How does it work?

That's what new clients want to know when they come to see me at New England Myofascial Release , an it's something you might be wondering too!

If you don't know me, I'm Angela and I'm glad you're here! I am a physical therapist, myofascial release practitioner, Pilates teacher, and Reiki Master among other things like being a wife and a Mom, a sister and a friend, a team mate and a neighbor and all sorts of other fun stuff that goes along with those roles! I live and work in Beverly, MA where I run both Not Strictly Pilates and New England Myofascial Release. I love helping people build strength and confidence in their bodies and get back to (or keep) doing the things they love. I am so grateful I get to interact with my amazing and wonderful clients every day!!

Sometimes my work days are spent teaching Not Strictly Pilates, and other days I am treating physical therapy clients with a blend of myofascial release and Pilates. I treat people who have pain in all sorts of places - back, neck, shoulder, knee, jaw, ankle, foot. I treat post partum women who may have had pain, or diastasis recti, or just haven't felt right since their babies were born. I treat runners and bikers and softball players and yoga practitioners and Pilates practitioners.

Occasionally people come to see me for something "acute" - meaning it's been going of for 6 months or less. More often, they come to see me for issues that have been going on for longer - often much much longer years!). In the health care world that's called chronic pain. They've often tried lot's of other thing - anything from traditional insurance based physical therapy, medications, injections, chiropractic care, even surgery. They may come in after having surgery that resulted in very little improvement, or even no improvement at all. They may have been told they have the worst (fill in the blank here), or the tightest (fill in the blank again here). Post partum Mom's come in after they've been told this is what to expect after having babies. Folks my age (I'm 52), and even younger, have been told their "getting old and this is what happens." One thing my clients have in common is that they suspect there's more and they believe in their potential to get better. There's lot's of reasons for pain to be ongoing - that's a whole series of blog posts. But nearly all of the time there is something that can be done for it. And sometimes I treat folks who feel pretty good and are doing the activities they love, but they want to feel even better.

Most of my clients come to New England Myofascial Release because they know someone who has worked with me and gotten the great results - less pain, more strength and confidence in their bodies, a return to doing what they love and feeling good. A lot of them come after meeting me personally - maybe through Not Strictly Pilates, on the softball field, or just out and about because I am a huge nerd and I love to talk about fascia (and really any sort of body stuff.) Some folks come to NEMFR after reading a few blog posts or seeing something that resonates on social media.

New clients can schedule any time of day or night right on the New England Myofascial Release website. They'll get some very brief forms to fill out, consenting to treatment and giving me a little more information on their health history and whats been going on. I ask clients to wear a two piece swimsuit or an athletic bra and athletic shorts or swim trunks as suits them so I can take a look at their whole body. My clients are allowed to bring their whole body to each session - so if you have back pain, and neck pain, and ankle pain, and knee pain and what ever else - you can tell me about all of it. We're going to look at the whole picture anyhow! I also ask my clients not to put on body lotion the day of their session because when we're doing structural release I want to stick to their skin a little bit.

The first session, there's usually a lot of talking. I ask loads of questions to get a really good sense of what's been going on, where you're at, and most importantly where you'd like to be. What are YOUR goals? (And you can ask anything you want too!). All the Q&A leads me to physical examination and what matters most today - we don't have to look at everything, and because I don't contract with third party payers I'm not beholden to filling out their forms and measuring or assessing things that won't impact treatment. I have a lot of education and training and I use my clinical expertise and all the super helpful information you've provided about you to start your physical examination, and that examination leads me down the path to what's next to look at and where to start treatment.

I almost always do a fair amount of hands on treatment day one - that gives you an idea of what myofascial releasae feels like, and it gives us both an idea of how your body responds. Homework is almost always assigned at the first session - something reasonable that fits into your life and will make the most impact. Sometimes your homework is something as simple as noticing something that you weren't certain about during the evaluation, or how your body feels after. If you're in pain, it's usually some type of self release or self treatment - so you can be in charge of getting yourself feeling better right away. Sometimes we start with corrective alignment or exercises right away if that's what you need most. We figure it out based on what's going on with your body and in your life. We ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS start with education . But don't worry - there's no quiz and I will review and tell you the same thing in different ways over multiple sessions if it's important because people don't always need more information, they most often need the same information delivered in more ways so it sticks. When you understand WHY you are supposed to be doing WHAT you are supposed to be doing at home, you're a lot more likely to remember to do it. And if it gets you RESULTS you'll make time to do it.

If we are a good fit both clinical skills wise and personality wise (we've got to trust each other, believe in each other, and be able to talk comfortably about anything body related that comes up so we need to be a good match) we'll come up with a plan. Although some clients come in once or twice a month to start, my clients who get the best results typically come in weekly for the first 6 visits, and then we reassess. If you've been having pain or limitations for years, or if multiple issues have been compounding over a period of time you'll likely get the most out of continuing weekly for longer. At some point we will be able to decrease how often you come in to once or twice a month because you'll be feeling better AND you'll know a lot more about how to keep yourself feeling better and continue making gains in things like strength, coordination, control, and flexibility. Most clients will continue to come to NEMFR for 6 months to a year, and their goals will continue to evolve and change as they improve and see the possibility and potential of how much better they can feel. And a lot of focus continue coming when they feel better because they know it helps them stay better.

I'll make recommendations, but the decision is always up to you. You'll decide how often you are able to commit to being seen. You'll know exactly the cost of each session, no guess work on your deductibles or coinsurances. You can pay with cash, checks, credit cards, HSA or FSA cards. I always run on time, because I'm not being told to see 2, 3, or even 4 clients in an hour. You know your visits will be 55-60 minutes each time except for the occasional session when I will ask you if it's okay to go a few minutes over because I've got the time and we are in a place that it would be ideal to continue doing what we are doing.

So that, in a very large nutshell is how it works when you come to New England Myofascial Release! It's not everything, but it's a lot of the things in the most common scenarios. As always, life will continue to happen and things may vary but now you get the gist.

If you've stopped running, or playing softball or pickleball; or stopped going to yoga or Pilates class because of pain or other limitations I encourage you to explore your options. If you decide to explore myofascial release, I'll be here. It's a really great adjunct to Pilates for keeping your body supple and strong as you age.