint and its surrounding capsule is stretched very quickly. This rapid stretching activates nerves around the joint causing the surrounding muscles to relax. This relaxation results in increased mobility of that joint and increased blood flow to the joint, ligaments, and surrounding muscles. This creates ideal conditions for joint, muscle, and ligament healing. The increased mobility can also decrease pressure on nerves that are compressed in the tissues next to the spine or other joints. What is the Crack?! The crack or popping noise that you hear during an adjustment is caused by the formation of air bubbles in your joint fluid. Adjustments stretch joints, which causes a decrease in fluid pressure within the joint, and a small air bubble forms creating a popping noise. Not sure adjusting is for you? No Problem! Adjustments are a very novel form of treatment that can appear very unusual to some patients. If you are uncomfortable about receiving an adjustment in any area of the body, please let me know and I will be happy to utilize other techniques to help you along your path to recovery.
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manipulation (IASTM)
Instrument assisted soft tissue manipulation (also commonly referred to as Graston) is a method of decreasing muscle tension and increasing blood flow to a region of the body. This works similar to a typical deep tissue massage to cause muscles to relax, plus has the added benefit of effecting the fascial layers of the body.
All of muscles, bones, organs etc. of the body are wrapped in a layer of fascia that can be thought of as a saran wrap. These thin layers of fascia/saran wrap keep the body organized into many compartments. In regions where many muscles meet there is an overlap of many different layers of fascia, and these fascial layers can become stuck to each other. IASTM treatment has been found to stimulate the secretion of a lubricant called hyaluronic acid between these fascial layers that reduces this “stickiness” and increases mobility. This is important because the blood vessels and nerves of our bodies live in these spaces between fascial layers. By decreasing this “stickiness” your blood vessels and nerves will have more space which allows for more blood flow and less pressure (think pain) on your nerves.
Myofascial Release
Functional release and active release refer to specific techniques used for myofascial release. This a combination of stretching while massage-style techniques are applied to muscles and fascia around your body. This helps to release trigger points, relax muscles, and increase blood flow.
This is one of my favorite techniques and I utilize functional/active release with virtually all my patients. This helps to relax muscles and speed up healing following injury. Additionally, when this muscle relaxation is achieved before chiropractic adjusting, the adjustment becomes more effective and more comfortable for patients.
Neurodynamics Treatment
Neurodynamic techniques are a system used to assess and then treat the nervous system. Nerve injuries are typically result of excessive pressure or stretch on a nerve, combined with inflammation that causes sensitivity in the nerve as well.
This system helps to identify where a nerve is being impacted. Then a progression of in office treatments, and home exercises are used to reduce pressure/tension on the nerve, plus increase blood flow to promote healing.