CHIROPRACTIC CONSULTATION
An evaluation by an experienced Chiropractor to review your health status and direct you to the appropriate services whether it is in my office, another office, a physical therapist, a MD.
TMJ CONSULTATION
A consultation focused exclusively on TMJ. This examination looks at the whole body for hidden correlations to your unresolved TMJ problems. Includes comprehensive medical questionnaire/evaluation and a 50 minute office examination and consultation.
SUPPLEMENT CONSULTATION
Meet with me to design a detailed plan to meet your unique nutritional and supplemental needs. Includes food diary and strategies for achieving total health. Address weight management, specific musculoskeletal needs, inflammation problems, sports issues.
POSTURAL EVALUATION
Discover how poor posture contributes to stress, strain and injury in ways you have never imagined. I will test your alignment, strength and flexibility, and demonstrate simple exercises to help increase energy, decrease pain and help you avoid injury. This is the most important anti-aging session I provide. Just think about the way your parents look and ask yourself if that is the way you want to age. Includes a comprehensive exercise program.
CUSTOMIZED EXERCISE PLAN
Let’s review the program you do on your own and see if it is right for you. Do you ever want to sit with an expert on exercises and really go over what you do? Let’s examine to see if they are correct in form and function to help you reach your goals.
MUSCLE LENGTH EVALUATION
Having established via observation of standing posture that a muscle imbalance may exist, it is important to determine the nature of the muscle length characteristics, which may be contributing to the muscle imbalance.
Muscle length may alter for a variety of reasons. It can occur from a major trauma such as a car accident or sports injury. More common reasons include an adaptation to the predominant position which we hold ourselves or use our muscles day in and day out. i.e. our body posture during sitting at the computer for 5 – 8 hours a day may encourage shortness of the pectoralis muscles (chest muscles); sitting in a poor car seat driving around our kids, or driving to and from work; or the chair at work may be of poor quality or improperly designed so that it shortens the iliopsoas muscles (hip flexors). If we are quite tense or “uptight”, this may be reflected by decreased length in the upper trapezius and the levator scapulae muscles (across the tops of the shoulders).
The possible result of shortened muscles due to posture is that these muscles are overused and become sore and feel tight and/or achy. In some positions you will feel this ache and discomfort immediately, and it feels like you just want to keep stretching the area, but it never feels like it lets go. Overactive short tight muscles can be so active that the joint will move in the direction of the muscle fiber alignment. This can lead to a series of events that will be reflected in altered joint biomechanics, i.e. osteoarthritis, disc degeneration, hip problems, bursitis, sciatica, tendonitis, headaches.
As we tend to overuse certain muscle groups (unconsciously), it is likely that the increased use will change the tone of the muscle fibers. Some people experience this as chronic muscle spasm, or taut and tender muscles.
Muscle tone problems create overactive muscles that work harder and more frequent. An important concept for you to understand is that other muscles associated with these short tight muscles become inhibited (sleepy) or have poor recruitment. Eventually and over time these inhibited muscles can become weak. These inhibited or poorly recruited muscles need to be exercised (facilitated) to wake them up. Low load exercises as taught in Progressive Body Movement classes are the most efficient way to stretch the short tight muscle but more importantly to turn back on the muscles that have become weak and inhibited.
Dr. Tucker is experienced and well studied in the various techniques for assessment of muscle length. Every person is different and requires a personal prescriptive solution for the best approach of various muscle imbalances. However, Dr. Tucker has seen the best and fastest results with the Progressive Body Movements classes and Low Load Exercises.