What We Treat
Chronic Pain
If you are experiencing chronic pain, you may have tried various types of treatments with little or no success. Chronic pain sufferers may not do well with traditional physical therapy clinics where therapists treat multiple patients at one time and only treat the site of pain, which may not be what is actually causing your pain. At Bodylove, we treat the entire body to address the root causes of pain. Sessions are always 1-on-1, so the therapist can dedicate full attention to your case and carefully observe and identify movement dysfunctions that may be prolonging pain and delaying healing. In cases of nociplastic pain (pain that arises without clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage), we educate clients on how to think about pain and movement differently in order to repattern the neural pathways sustaining the pain response. Studies have shown that pain education on its own can decrease chronic pain.
Injury Rehabilitation
Hopefully you come see us before injury, but if not, helping you recover from injury is what we are trained to do. If you are in pain, we use dry needling (with or without electrical stimulation), fascial manipulation, and manual therapy to reduce pain, “modulate” inflammation and encourage the healing process. Injury commonly causes a process called “pain inhibition” where muscles “turn-off” due to pain or disturbances in myofascial chains. This creates further weakness, instability, and increased chance of reinjury. We use fascial manipulation, dry needling, graded exercise, and neuro-muscular re-education to “turn-on” inhibited muscles after the injury in order to rebalance and realign your body. This is followed by functional training to get you back to all of your previous activities without pain.
Injury Prevention
We get regular checkups and assessments with our doctors and dentists to catch early warning signs and prevent serious illness. Why should our joint health be any different? Injuries can occur as a result of muscle imbalances, poor joint stability, poor body mechanics, and decreased mobility amongst other reasons. Chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis are usually the result of years of joint abuse that could have been prevented with proper education and appropriate exercises. At Bodylove, we assess, diagnose, and treat movement impairments in order to improve your joint health/alignment and prevent future injuries. We address structural issues with fascial manipulation and dry needling in order to improve joint mechanics. We educate our clients (young and old) on how to move with ease and efficiency in order to protect their joints and feel their best.
Pre-Surgical Rehab
("Pre-hab")
If you are considering a joint surgery, whether it is a hip, knee, or shoulder replacement, your surgeon may recommend “Pre-hab” before the procedure to improve your surgical outcomes. Post-surgical rehab only was traditionally the norm. However, a growing body of research has affirmed the benefits of "pre-hab", including helping the body heal faster after surgery, decreasing recovery time, and preventing future injury or wear-and-tear on the joint. We recommend 8-12 sessions in order to truly improve muscle strength, stability, and neuromuscular control to achieve optimal surgical results.
Sports Performance Optimization
We help dancers, golfers, runners, swimmers, softball players, cyclists, tennis, and pickleball players be at their best. By diagnosing and addressing weak links, asymmetries, and muscle imbalances, athletes and weekend warriors alike can reach the next level of their sport and prevent injury. We provide fascial manipulation and dry needling (with and without electrical stimulation) which can restore biomechanics and assist with faster recovery.
Post-Partum Care
Pregnancy and labor are beautiful experiences that come with tremendous physical challenges. For up to 9 months, your abdominal wall is stretched and weakened in order to accommodate the growing baby while pregnancy hormones cause ligamentous laxity making it more difficult to stabilize joints. All this while carrying around an extra 25-30 lbs! This has the effect of altering your entire body posture, weakening your core, and predisposing you to various joint and muscle pain.
At Bodylove we use Pilates method to activate the core in order to realign the body, strengthen and stabilize joints, and get you feeling like yourself again.
*We ask that you wait 3 months after a normal vaginal birth, and 4 months after Caesarean or complicated vaginal birth to begin therapy. We require sign-off from your OB-GYN to begin therapy.
Youth Dancers
Professional dancers have long known the benefits of Pilates on enhancing their training. Today, many dance companies, studios, and undergraduate/graduate dance programs (including Ballet Austin) incorporate Pilates into their training. Coming from a dance background, we at Bodylove have a special passion and appreciation for the physical challenges dancers face. Dancers are often hypermobile which can lead to joints and ligamentous injuries. Using Pilates & Redcord method, we teach dancers how to move with control and stability, while addressing muscle imbalances and postural deficits. We are focused on educating young dancers on how to protect their bodies to prevent injury and prolong their dance careers.