PAIN & DYSFUNCTION

The next step in the process is to perform a detailed Initial Assessment that evaluates your body from head to toe. Our skilled practitioners will follow a detailed checklist to ensure that nothing gets missed and an accurate diagnosis is made.

The Body Genius Method has proven to be extremely successful and consistently produces superior clinical outcomes and very high customer satisfaction.

√	Neuro-Dynamic Testing (NDT) to evaluate your nervous system
√	Power Testing to further evaluate your nervous system
√	Assessment of all the major joints of the body: Feet, ankles, knees, hips, hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders.
√	Assessment of the spinal column: Lower back (lumbar), middle back (thoracic) and neck (cervical).
√	Assessment of all the major muscles of the body: Both length testing and palpation (touch) to evaluate tone and look for trigger points.
√	Special tests such as assessing breathing and the functioning of the diaphragm, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or jaw, upper cervical spine, cervical and lumbar discs, sacroiliac joints (SIJ), the fascia or connective tissues of the body, and possibly the viscera or internal organs, will be performed.

Finding the ‘pain generator’ is such a critical component to this process. We cannot assume that just because you have left shoulder pain that the structures generating that pain lie within your shoulder. Only a detailed search will allow us to obtain an accurate diagnosis.

The Nervous System

Evaluating and treating the nervous system is a critical component in the healing process.

Consider this analogy. You are at home and your Mom is in the kitchen using the blender, your Dad is in the back room vacuuming, and your brother is in the bathroom blow drying his hair. Now, you decide to plug in the toaster and toast some bread.

Within seconds all of these electrical appliances shut down and stop working. What do you do? Do you begin trying to fix the toaster, blender, vacuum cleaner and hair dryer? Of course not! You find the fuse box and see if you have tripped or overloaded a circuit right?

What if in this example, your neck was the hair dryer, your shoulders were the vacuum, your hips were the blender, and your knees were the toaster. That would mean your nervous system is the …?

The human body needs to be considered and evaluated in a similar way.  Only it’s far more complex of course. Everything we do is controlled and enabled by electrical signals running through our bodies.

When we talk about the nervous system sending ‘signals’ to the brain, or synapses ‘firing,’ or the brain telling our body to walk with one foot in front of the other, what we’re talking about is electricity carrying these messages between point A and point B.

And as practitioners, it’s critical that we evaluate how well the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) is functioning and whether dysfunction may be contributing to your pain pattern.

The most exciting part is that as skilled practitioners we can ‘feel’ your nervous system and evaluate how well it’s functioning. And then go on to treat it to restore balance. This is very advanced methodology and is based upon cutting edge neuroscience.

The Spinal Column

I have lower back pain, why are you assessing the functioning of my neck?

Probably a better question is ‘why wouldn’t a skilled practitioner assess the entire spinal column?’ We know that in order to pick up a cup of coffee, tap a keyboard, go for a walk or even simply wiggle our toes, those messages (signals) need to be initiated in the brain.

And if we follow their path they flow down the spinal cord (central nervous system) to the arms and/or legs (peripheral nervous system) to have the desired response or to evoke the desired action.

So what happens when someone’s upper cervical spine is misaligned? Could this be disrupting the ‘neural flow’ along the spinal cord? Could this be contributing to dysfunction and/or pain in the lower back?

If you’re watering your garden with a 30m hose, what will happen to the flow of water if there is a kink in the hose? Does it matter if this kink is close to the attachment point near the house as opposed to being halfway along the hose?

Of course not, the end result is the same, a reduction in the flow of water out the end of the hose. Dysfunction at any level of the spinal column can have similar implications.

Muscles, Joints, Fascia and other soft tissues

Why are you assessing my lower body when I have left shoulder pain?

There are several reasons that our Practitioners perform a full body screen during the initial assessment. The entire body works in synergy and in order to move in an optimal fashion we need every structure functioning at its best.

The term ‘dysfunction’ may be used to describe a joint that doesn’t move through its full range of motion (ROM) or muscles/fascia that don’t have the proper tone, length or contain trigger points.

Dysfunction in the lower body can have a significant impact on proper functioning in the upper body. This is even more pronounced when someone is active and participates in activities such as gardening, walking, tennis, golf, swimming, cycling or running.

How would lack of movement in the left ankle affect the swing of a tennis player?

Could a stiff left ankle contribute to right shoulder pain?

• Could a stiff ankle contribute to lower back pain?
• Is it possible for lower back stiffness to contribute to shoulder pain?
• Is it possible for jaw dysfunction to contribute to neck stiffness and pain?
• Could a painful right hip lead to a painful left shoulder?
• Is it possible for an old ankle sprain to cause reoccurring hamstring tears many years later?
• Is it possible for chronic middle back stiffness and poor breathing patterns to contribute to right tennis elbow pain in someone who lifts weights?

The answer to all of these questions is an astounding YES!

The second reason our practitioners perform a full body screen or evaluation is because noxious input to the brain can occur from any structure within the body.

Noxious Input = Unhappy Signals to the brain

• Trigger points in muscles
• Subluxed or misaligned joints
• Tight fascia or connected tissues
• Dysfunction of joints (lack of movement)
• Poorly functioning diaphragm or poor breathing patterns
• Unhealthy nervous system or neural wind-up
• Apprehension, anxiety or other negative feelings
• Poor posture

How these ‘unhappy’ messages are perceived by the brain will determine where the pain is felt within the body. The latest neuroscience reveals that pain is something we experience, not a ‘feeling’ in any specific part of the body.

The body creates pain or other types of symptoms as a protective mechanism, or warning to let us know that something isn’t right within our body.

What is most fascinating is that the brain can create this pain anywhere in the body, and often the person experiences this pain in a region of the body that is located (anatomically) away from where the dysfunction is located.

And this is the reason why it’s so important for our practitioners to perform a comprehensive, full body assessment of each and every client, regardless of where their symptoms are located. Our detailed, full body, checklist ensures that we don’t miss anything and gives us the best chance of finding the ‘pain generator’ for the client’s specific symptoms or dysfunctions.

Summary Table

One of the most powerful tools our practitioners use is the client ‘Summary Table.’ At the end of the second consultation, our practitioners will create a summary table that clearly shows your specific movement dysfunctions along with a summary of the structures that don’t ‘feel’ right within your body (palpation).

This summary table acts as a template for your treatment and keeps both you and the practitioner focused on clearing movement dysfunctions, not chasing pain around the body.

As stated in the previous paragraphs, pain and other symptoms can be misleading because the brain may create them in a region of the body that is located away from the source of the problem. The summary table keeps both you and the practitioner focused on the ‘true’ cause of the problem.

Equally exciting is that both you and the practitioner, through a process of continual re-evaluation, can clearly see that progress is being made. Session by session you will see that the number of movement dysfunctions is clearing. This can be very motivational for both you and the practitioner.

Example Summary Table

	Movement Patterns	Palpation
1	Left knee to wall = 4cm	C1/2
2	Squat pattern = 50%	C5
3	Lumbar extension = 10 deg	T7, 8, 9
4	Left neck rotation = 50 deg.	L3
5	Left neck side flexion = 15 deg	Right TMJ
6	Thoracic rotation = 20 deg both sides	Lumbar disc 3
7	Right hip flexion = 110 deg.	UT, LS, IS, SS
8	Right hip extension = 10 deg	Gluteals, hamstrings, calves
9	Hamstring length = 100 deg both sides	BR, Brach, pecs,
10	Left shoulder internal rotation = 20 deg	Diaphragm
11	Rounded posture, poor breathing	Right sup. Tib/fib joint

Through precise testing and continual re-evaluation your Summary Table may look like this after several treatment sessions.

	Movement Patterns	Palpation
1
2
3	Lumbar extension = 30 deg	T7, 8, 9
4	Left neck rotation = 70 deg.
5	Left neck side flexion = 35 deg
6		Lumbar disc 3
7
8
9	Hamstring length = 150 deg both sides
10		Diaphragm
11

Tests that have been removed have returned to normal. The test movement patterns that remain are improving but require further progress to be deemed ‘full function.’

The palpation asterisk signs that have been removed have either returned to normal or have been demonstrated to not be contributing to the client’s dysfunction. In other words, they are not the ‘pain generator.’

In the vast majority of cases, once all movement patterns are cleared, the client’s pain and other symptoms resolve. How powerful is that!

Once pain has been alleviated and the client is ‘clinically clear’, the next step is to evaluate how well the client moves on a functional level.

The term clinically clear means that evaluation of joint range of motion at all major joints is normal and all muscle lengths have been returned to normal. This process needs to occur regardless of whether your complaint is neck, back, shoulder, knee or ankle pain.

Being pain-free and clinically clear is not enough!

The last thing you want to have happen is to return to your sport or activity and re-injure yourself again, either experiencing the same pain or a new one.

Despite having over 60 years of combined clinical experience, the Body Genius practitioners believe it’s not possible to determine a client’s risk of injury from clinical evaluation alone.

This is why the next step in the process is to clear the client on a functional level, and this needs to be done through functional screening that is objective (measurable) and scientifically proven to assess injury risk.

‘If you’re not assessing, you’re guessing!’

Return to sport or activity – Risk Profiling

Our comprehensive return to activity protocol assesses your ability to perform functional movement patterns and will provide you with an individual risk profile.

Score	Incidence of re-injury	Return to sport
Optimal	Very low	Safe
Slight	<16%	Minimal Risk
Moderate	30%	Moderate Risk
Substantial	61%	Substantial Risk

The Body Genius return to sport protocol is powered by the scientific backing of the Move2Perform software, which is now used throughout the world by professional teams in a wide range of sporting activities.

Our world-class Return To Sport protocol includes

• FMS®
• Upper Quarter Y-Balance Testing ®
• Lower Quarter Y-Balance Testing ®
• Ankle range of motion testing
• Functional Hop Testing
• High performance, sport specific evaluation (if required)
• An individualized injury risk score and summary print out

From this information an individual risk profile is generated to determine how well your body is moving and determines your level of injury risk with exercise.

This software can even compare your scores against other people of the same age, same gender, participating in the same activity or sport, at the same skill level. Every sport – golf, tennis, weightlifting, mixed martial arts, rugby, swimming, running, hockey, football, soccer, AFL, surfing, and more … are represented within the software.

How exciting is that!

The Body Genius Institute – Return To Activity/Sport Protocol

• Identifies individuals who are at risk of injury
• Allows for evidence-based programming. It’s the only system that has been validated in peer-reviewed literature.
• Allows for precise, individualized corrective exercises to be implemented
• Allows for objective re-testing to clearly demonstrate that movement faults have been corrected. Current scores can be compared to previous attempts.
• Provides a clear decision for return to sport/work/activity
• Prevents sports injuries using a validated injury prediction algorithm
• Has the power to provide objective reports

The client can now have the confidence that they have moved up the ladder from health, through pain and dysfunction, cleared mobility and flexibility, cleared stability, and have been successfully evaluated for elements of strength, power and agility.

Clients can now return to their chosen activity with the confidence that their injury risk has been minimized.

For some athletes, more rigorous sport-specific testing is required to clear them from a high performance point of view. The Body Genius Institute has highly skilled Movement Coaches who can complete this testing if required.

The Body Genius Institute – Holistic Practitioners

• We have a proven track record of success. We have helped thousands of clients to overcome pain and dysfunction and make a successful return to activity.
• Our therapists are committed to finding the “root” cause of your problem, not just treating the symptoms.