Acupuncture
Hair-thin needles are inserted into specific acupuncture points on your body to reduce pain and muscle spasm and to promote blood flow to areas that need healing. Traditional acupuncture theory sees this as facilitating movement of blood and qi (energy) to bring balance and health back to your body. Acupuncture is a major part of Traditional Chinese Medicine that has existed for over 4,000 years. Acupuncture can also be used to treat a variety of other illnesses and health conditions such as headaches, stress/anxiety, sleep issues, digestive issues, infertility and more.
Chiropractic
Chiropractic care emphasizes holistic and conservative treatment of conditions to facilitate the natural abilities of the body to heal itself. Chiropractic is typically thought of as "back cracking" or adjustments. These adjustments are joint manipulations, and we may use to restore motion to your joints that have been restricted due to injury or muscular imbalances. Joints need to movement get nutrients and stay healthy. The pop or cracking sound is simply the sound of gases moving in the joint as it gets greater motion.
Cupping
Like acupuncture, cupping comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine, and there is evidence that cupping dates as far back as 3000 BC Egypt. Sanitized air tight cups are applied to the body and suction is then created by a pump. The cups stay on from 5-15 minutes in the area of treatment to release and separate fascial adhesions and promote circulation and blood flow. Once they come off, you'll probably have the well-known circular mark or bruise made famous by various athletes like Michael Phelps and the US swim team. In Chinese medicine, cupping improves qi flow and removes stagnant energy treating everything from musculoskeletal conditions to the common cold. Cupping is a great complement to enhance the results of our soft tissue therapies such as TFR.
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
In addition to joint mobility, soft tissue mobility is essential to improve and optimize function. Injured soft tissue (muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia) can create scarring and adhesions that can cause pain and alter function of muscles and joints. Adhesions and scarring tend to build up and worsen over time. In a painless procedure, we apply specially designed stainless steel tools from Graston, FAKTR and others to help loosen and break up these areas. These "butter knives" as many patients call them are glided over problem areas to release and restore them.
Targeted Fascial Release
Fascia is the vast network of connective tissue surrounding our muscles and joints. It can fuse and adhere at various points when your body is putting demands on it causing pain, discomfort and alteration of normal movement. Target Facial Release™ (TFR™) is our proprietary soft tissue therapy combining concepts from myofascial release, acupuncture, and current scientific research to quickly and effectively resolve your fascial adhesions. Our therapists will manually find and release focused areas of adhesion. Think of it as a really intense sports massage.
Trigger Point Injections
Trigger points and fascial adhesions are focused areas of pain and inflammation in your soft tissues. A common area to have one of these painful points is your upper trapezius muscle, in the middle of the area where your shoulder and your neck meet. These points can cause pain in the area they are in or refer pain to other areas. We'll feel for these points, mark them, and clean them off for injection. A needle is then inserted into the point and saline (salt water) or saline with a little lidocaine is injected to break up the adhesion or trigger point that is causing pain. A topical numbing spray maybe used on your skin to make the treatment more comfortable.
Kinesiology Tape
You've seen this brightly colored tape on professional athletes and Olympians. Kinesiology taping uses specially designed elastic tape that works to support and stabilize the body without restricting movement or range of motion. Taping can provide support and stability and also aid the body’s natural healing processes. Benefits include increasing circulation, decreasing inflammation and swelling, decreasing pain, correcting muscular imbalances and supporting joints. Kinesiology taping technique is backed by over 30 years of use, clinical research, and more than 50 million patients. We apply "K-tape" to help speed recovery or for some extra support for your upcoming athletic event.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy (PT) focuses on conservative care techniques with a philosophy similar to chiropractic care. Treatments aim to reduce pain, improve strength and improve mobility without surgery and reduce the need for long-term prescription medications. A major part of physical therapy at Balanced Flow is teaching you how to prevent or manage your conditions so that your results will last. Our physical therapy goals are to help you improve movement, reduce pain, restore function, prevent disability, and make daily tasks and activities easier (walking, taking stairs, getting up and down). Physical therapy also includes work to aid in recovery of injuries and after surgery. We also use PT to proactively prevent the loss of functionality by developing fitness and wellness oriented programs for healthier and more active lifestyles.