Treatments
You don't have to pick the treatment. That part is my job.
This is not a menu. It is what I have to work with, and what I tend to use it for — so that when I choose something at your visit, you know what I chose from.
Adjustment
A quick, specific movement to a joint that isn't moving as it should. There is often a pop, which is only gas moving in the joint and is not the point of it. I use it most for backs and necks that are stiff rather than irritable. If you'd rather not be adjusted, say so — there is always another way in.
Soft tissue therapy
Hands-on work into muscle and the tissue around it, sometimes while you move the limb. It can be firm and it can be tender for a day afterwards. I use it alongside adjusting for almost everything, and on its own where the muscle is the whole story.
Acupuncture
Fine needles into the muscle, left in for a few minutes. Most people feel a dull heaviness rather than pain. I use it where things are too irritable to work on directly, for muscles that keep tightening back up, and for some headaches.
CranioSacral therapy
Very light hands-on work, usually at the head, neck or lower back. There's no adjusting and no force — most people say it feels like almost nothing is happening. I use it most often for headaches, for jaw tension, and for people whose systems don't respond well to being adjusted. If it's not helping after a few visits, I'll say so.
Ultrasound
A small head moved over the area with gel; you feel warmth or nothing at all. A minor part of what I do, used for some recent soft tissue injuries. It is never the whole treatment.
Custom orthotics
Made from a cast of your foot, for feet that are contributing to a knee, a hip or a back. I only raise them when I think they will change something, and I quote them before anything is ordered.
Exercise programs
Two or three things at a time, written down, so you'll actually do them. My background is in physical education and I have my own yoga practice, so what you get will be something you can keep doing after you stop seeing me.