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Assessment phase
Pain relief phase
If your pain is severe or distressing the first goal is usually to reduce your pain. You will not be able to learn new movement habits if you are in severe pain.
Pain treatment at Free2Move usually involves an appropriate combination of conventional Physiotherapy techniques such as joint mobilisation, massage, dry needling (a form of acupuncture) or gentle stretches. We are likely to give you home exercises and advice about how to reduce strain on the affected area during the course of your daily activities. We may refer you back to your GP for further testing or review of your medication where appropriate.
Conventional physiotherapy treatment is often the most helpful way to relieve acute pain. The problem is that when pain becomes chronic, it may only bring temporary relief. This is where our Feldenkrais training is really useful.
Individual learning phase: movement re-education
Once your pain is under control to a level where you are able to focus on learning, we start to address your posture and movement. This is a form of movement re-education.
Inefficient movement habits are often the underlying drivers of pain. Instead of focusing on the pain itself we look at your FUNCTION. What do you want to be able to do effortlessly and painlessly? We use a combination of Physio and Feldenkrais, as appropriate to your condition. We help you improve your movement functions and integrate them into your everyday life. This is why individual Feldenkrais sessions are known as Functional Integration
The process often starts with a single movement that you have been finding difficult. We observe your whole body as you try doing that movement (not just the part of the body where the pain or weakness is located). As a result of our Feldenkrais training, we are often able to pick up things that other therapists have missed.
We show you more comfortable and efficient options that may never have occurred to you. The process involves focussing all your attention on how you are moving and then reducing excess effort and tension. Excess tension results in wear and tear and contributes to chronic pain. Improving even just one movement may result in other movements improving too.
You learn best when you are relaxed and not in pain, so the treatment is usually completely comfortable.
Over a course of the next few treatments, we work with you to make as many movements as possible painless and easy. This is done by helping you change the way you organise your whole body. We also give you home exercises to reinforce the learning process.
It’s often a surprise that movement habits you were not even aware of are contributing to pain, tension and a feeling of weakness. When you clearly sense a more comfortable and powerful way to move, it starts to change the way you move. This happens not only when you are thinking about it but even when you are operating on ‘autopilot’. The process is usually effortless, in fact trying too hard often just increases pain and tension.
If pain recurs or worsens at any point in the treatment process we are able to draw from the full range of conventional physiotherapy techniques to bring relief.
Pain management phase
We now know that all pain is entirely experienced through the brain and nervous system. We use what is called the biopsychosocial model of treating chronic pain. Emotions, stress, trauma, repetitive negative thinking or relationship issues can all contribute to the pain experience. This may cause pain to persist beyond the normal period where tissue healing occurs.
Research shows that simply understanding this can help people with chronic pain to cope better and minimize the experience of pain. So part of our process is to ensure that our clients have access to educational materials about current pain neuroscience.
During the process of movement re-education, most clients discover parts of the body where they are subconsciously holding on as a form of self-protection. An example would be holding the breath or stiffening the lower ribs in a way that is contributing to lower back pain. When you feel this for yourself and learn to let go, it’s often a tremendous relief.
However Feldenkrais is far more than a way to relax. It also teaches you to find the most bio-mechanically efficient pathways of movement. You can then produce more force with less effort, through better alignment of your skeleton and use of your muscles.
Strengthening phase
Once you have developed more comfortable and efficient movement patterns we have various options to help you strengthen the new movement patterns and the associated muscles. The Exercise Rehab programme held in our Studio or our Feldenkrais or Pilates floor classes are a great way to continue this process.
This is where everything you have learned about moving more comfortable comes together. You understand how to get strong without making your pain worse. It may be possible to return to activities you once enjoyed such as sports, yoga, Pilates, going to the gym, swimming or running. The treatment and education we provide bridges the gap so that you can confidently return to physical activities you enjoy.
Home exercises and regular individual progress reviews ensure that you stay on track with reaching your movement and physical activity goals.
One on One Consultation.
A pre-requirement for any service
- Go to our portal to book a one-on-one appointment either by zoom or in person at the practice.
- The portal is also where you book into our studio Exercise Rehab small groups for close one-on-one assessment and training using our Pilates equipment.
