The Formula

I was at dinner the other night with some friends and someone asked me what I could possibly do about his bad shoulder? knee? back?  He asked me these questions with a tone that suggested he didn't think there was anything to do.  He said he'd been to other doctors and they said there wasn't anything to do.....just stay off of it.

Well I invite you to consider there's another way.  There are more options out there than people are aware of.  For us, we have a general formula to how we treat all of our patient's at Health-Fit.  It works wonders for everything from TMJ pain to toe pain and everything in between.  The formula?

1) Decrease Pain
               -there are lots of ways we do this; adjustments, manual therapies, electric muscle stimulation, kinesiotape, rest, nutrition, etc......   Really anything that gets you feeling better.

2) Increase Global Range of Motion (Flexibility)
               -Active Release Technique (an advanced muscle therapy), Adjustments, Corrective Rehab exercises, etc.
 What we see is that people compensate from other areas of their bodies where they are very stiff, so they end up putting too much stress on their 'painful' area.  We address this so we can interrupt the cycle.  I.e. When your lower back hurts because your hips are too tight and whenever you move it ends up putting too much stress on the low back.

3) Increase Motor Control (Stability)
               -Corrective Rehab exercises are the main component of this category.
 Now that we have you moving better, let's hold on to it.  Ever wonder what's the point when you stretch really hard, get a little bit more flexible, then the next day you're back to the same flexibility level you were at previously?  Well when you have more stability of the areas of your body that aren't suppose to move much (check out Blog Post #1 - The Joint by Joint Theory), you can hold onto the flexibility that you've gained.


Numbers 2 and 3 are what end up making the long term difference...i.e. keeping the pain away long term.  It leaves your body an efficient mechanical machine that can take a licking and keep on ticking.



Consider that when the woman on the left walks up the stairs, exercises, or anything, that she's putting more stress on her low back and on her knees because she lacks the flexibility in her hips/hamstrings/ etc when compared to the woman on the right.  Of the two.....who do you think is going to need a hip replacement first?

When I played baseball in college, I always wondered why I couldn't seem to go more than a few weeks without arm pain when guys like Derek Jeter can go decades without creating the same overuse injuries that I seemed to create.  If you want to be able to be active for a lifetime, pay attention to the formula and follow it.  When inflexibilities and pain show up, address it before you start compensating and wearing out other parts of your body.

For your own Mobility assessment please visit us at  www.Mobility-4Life.com