Integrative Physiotherapy, Advanced Neuromusculoskeletal Assessment and Treatment

INTEGRATIVE
PHYSIOTHERAPY

We will explore....

How does your brain interpret the sensory information coming from your body?

This will determine your posture, muscle activation, balance, coordination and perception of pain

How are you breathing?

How does your body move? What are your movement strategies?

What impacts your posture and your movement?

Poor movement strategies and postural habits
Weakness (loss of muscle strength)
Sub-optimal muscle recruitment (the muscles not 'switching on' at the right time)
Breathing patterns
Tension in the muscles or fascia
Loss of range of movement of the joints
Loss of flexibility
Laxity of ligaments - hypermobility of the joints
Neural tension – biomechanical restriction of your nerves gliding in relation to surrounding tissue
Pain
Fear of movement (worrying you will hurt yourself)
Loss of balance and altered proprioception (the body's ability to sense its position, movement, and orientation in space)
Activation of defensive reflexes or protective reactions (when the autonomic nervous system is in fight/flight mode)
Loss of synchronisation of postural righting reflexes
Structural pathology and injury (mechanical failure of the tissues) - specific diagnostic tests and clinical reasoning (including comprehensive neurological examination if appropriate).

Where do you hold tension in your body?

How is stress or trauma impacting your health and well-being?

How do you feel about yourself and your body?

What are your beliefs around health and self-care?

How well do you cope with stress?

How resilient is your nervous system?

What other health challenges are you dealing with?

What other psychological, emotional, relational, social and environmental factors are currently impacting you?

Rehabilitation

Postural awareness, orientation in relation to gravity and recruitment of postural muscles
Balance and coordination exercises
Proprioceptive exercises - retraining the body's ability to sense its position, movement, and orientation in space
Muscle recruitment and strength training (local and global)
Tendon conditioning
Stretches and mobility exercises
Breathing patterns and diaphragm

Education and facilitation

Patient education regarding anatomy, biomechanics, and physiology
Patient-centered management plan (also addressing psychosocial factors)
Trauma-informed somatic therapy and body awareness exercises
Vagal tone exercises, nervous system regulation strategies and and polyvagal theory
Pain reprocessing and pain neuroscience education
Stress management and breathe awareness

Therapeutic techniques

Myofascial release, direct and indirect (biodynamic) fascial release
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) to improve range of motion and flexibility using muscle contraction and relaxation
Cranial fascial release
Manual therapy to improve joint mobility, release tension and relieve pain
Neural gliding and mobilisation techniques
Techniques to regulate the nervous system and deactivate inappropriate defensive reflexes
Synchronisation of postural righting reflexes
Dry needling
Laser
Short-term, functional proprioceptive wedges for shoes

Chronic fatigue syndrome, functional neurological disorder
Long covid, autoimmune dysregulation, POTS, multiple sclerosis
Persistent pain conditions
Neck and back pain and loss of mobility
Spinal conditions and scoliosis
Headache and TMJ disorders
Hip (osteoarthritis, labral injury, bursitis, tendinopathy) and knee pain (patellofemoral pain, meniscus injury, osteoarthritis)
Frozen shoulder, rotator cuff issues, tennis elbow, golfers elbow
Foot and ankle injuries/pain (including Achilles tendinopathy and plantar fasciopathy)
Osteoarthritis and degenerative joint disorders
Neural disorders and nerve-related pain