Therapeutic Modalities applied…..Case Study Excerpt

The first of the Therapeutic Modalities does what it says on the tin.  Hands-on bodywork that helps to integrate and align the structure and tissues of the body.  Specifically, our bodywork modality at The Functional Health Clinic (in Newcastle upon Tyne) is Bowen Therapy.  When we enhance the form, position, alignment, posture and tissue quality it creates an improved function.  We are working with the soft/connective tissues of the body – including fascia, muscles, skin, tendons and ligaments.

For example, we could create symmetry in the tension of the muscles on each side of the jaw bone (TMJ).  This can have a myriad of effects that reverberate through the body, from alleviating neck pain, headaches, digestive issues and even knee pain.  And perhaps brain fog and fatigue.

The causational relationships are of course very individual. And fascinating!

FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT COACHING

We are actually using functional movement in a similar way and for similar reasons as above.  Can we create movement programs that enhance the function of the body’s systems – Muscle-fascial-skeletal, Brain and Central Nervous System, Digestion, Detoxification, Cardio-Vascular and Lymphatics etc?

On the Health Restoration Program when people have chronic health challenges it is often the case that their relationship with exercise/movement is at one of the extremes.

1 – Too Much – Over-exercising, doing the same as they always have, in the fear of what will happen if they stop, even though it’s inhibiting progress.

2 – Too Little – Avoiding all forms of exercise due to any attempt so far exacerbating symptoms and challenges and unsure of how to utilise movement to help them towards their goals.

Thankfully there is always a point between the extremes that is conducive to success.

With this option from the therapeutic modalities we’ll use various applications, methods and styles of exercise and movement as appropriate at the different stages of progress.  From Infant Movement Development to Strength and Conditioning.

NUTRITION COACHING

A huge topic we know! In short – we move between the confusion and contradiction.  Nutrition too is often applied and coached at extremes or right/wrong and good/bad.  If you aren’t embracing informed choice and individualising your approach to nutrition you’re choosing to play roulette!  It’s fatiguing to follow and bounce between one-size-fits-all – so we apply a wiser approach

Nutrition coaching is one of our pillars of therapeutic modalities and when we introduce it we are leveraging something else and complementing the bodywork, structural and functional movement already in play.

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

The fourth of the Therapeutic Modalities. The ability to be able to assess the function of these systems throughout our body (digestion, detoxification, immune, hormonal, etc) opens up vast potential for anyone searching for answers.  These systems have a blueprint of how to perform.  Within Functional Medicine, a Functional Lab Test has the capacity to help identify optimal function and dysfunction.

This is a huge piece of the puzzle when looking for insight from the body and avoids the pitfalls of guessing and chasing symptoms around the body.

In Martin’s case he was actually quite smart in the way he embraced the functional medicine side of things. We utilised some blood testing and comprehensive digestive health testing to great effect.  Yet, he kept it simple and had a high value on leveraging other areas and therapeutic modalities such as lifestyle, environment, movement, alignment and nutrition.

Which worked beautifully for him!

You can read a more in depth overview of all the Therapeutic Modalities we apply here at the Functional Health Clinic.