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5-DAY FULL BODY REMODEL
TREATMENT

The team at MSK Specialists is introducing a newly created bodywork technique that facilitates movement and glide between muscles that have previously been bound and stuck together. This glide between muscles allows freedom of nerves, veins, arteries, and increases mobility.  Patients report an increase in strength and performance and a general feelings of wellbeing.

Image by Jean-Philippe Delberghe
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Treatments Without Limits

The Muscle Isolation techniques of the 5-day treatment are unique to our clinic and are not like massage, myofascial release, Rolfing, Active Release, chiropractic, etc. If you are a current MSK patient, these techniques will also be unfamiliar and new to you.

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These new techniques are pain-free and incredibly effective.  In fact, we have found them to be so effective that we cannot do them on isolated body parts or regions without creating imbalance; we must treat the whole body as the continuous system that it is. Mobility, posture, and diaphragmatic function is so changed post-treatment that we must do specific exercises that teach your body how to use its new, optimized version. Therefore, we do this as a five-day treatment series. The hands-on treatment is ninety minutes of bodywork with one or two practitioners present, and then later the same day, sixty minutes of low-impact neurological reprogramming exercise. You must participate in the exercise portion of the process in addition to the manual therapy in order to not feel “out of whack” from the new freedom of movement. The neurological exercises do the important work of coordinating your nerves and brain with your body, and with the new and improved movement systems.

This treatment series is the best that we can do.  For these 5 days we go all in on restoring you without the limits of standard treatment models.  This is our chance to dive in and do what we do best.  

Remodel Day 1 & 2 Outlook

  1. Release and relieve nerve irritation of the four major nerve systems in the musculoskeletal system.  Muscles are tight because they are protecting important structures.  Pain comes from the nerves, not the muscles.  These nerves must be relieved before muscles can be properly isolated:

    1. Cervical Plexus

    2. Brachial Plexus

    3. Lumbar Plexus

    4. Sacral Plexus (the sciatic nerve) 

  2. Release all the cervical arteries and veins to ensure proper blood flow to the brain and arms. A tight neck is usually protecting irritated arteries and nerves.   

  3. The Dura (membrane) around your brain and spinal cord is released to ensure as much glide as possible and relieve any abnormal tension during movements of your extremities.  

  4. Release the Cervical Arches (the cartilage of your throat) to ensure lymphatics can drain from your head and face.  This also releases mechanical tension on the thyroid.  

  5. Release the fascial tension between your head and the diaphragm.  This tissue runs through your chest wall, the membrane around the heart, encapsulates the vagus nerve, and can inhibit you from full proper diaphragmatic breathing.  

  6. Check and release the vagus nerve from the head to the stomach and to the pelvis if needed.  

  7. Ensure nerves are gliding in and out of the foramen (holes) of the spine.  Movement of your extremities should not pull on your spine; in most patients we see, it does.  

  8. Do any necessary abdominal scar releases (this step is very important).  We also check for scarring around the pubic bone on mothers.  Check for any adhesions on all mother’s abdominals to pubis even though they didn’t have any surgeries.  Sometimes postpartum healing can behave like scaring and the patient will not be able to get expansion of breath into the pelvic floor. This work is done through the clothing.  We also have female therapists on site to help with sensitive areas.  

  9. Check sacrum fascia and coccyx coordination with spine movement above.  

  10. Perform visceral (organ) techniques to improve breathing and stimulate 360-degree core breathing.

  11. Consider if a full cranial treatment is necessary (We will add this to an evening as an extra treatment.  Unless there were serious concussions or injury to the head, it is usually not necessary to add a full 90-minute cranial treatment.)

  12. Correct sympathetic dominance.  Sympathetic dominance is a term we use when the nervous system is confusing pain signals, and the pain response is reversed.  In this state, what should not hurt causes pain, and what should cause pain often does not.  Pain happens in the brain; we have tricks to reset this system.  The sympathetic nervous system is the fight or flight nervous system. When it’s overactive, the body is out of balance and unrelaxed.  This is suboptimal for wellness.  

  13. Facilitate full diaphragmatic breathing.  With the new ability of movement of all the tissue above and below the diaphragm, your breath will be completely different.  We will do exercises to teach your nervous system to breath properly again.  This breath moves the pelvic floor and should be coordinated with the respiratory diaphragm.  This alone goes a long way in helping pelvic floor issues.  

  14. We will consider if trauma in the body needs more attention.  There is strong scientific evidence that emotions are simply frequencies.  These frequencies are vibrations in the water within the fascial structures and crystalline minerals of the bones.  These vibrational patterns can stay in parts of your body for your entire lifetime.  We take a mechanical approach to these vibrations.  Usually the bodywork will release it, however, for stubborn cases that we cannot touch we can use a technology similar to noise cancelling to neutralize the offending wave form.

  15. Verify that the periosteum (membrane around the bones) is free enough to provide adequate bone flexibility and health.    

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Remodel Day 3-5 Outlook

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  1. Isolate the muscles of the neck, shoulders, upper back.

  2. Balance the ligaments of the neck and thoracic spine.  Center the shoulder girdle and the 4 joints that operate the shoulder.  Decompress neck vertebrae and maximize shoulder mobility.  

  3. Isolate the muscles on the upper and lower arm.

  4. Open the fascia between the bones of the arm and wrist.  Maximize wrist mobility.  

  5.  Center the bones of the hand and fingers. Center the elbow.

  6. Isolate the abdominal muscles, including the psoas and QL.

  7. Isolate each rib to ensure independent movement with breath and spinal rotation.  

  8. Isolate the muscles of the hip, thigh, and calves

  9. Balance the ligaments of the hip joint, pelvis, sacrum, and coccyx.  Maximize hip mobility.  

  10. Release the fascia between the bones of the leg and ankle.

  11. Work any past injury sites, open any congested joints, pain complaints, or dysfunctional findings that you didn’t even
    know you had.

  12. Perform Neurological reset exercise to integrate the changes.  

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WHAT PEOPLE SAY

Yoga Stretch

E.H. Los Alamos

My body feels like it did before I had my 2 kids.  I can do yoga poses I haven’t been able to do for many years. Everything is incredibly open.  I’ve tried every form of bodywork out there before this treatment series.

Physical Therapy Session

G.S.  Los Alamos

I now have a curve in my low back, and it ‘undulates’ as I walk. I feel more even and balanced on my bike.  Like my sitz bones are more squarely on my saddle and I can feel my breath going into my pelvic floor. This may be TMI but sitting on the toilet is different. The ability to hip hinge helps here and so does being able to breath with my diaphragm all the way down.

Man Stretches

T.D. Los Alamos

Since I was 6 years old, my dance teachers have told me to get my shoulders out of my ears, and I have dealt with chronic neck and shoulder tension for my whole adult life. But since having the new muscle isolation treatment, I have not experienced neck and shoulder pain or headaches. For the first time in my life, I can keep my shoulders down and my neck relaxed and long like a proper ballet dancer! But now I only dance in the kitchen.”

Indoor Stretch

K.G. Los Alamos

After the new muscle isolations my neck was lighter and longer.  My shoulders dropped with better range of motion.  When my abdomen was worked my entire body felt lighter and I could stabilize my core better.  My SI joint pain immediately went away.  I could move so much better at the gym.  My lifts are easier, and my form is cleaner from the improved hip mobility.  My neck has still maintained the shape.”

  • Is getting body work 5 days in a row too much at once? Does it overwhelm the body?
    Not this style of treatment. We are not doing any damage to tissue that requires recovery time. Once your neck is done, you will immediately notice your tight shoulders. We must continue the process through the whole body.
  • What if I have an emotional trauma release during the treatment?
    Most people will have some form of release with his level of work. It is usually not a big deal and hardly noticed. If you suspect you may have a significant trauma release during this process, please let us know in advance. We will match you with an appropriate manual therapist and maybe add acupuncture to your protocol for a minimal additional fee. Also, you should schedule some appointments with a therapist or another person that you trust with these type of issues. We suggest setting these up after your scheduled treatment time. This week is an important time of letting go and healing. We are opening your body and clearing your nervous system in a way that allows you to find your greatest self. Your greatest self does not include negative vibrational patterns. Please prepare your support team in advance before we start the process and fully commit to making big changes before you start.
  • Will the treatment last long term?
    The greater part of the treatment does seem to stick. You will be given exercises specifically customized for you to help it hold in your body. For example, scars will become troublesome again. We will teach you to release them yourself.
  • What if I have rebound symptoms like a headache after a session?
    This may occur. We have planned for it in advance and will help you as things come up. When making big physical changes, it’s an expected part of the process. We will have staff available all day after your manual therapy appointment and exercise, and there is time during the appointments to trouble shoot any issues as well. We are committed to getting you through the treatments with the least amount of discomfort.
  • I can’t make the exercise time, but I have a yoga practice I can do at home.
    You cannot successfully integrate the remodel process without the specific exercises that we provide. We are happy to do the prep work and manual therapy, but we will not do the muscle isolations, because without functional movement integration, your body will feel out of sorts. These are neurological exercises that we have found clinically mandatory for the new process to be successful.
  • Can I do the process, but not 5 days on a row?
    We have tried to do this process many ways for convenience of everyone’s schedule. It simply does not work as well if the treatments are not five consecutive days. Also, we have seen pain appear in sections of the body that we didn’t complete if the treatments are spaced out. This is because nerves are open on the worked portion and restricted on the unworked portion. For the best results, this must be done daily without a break until the whole body is complete. You must commit to all the appointments if you want to do the muscle isolation therapy.
  • I’ve been going to MSK Specialists for a long time, and I never had this treatment, nor was it offered to me.
    This treatment is newly developed, and this is the first time we are offering it to the public. We have been practicing on each other, friends, and family for a while, and only began offering it to general patients just a few months ago. If you are interested, ask to be put on the list to participate in the next remodel series group.
  • Can I do the exercise portion alone and not in the group?
    You may do the exercise alone, but the series will be more expensive. The group exercise class is limited in number and has multiple practitioners present to ensure you are doing everything correctly. You will get personal one-on-one exercise guidance during your manual therapy appointment as well. This class is not an average yoga class style. There will be heavy professional oversite. Our goal is one to three teacher/student ratio minimum.
  • Can I go to the gym during the process?
    You are welcome to do whatever exercise you normally do. Do not add anything new or push yourself too hard.
  • Am I a candidate for this 5-day remodel?
    Before scheduling, you will be interviewed to make sure you are a good fit. We will take your body into the process as far as we can. The treatment will be customized for you. For example, you may want to do just the preparation days extended into 3 sessions and a day of cranial work if that meets you where you are at. This will still serve you very well. It is just as important to not over work you as it is to not underwork you. Please call us and ask if you are concerned and one of our practitioners will be happy to give you more information.
  • Can I do the 5-day treatment series outside of the group dates?
    We can plan the series for you at any time. However, you may not have the same MSK Specialist throughout the series, you will not have multiple practitioners helping to speed the process, and exercise appointments will be more expensive because they are one-on-one. You will still receive the same great results, either way. During the scheduled series date, our entire clinic staff is dedicated to the process.
  • I’m coming in from out of town. Where do I fly in to?
    Albuquerque airport is the most popular and is roughly 90 minute drive away from Los Alamos. Santa Fe Airport is small, but convenient and only forty five minutes away. Public transportation from the airports to Los Alamos is not available. New Mexico is the land of open spaces. You'll want a car for your visit.
  • I’m going to need lodging for the treatment time, where do I stay?
    Los Alamos is a quiet mountain town that has a few hotels and available Airbnb’s. There is plenty of hiking trails and natural beauty here, so if spending quiet time in nature interests you, Los Alamos may be a great option. There is not, however, a booming nightlife, tourist scene, or many restaurants to choose from. Most people will find Santa Fe a more optimal vacation destination, as there is a large tourist industry and multiple art galleries, spas, and great restaurants to visit. Santa Fe is a 45-minute drive from our clinic.
  • If I go to a spa, like Ojo Caliente, after my treatment, can I get a massage?
    No, please enjoy the other amenities, but we ask that you not participate in any other bodywork during this process. Additional work will disrupt your treatments by adding unnecessary fascia releases.
  • I’m from out of town, what do I do between the manual therapy and the exercise appointments?
    Los Alamos has over 50 miles of mountain trails that can be explored. The mountain biking is exceptional, as is the rock climbing. The adjacent Jemez mountains are open for exploration. In the winter, the ski hill is close and easily accessible between appointments. The longest you will have to wait between the manual therapy appointment and exercise appointments is 3.5 hours. If you are staying in Santa Fe, we will do our best to shorten your wait time. We will also try to get couple's appointments at the same time. Just let us know your situation at the time of scheduling.
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