Welcome to Whole Body PT!
Evaluation and Treatment sessions will always be one-on-one with April, your physical therapist.
A physical therapy evaluation begins by taking a detailed medical history, asking you various questions pertinent to your condition, function, activities, and lifestyle, while also carefully listening to your story.
Photo Credit: Derek Stettler; Edit: Rochelle Brodin
A physical therapy examination may include:
Performing a postural assessment
Performing a gait and functional movement analysis
Assessing your range of motion
Performing specialized tests
Assessing your breathing and body mechanics
Assessing your craniosacral rhythm
Assessing your muscles, joints, connective tissue (fascial), and nerve pathways for restrictions in mobility and/or reproduction of symptoms
Testing for weak links along the myofascial chains of your body, and testing the length, strength, and endurance of specific muscles and how they coordinate together.
Performing a vulvar exam looking for pain and/or symptom generators
Performing an external and/or internal pelvic floor muscle exam (vaginal or rectal).
The findings on your exam combined with the assessment and your specific history, will determine together where to focus treatment, as well as which treatment techniques may be best for you. Even if your symptoms are greatest in one area of your body, looking at your body as a whole is important during the evaluation and treatment process.
Your whole body is connected and working together as a system during movement, in static positions, but also at rest (when there is still movement-respiration, digestion, etc). Often the areas above or below the painful or symptomatic areas in our bodies can be the driver or contributors to our symptoms. These could be related to biomechanics, related to our movement patterns and musculoskeletal impairments, and/or neurological (neuropathic pain from peripheral nerves, or even nerve roots in the spine.) Hormones can also be at play and contributing to our symptoms, or conditions related to our genital organs and genital tissues. Often in chronic pain conditions, pain and symptoms can begin in one area of our body and eventually spread out to other areas. This can be related to where our brain processes sensations (“smudging” at the sensory homunculous of our cerebral cortex), cross central sensitization of our central nervous system, referred pain from our muscles or organs (somato-visceral and viscero-somatic reflexes), and referred pain patterns from myofascial pain sources. A physical therapist can be thought of as a detective, looking for what impairments could be driving and/or contributing to your symptoms and condition, and how all these pieces fit together.
No patient is one-in-the same, and each individual has specific needs. You and April will discuss your goals and formulate an individualized treatment plan to help you reach your optimal function. April welcomes comprehensive care, and loves working with your other medical providers, practitioners, trainers, and coaches so that we are functioning as a team, to provide the best possible care for you.
Photo Credit: Derek Stettler; Edit: Rochelle Brodin
Treatments may include:
Myofascial mobilization/release
Cupping/myofascial decompression
Scar tissue mobilization
Visceral mobilization
Craniosacral Therapy
Nerve mobilization
Vascular release
Joint mobilization
Mobilization with movement/Mulligan based techniques
Lymphatic drainage
Positionial inhibition/strain/counterstrain
Muscle energy techniques
Kinesiotaping
Postural education
Neuromuscular re-education
Therapeutic exercise
Functional and sports-specific exercise
Pilates-based exercise
Red Cord ® https://www.redcordamerica.com/neuromuscular-activation/neurac-system.php
Core Align ®
Biofeedback of pelvic floor muscles
Home exercise program
Education on your specific condition
Brain science pain education
Photo Credit: Derek Stettler; Edit: Rochelle Brodin