We identify ourselves as a Laser Clinic because we regularly observe and provide to our clients the accelerated healing benefits associated with this technology. We are not only about laser, however. Our post-injury rehab programs vary in content depending upon the clinician and client goals and requirements, but all have as a primary focus the restoration of normal motion across all the major joints. In our practice normal motion trumps/precedes muscle strength and functional activities, and I’ll use the Egoscue Perspective to explain why.
Our physiotherapy programs incorporate elements of the Egoscue Method, as described by Pete Egoscue in his Pain–Free series of books. I mention these books because they are elegantly and simply written, and for me they brought me back to the fundamentals of motion and movement which I first learned about in Physio 101. Some of these principles include:
1. The human body was built for motion, and motion is just as essential to our overall health as are the vitamins, minerals, protein and water we consume. When we are motion deprived, joints and muscles deteriorate, causing pain which can be difficult to understand in the absence of a precipitating injury. Injury on top of the alignment changes associated with motion deprivation complicates the rehab process.
2. The skeletal alignment of the human body has an original or default design, which is maintained by normal length and tension of the muscles across all the major joints. When alignment isn’t normal, it follows there is failure in muscle system. As Egoscue says bones do what muscles tell them!
3. The human skeleton is responsive to our demands and wishes, and will always respond to a call to action, even if muscle dysfunction re-routes the transmission of the requested movement. In the example of a shoulder or rotator cuff problem which prevents normal arm elevation, a person might hike their shoulder to help reach a cup on a shelf.
4. Motion deficits occur because of our actions, and can only be corrected by our action. When pain occurs because of motion deficits, only motion can be corrective. Medications may temporarily help, but they cannot correct the problem. Realization of this point should make you wonder how many people with pain could perhaps be pain-free if they could only restore their body’s normal motion!
All this to say, restoring normal motion and alignment is the first objective in our physiotherapy rehab programs. To strengthen without restoring alignment results only in strengthening dysfunction.
Our clients are encouraged to look beyond the pain relief and accelerated healing that the low intensity laser provides. Whether the rehab effort requires a regional or full body correction, we are committed to coaching you throughout the whole process. The power to remain pain-free rests within yourself!
Estelle Barry PT,
