You need not suffer any longer. I have spent the last 17 years in practice honing my skills both diagnostically and therapeutically to better serve my patients.
Early on in my career I realized that the main reason people get injured is due to biomechanical faults in their movement patterns that place undue stress and strain on areas of their bodies. Muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia, and other connective tissue structures take the brunt of stress during everyday movements.
Doing the same thing day in and day out adds stress to your body. Micro-tears can occur in the soft tissues that lead to pain and further damage. As your body heals these tears, scar tissue is laid down. This scar tissue is akin to fibrous glue that binds the tear together. Unfortunately it can also bind other tissues to it, leading to adhesions.
Adhesions can occur within the same structure, or between two or more structures. When you move and one muscle glides past another, normally, no pain is felt. However, if the two are adhered together, then using either of them will lead to pain.
It is important to get these adhesions (and the scar tissue that forms them) out of the muscles and connective tissues so that you can return to optimal movement. Unchecked these adhesions can cause muscle “knots“, nerve entrapments, stiffness, tingling and burning at the adhesion site, or at a referred location elsewhere in the body.
Using advanced techniques including Active Release Technique, Functional Dry Needling/IMS, Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization, Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, as well as Fascial Manipulation, I can get to the root of the problem, and resolve chronic distress in the tissues in a relatively short period of time.
MOVEMENT DYSFUNCTION CAN BE A BIG PROBLEM!
Unfortunately our bodies have developed over thousands of years to function differently from the way we use them in modern society. We were once hunters and gatherers, traveling to follow food sources or living nomadically. We certainly moved a lot more than we do now.
Our repetitive nature has simply caught up to our physical bodies. Muscles that are primed to take the stress and strains of life are now resigned to nothing more than straps holding our heads from falling forward onto our computers.
Repetitive strain injuries result from small insults daily that are not dealt with, and day after day grow from a few snowflakes into a giant snowball of physical destruction. The problem is, this is all going on in the background of our life, unbeknownst to us. The result is that one day we wake up with a pain that had never been there before, from something trivial that we did. Maybe just from brushing your teeth, or buttering toast. The final straw is placed on our back, and it breaks!
There is a better way to treat these injuries.
Phases of treatment for repetitive strain injuries will involve:
The starting point involves decreasing the inflammation (swelling) in the area. This can take anywhere from several days to several weeks depending on the severity and longstanding nature of the injury.
Treatments include soft tissue treatments, coupled with low intensity laser therapy, and ice compression to decrease the inflammation.
This involves increasing the range of motion of the tissues and joints involved, increasing the pliability of the muscles and decreasing fascial tension.
Treatments include soft tissue techniques including Active Release, Fascial Manipulation, and Graston to break down adhesions, increase blood flow, restore normal tissue tone. Adding electrical stimulation and rehabilitation exercises at this point to help improve tissue resilience.
Think of this in terms of gardening. You see that there is a weed in your garden, and you can either pull the top off, only to have another one sprout up in a week or so. Or, you can dig out the root, and the weed won’t come back. We’re digging out the root here
This involves maintaining the level of correction that was made, aimed at keeping you functionally pain free and moving through full ranges of motion.
Think of this phase as if you were writing on a chalkboard, and how you would run out of room on the chalkboard if you didn’t erase the chalk periodically. That’s how tension builds up in the muscles, and Lifestyle Care is the removal of the tension so that you can keep going.
Dr. Corey is fantastic. I’ve been hiking, running and training in dance since I can remember. I’ve also had pain in my knees, hips and shoulder since I can remember. Being a professional performer (acting, dancing, singing), it’s hard having those things nagging at you every time you get on stage. Dr. Corey was great at diagnosing the connections between each issue, explaining the pains and then fixing them. My body has never felt so great and it’s made a huge difference in my performances. He’s knowledgeable, friendly and working with him for only two months has made huge leaps for my body.
Being a professional dancer/performer the situation isn’t ‘if’ I get injured but ‘when’. I have been coming to Dr. Corey for years now because time and time again when a situation arises, I know that he provides the highest quality treatment available and will work with me to ensure that I am able to keep doing what I love. I am very grateful to have found him and the entire AST team and consider them all to be an integral player in the longevity of my career. I have recommend Dr. Corey to many friends and colleagues and will happily continue to do so in the future
I am back at work up in Hinton after being back in Calgary for a few days. I just wanted to give you the heads up that after the two treatments my bicep pain has gone from a 9 to a 3! Not only that but I was able to perform the movement I suspect…
As a professional dancer, I came to Dr. Corey by referral. Dr. Corey was the only doctor to identify the source of my chronic pain and treat it correctly after an entire year of misdiagnosis and missed contracts. He listens, uses multiple techniques, and has allowed me to continue dancing with ease and without pain. He is personable, explains things clearly, offers tailored exercises to continue at home and approaches his work with curiosity and kindness. I highly recommend Dr. Corey to professional athletes and dancers working through injuries, chronic or undiagnosed pain, as he is the most capable sports doctor I’ve ever worked with.
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