WHAT YOUR SESSIONS WILL LOOK LIKE
EVALUATIONS
Patients are often surprised by the in-depth and thorough nature of the evaluation
After a conversation to understand your history, goals, and address any questions you may have, Dr. Brian performs a series of diagnostic tests to assess the following:
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range of motion through your spine, hips, feet, ribs, jaw, and shoulders
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functional movement patterns like squatting, breathing, gait, and reaching
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your ability to create force and pressure through each side of your body and your bite
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cranial strain patterns by examining your cranium, tongue, teeth, and visual system
Why do these results matter?
Each set of tests provides Dr. Brian with pieces that fit into a bigger picture of how your body is functioning, what muscles it has access to, and which ones it overuses or cannot shut off. He uses this picture to form a treatment plan.
Changes right from the start
Based on your testing, Dr. Brian's recommendation, and your preference on what you feel is manageable, you will be assigned between one to four activities to work on at home.
At the end of the evaluation, you will have a chance to schedule as many follow-up sessions as you need. By the end of the day you should receive detailed instructions for the specific exercises to work on before your next session.
Once your brain makes the connections, changes happen immediately
During the first session you can expect to see instant changes in your movement capabilities. This will be achieved by decreasing tension in your body through an exercise or by introducing a tool specifically to you (such as orthotics or a lens adjustment). This change should happen for every patient and should be instantaneous as it is driven by your nervous system.
FOLLOW UP SESSIONS
Each visit starts with a short conversation to give you a chance to update Dr. Brian with any new goals you may have, to share your progress, and to address any questions or concerns you may have. You then move into testing all major joints of the body to determine body position and patterning so that Dr. Brian can determine what exactly your body needs at that moment in time to find relief from your symptoms and move towards a better pattern of movement.
The expectation of the subsequent visits is that your body arrives as it left: with new available range of motion and decreased tension at rest. The goal is for your body to learn new automatic function. If you have to constantly think about how you are moving and how you are breathing, you are not likely to succeed as constant vigilance is not possible. Instead, Dr. Brian will give you specific exercises or tools to give your body the proper input it needs to rewire itself in order to create a new automatic mode of function.
Sometimes collaborative care with other practitioners is needed to see change
Some patients will be successful in changing their movement patterns through exercises alone. Others will need additional training or guidance to maintain this new state of functioning. This is where Dr. Brian may need to do additional testing to see what sensory influences are redirecting your body and interdisciplinary care may be required.
Once you are able to maintain this freedom of movement automatically, you can progress into the final phase of treatment which is retraining proper body movement and sequencing synergistic muscle patterns. At this point, most patients have already experienced significant reduction in their symptoms.
Ultimately, we expect initial rapid change in tension, followed by a slower process of retraining
You are encouraged to bring your person or family member to your first appointment if you think it might be helpful. This type of physical therapy is usually a completely new way of looking at the body and therefore there can be a lot of information to process. It is certainly not required to have anyone else at your appointments and do not let it be a barrier to starting. Everything you do at your sessions you will have the ability to perform independently.