POSTURAL ALIGNMENT THERAPY
What is postural alignment therapy?
Postural Alignment Therapy works on the theory that the body is a kinetic chain, and that the alignment of the joints carries a huge impact on how the internal organs work. Often in posture therapy, if we see a joint that is not working as well as it should, we may also see dysfunction in a different joint on the opposite side. For example: a right shoulder causes dysfunction in the left hip—or a left ankle causes dysfunction in a right hip.
In other words: when one region of the body is out of whack, so too are others!
In a therapy session, a client’s posture is analyzed through static pictures, observation of the gait cycle, and functional movement testing. Based on the observations made in the postural assessment, exercises are then prescribed to help move the joints back into optimal alignment. Each prescribed exercise is sent to the client with pictures, videos and descriptions to make it easy for the client to perform their exercise menu at home on a daily basis.
Sessions are recommended weekly in the beginning of treatment to assess the effectiveness of the exercise and progress the difficulty level. No exercise experience is required, and menus are highly customized to the client’s movement challenges.
Our Postural Alignment Therapist, works closely with the Physical Therapists to make sure that the exercise menus are cohesive with their prescribed treatment plan. Adding Postural Alignment Therapy to a treatment plan can have powerful effects both on healing, recovery and improving the performance of daily functional tasks.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of Postural Alignment therapy, consider this patient case. Specifically, this patient came in with pain in her low back, pelvic floor & hips.
Due to a long history of pelvic floor sensitivities, I approached her treatment very cautiously and gave her very simple activation exercises combined with gentle stretches to begin to move her pelvis and upper body. Our primarily concern was correcting her pelvic disparity (aka asymmetry), followed by the need to activate her scapula muscles to pull her shoulders into a better position. Within first week low back pain has gone away! And hips feel stronger. She is not sore in the morning when she wakes up. What was equally important to her healing was lifestyle changes. In order to maintain results, we have recommended that she gets the posture exercises in every day, and that she makes time for herself—no matter how busy life gets. Self care is essential!