Pain Free Performance adds Kat Draego to the staff

"the tower"

The Supine Groin Exercise often uses a piece of equipment called "the tower".  This particular exercise creates powerful changes throughout the body.  It will help restore your alignment and help to retrain your gait pattern.


here's a helpful video that further explains what the tower is and how it works!

http://www.youtube.com/egoscuesd#p/a/u/2/zBSeycBZ9V8

e-cise of the day!

This e-cise is almost everyone's favorite. it's simple and is called Static Back:

Find your favorite couch or ottoman, and put your legs up so that the hips and knees are at 90 degrees.
Notice where the back of your head contacts the floor, take note if your shoulders are resting comfortably on the floor or are they rounded forward.  Is your low back touching the floor?   After about 5 min., notice if anything feels different........  This exercise begins the realignment of the shoulder girdle with the pelvis. 

Kean

This post is neither Pain Free nor Egoscue related.

We would simply like to share a photo with you that made us feel proud, touched and honored.

This is one of our clients. His name is Kean. Each time Kean comes into the office, he brings us gifts. Be it flowers, fresh apple cider or even jelly beans, Kean's gifts are reflective of his big ole heart. Kean is holding a photo of his son, also named Kean, who is serving our country overseas. We would like to honor both Keans for serving us as individuals and as a country.

Both of these men enrich and inspire our lives.

Gumby does Egoscue

As you can see, Gumby did static back this morning:

He also practiced his assisted hip lifts:

We have fun here at Pain Free Performance. You should come visit!

Why do so many suffer from back pain???

Here is an article from Egoscue.com on how our backs work, and how we can ease our bodies into a more natural (and less painful) posture while still being productive:

Lower Back Pain Relief

The symptoms of back pain can vary from low grade aches to full blown back spasms.  The urgency to solve the back pain consumes your life and drastic treatment procedures are pursued without a second thought.  Anyone who has suffered through a severe back spasm knows how excruciating it really is.  These spasms are so intense it seems this kind of pain is in a class of its own.

This type of pain is so unbearable that it has been known to prevent people from being able to think straight.  One of the best ways to treat back pain is to stop it before it happens and when it does happen, find a way to break the spasm before it accelerates to full blown.  The best way to prevent back pain without drugs, surgery or manipulation is knowing the correct way to exercise and function in every day life. 

When you know what the cause of your pain is, only then will you have the ability to know how to prevent it.  Keeping your body healthy and flexible is key, it’s all about knowing how to take care of yourself.  Proper nutrition helps in the flexibility of muscles and allows them to heal faster should they get pulled or torn.  Also, certain stretching techniques and having proper posture while exercising is essential to preventing back spasms and residual pain.

For those who suffer from degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, spinal fusions or scoliosis embody the symptoms of a chronic condition.  Sufferers can help their conditions by focusing attention on the muscles involved in stabilizing the body’s skeleton.  These very important muscles should be kept strong, flexible and balanced in all movements.

The spinal column is composed of 33 individual vertebrae, stacked one on top of one another, and threaded with the spinal cord.  The spine can be looked at as the drive shaft as its unique shape allows the body to pull off extraordinary balancing acts on a daily basis.  However, the muscles are also essential, not only to retain the spine’s shape but to hold it erect.  Conversely, inactive, atrophied, and compensating muscles alter the lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spinal curves.  Over time in the body’s improper movement and malnourished lifestyles, the magical S-Curve diminishes, taking with it the spine’s flexibility, load-bearing strength and shock-absorbing capacity.

Abandoned by the muscles, and losing the integrity of its curves, the spine is at the mercy of gravity.  Rigidity sets in and the body does what it does best and protects itself by throwing the muscles into contraction.  Eventually, the spine reaches its limits and it begins to stiffen the posture in a compromised flexion position.  The result is chronic back pain; the cure is proper nutrition and knowing your body’s limits. 

Don’t push yourself; if something’s too heavy than don’t lift it; if you feel yourself experiencing pain while sitting at your desk everyday, adjust your surroundings.  Make sure your chair is properly positioned so your elbows are at a 90 degree angle on the desk and your eyes are parallel with the computer screen.  These small gestures can go a long way in preventing future chronic back lower back pain.  

this article is from http://www.egoscue.com/about/articles.php

Why You Need To Try The Egoscue Method

This is Cindy Meyers, PAS Egoscue Certified therapist. I am still amazed at how this technique can change a person's life.  You know the drill:

"I used to be a runner but now I bike."

"I used to be a biker but now I walk."

"I used to walk for exercise but now I swim."

 The downward spiral is a slow process, but will hit you as you age if your body is out of alignment.  When you restore balance to the body and everything articulates and works properly I instead hear,

 "Wow!.... now I can run again!"

GETTING OLDER DOES NOT HAVE TO HURT!

Doing a simple menu of exercises designed to correct the dysfunctions in your body will keep moving for a lifetime.

What IS Egoscue?

Understanding Egoscue Method Therapy

The Egoscue Method recognizes that fundamental anatomical, physiological and biomechanical principles govern the human musculoskeletal system. With only very rare exceptions, each person is born with certain core design characteristics that serve as a strong, resilient and efficient operational platform. By using a blueprint of this extraordinary platform as a guide, the goal of the Method is to eliminate disparities that can occur when injuries or negative lifestyle conditions affect the way the musculoskeletal system actually moves as opposed to its underlying structural parameters. By restoring muscular balance, skeletal alignment and the harmonious interplay of internal systems, the body takes a quantum leap in healing power, stamina and physical capability. The Egoscue Method is not a form of treatment that chases after short term, symptomatic relief. Rather, symptoms provide a common sense starting point, a working frame of reference based on each individual's unique combination of strengths and limitations. Our primary objective applies to everyone we seek to help—to eliminate musculoskeletal system disparities and the resulting postural dysfunctions that interfere with pain-free living.A key part of the "blueprint" we refer to is familiar to all health professionals—it is known as the standing normal anatomical position. Without being overly technical the hip, knee and ankle joints are aligned vertically in paired stacks, each of which is subdivided by three horizontal parallel planes that extend through the joint pairs, creating what amounts to a partial dynamic load-bearing grid. The grid’s structure is completed by the shoulder joints which are in a functional interactive relationship with the major joints below instead of being aligned vertically like the others, although they too (the shoulders) operate individually and as a pair on a fourth parallel horizontal plane.Topped by the head, placed over the S-curved central spine that links the hips and shoulders, the grid allows upright posture and bipedal motion capable of a great range of movement. In addition, there is only temporary incidental rotation in the pelvis, legs, knees and ankles. (Think of rotation this way: Looking straight down on your upright body from above, draw a imaginary clock face with your head in the center facing twelve o’clock. In design position a straight line runs from hip joint to hip joint starting at nine o’clock and extending through the other hip joint, exiting at three o’clock. In such a configuration, there is no rotation, but if the lines depart from nine and three, say ten and four, rotation is present as the hips move off the design plane. This analogy works for the other load-bearing joints and the big leg bones. It is not unusual to find left-to-right pelvis rotation and right-to-left shoulder rotation.) The body is intended to rotate by twisting and turning, ascending and descending, in reaction to variations in the terrain and other temporary situations and then return to vertical alignment. When it remains stuck in rotation the integrity of the structure can be compromised As you probably have concluded by now, the load-bearing grid we have just described means that vertical and horizontal alignment is all-important to both the musculoskeletal system’s structural integrity, smooth functioning and full, pain-free capability. An individual whose body deviates from this design must do so for a reason. That reason is, (in cases that do not reflect past injuries), a muscular imbalance in strength and/or flexibility. An individual’s standing, static posture provides essential information to our therapists in predicting what the body will do as it moves. These predictions can be confirmed and often reinforced by observing the patient’s gait, the way he or she strides forward, turns and executes other routine maneuvers. In the process, changes in muscle tension/length may be detected, along with atrophy of underutilized muscles or damage to over-used muscles that results when one group of muscles is repeatedly substituted for another that is more appropriate to the task. Such postural anomalies, we describe them in general as “dysfunctions,” directly impact joint mechanics. from www.egoscue.com

Charlottesville Women's Four Miler

This weekend marked Charlottesville's largest annual all-female event: The Women's Four Miler.

Here is a great article that we had circulating as all the women arrived on Friday night.

Enjoy!

Running should be PAIN FREE!   More than 24 million people run in the United States alone, but 65% will have to stop at least once this year because of injury.  Others will choose to run through the pain. Why the injuries?   Why the pain...POOR POSTURE and POOR ALIGNMENT! 

We know that muscles pull bones in order to move.  When a body is imbalanced, some muscles are working overtime pulling the bone or joints out of alignment.  Other muscles become weak because they are not able to work the way they were designed to.  If you run with the body in poor alignment, stress or friction occurs in the joints and very often pain develops.  Pain is the bodies warning signal that something is wrong! 

At PAIN FREE PERFORMANCE, we believe that good posture is the cornerstone of proper running technique.  When your postural alignment is correct, the body moves efficiently in much the same way that water will flow through a straight pipe more easily than a bent one. Running with your body out of alignment can create tension, fatigue, discomfort, and even PAIN.

The therapists at Pain Free Performance utilize the EGOSCUE METHOD to restore postural alignment.  We do not focus on symptoms; instead, we look at the entire body and determine the SOURCE of your dysfunction.   We take photos; analyze your gait and perform functional tests to determine which muscles are dysfunctional and which muscles are compensating for the improper alignment.  An individual program is designed to include passive positions and gentle exercises which will unlock restrictions and guide the body back to optimal alignment and function.  This program   provides “tools” for you to take care of your body for a lifetime.          

  *Results of the Egoscue Method:

·         95% success rate ·         Dramatically reduces your potential for injury ·         Helps to make knee pain, foot pain or shin splints a thing of the past ·         Helps make running any distance enjoyable whether you’re a beginning runner or seasoned competitor

  Learn how it can help you abolish pain and restore your body to its proper design.  

CALL PAIN FREE PEFORMANCE:  434-296-0600 or go to www.painfreeperformance.com

Client Spotlight - Betty Haas

Client Spotlight - Betty Haas

     In 2008, I heard about Pain Free Performance which was started by Susy Russell and Cindy Meyers, who I knew were in Physical Therapy. I had been to numerous spine specialists and to numerous alternative medicine practioners. The medications that were prescribed helped to a degree, but none had been bale to make me free of my severe sciatic pain or my very severe pain caused by Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) also referred to as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). In effect, my caregivers were telling me that I would have to learn to manage and/or "live with" the pain. For me, managing the pain meant planning each day's activities carefully, so that I would not end up bed for a day or two --- literally writhing in pain. I decided to the Egoscue method a try. Each day, I faithfully do the ecises that Susy prescribes me; and I AM MORE THAN THRILLED WITH THE RESULTS. Before Egoscue, I would have to leave UVA football games at half-time because of unbearable sciatic and or RSD pain. Not anymore! For the past two years I have been able to stay and enjoy the games with minimal discomfort. At basketball games, because of the narrow space between the rows at the JPJ Arena, my pain would start up and my foot would swell since I could not stretch my leg out to a comfortable length. I wouldn't leave the game early, but by the time I go home I was a wreck and my next day would be spent in severe pain. Because Egoscue has helped me get my pain under control, that is all changed. I can once again enjoy the basketball games. I still can't stretch out my left leg, but the pain does'nt overwhelm me and I'm fine the next day. In fact, I still have some level of pain each day - but it is bearable. I have very few "down days" and I can't remember when I last spent a day in bed because of pain. Not to be trite, but, Egoscue and Susy have given me "a new lease on life."

Pain Free Wellness Center

As of January 1st Pain Free Performance has expanded its outreach to the community by creating Pain Free Wellness Center. The Wellness Center is located in the same office complex directly behind our current space. The Wellness Center is comprised of a new Egoscue treatment studio (in addition to our existing space) as well as two new practioners.  Meet our three new faces below!




JoAnn Christy, R.R.T., C.M.T.

JoAnn Christy is a Registered Respiratory Therapist and has been a Certified Massage Therapist since 2000 after completing the Medical Massage Program at the Virginia School of Massage. JoAnn's practice encompasses both relaxation massage and therapeutic massage. She has also been trained as a Schatz Technique (tm) Practitioner and is the only person ever granted this title. After an intensive mentorship with Bernard Schatz, P.T., she and Bernard went into private practice for over 2 years. The Schatz Technique (tm) treats chronic pain issues and is the perfect adjunct to The Egoscue method. While Egoscue aims for realignment of the joints, The Schatz Technique (tm) works to soften painful areas of fibrotic tissues. JoAnn is also certified in pre and post natal massage as well as teaching parents how to massage their newborns.




JoAnn offers Swedish relaxation massage in one hour or 90 minute sessions and The Schatz Technique (tm) in 2 hour sessions.


JoAnn can be reached by email at Massage2Go@aol.com for more information on The Schatz Technique tm, please go to reverseyourpain.com To schedule an appointment, please call 434-295-2272 (h) or 434-882-0380 (c) Free phone consultations.





Christie Savage, L.A.c

Christie Savage joins us with Harmony Acupuncture and Healing Practices. Christie decided to attend acupuncture school after personally experiencing the amazing results of acupuncture and craniosacral therapy. After a degree in mathematics from the University of Virginia and many years of working in a high pressured job for a large company she decided to move to a more fufilling career of helping people on their own personal healing journeys. Christie graduated from the Eastern School of Acupuncture in Montclair, NJ. She studied under world renowned acupuncture master Kiiko Matsumoto at the International Acupuncture Training Center in Beijing, China. While she studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, Five Element, and French Meridian Trigger Point Acupuncture, she focuses on Japanese Acupuncture. She can address a wide range of issues, but most people come to her with pain, digestive problems, stress relief, and emotional issues.


Christie can be reached by email at harmony.acupuncture@yahoo.com
or by phone at 434-242-8305.

Pain Free Wellness Center Opens

        As of January 1st Pain Free Performance has expanded its outreach to the community by creating Pain Free Wellness Center.  The Wellness Center is located in the same office complex directly behind our current space.  The Wellness Center is comprised of a new Egoscue treatment studio (in addition to our existing space) as well as three new practioners.  JoAnn Christy is a certified massage therapist and practices both relaxation and therapeutic massage.  She is also trained as a Schatz Technique practioner treating those with chronic pain issues which is a perfect adjunct to the Egoscue method.  Dr. Eric Evans brings his chiropractic practice to Charlottesville after providing care for 18 years in the New Jersey area.  He has focused his care on treating entire families and has developed effective techniques helping clients with all kinds of ailments, not just back and neck problems.  Pain Free is also excited to welcome Christy Savage, licensed acupuncturist who is moving her Charlottesville practice to our new space.  She also has a practice in Staunton, VA.  Christy specialized in several types of acupuncture as well as oriental bodywork.

        Stay tuned for pictures of the new space as well as in depth bios of our new practioners!!