Our Method

Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy

Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy(MDT), emphasizes active patient involvement, utilizing manual therapy (hands on) treatment as needed, to assist the patient in rapidly reducing their symptoms and allowing return to activity.  The key of MDT is the initial assessment, a safe and reliable means to determine individualized exercises that will abolish pain and restore function.

STEP 1  ASSESSMENT

Our assessment includes a complete history taking and movement assessment, which identifies distinct patterns that are: reproducible, objective, and reliable.   When found, this pattern of symptomatic and mechanical response is a well documented diagnostic and prognostic indicator for rapid recovery.  Specific reductive movements are determined, which will be utilized during treatment.

STEP 2 TREATMENT

The focus of MDT treatment is ACTIVE patient movements and forces, while PASSIVE manual therapy techniques are used in 30% of cases until independence can be acheived.  This patient focused approach allows for reduced dependence on the therapist, fewer visits for resolution, and a less expensive/more rapid recovery when compared to published norms.

STEP 3 PREVENTION

During an episode of treatment, specific preventive strategies are learned that should be continued after completing physical therapy. These strategies take 5 minutes per day, and have been shown to decrease recurrence rates by 80% in low back and neck pain.  Each patient will understand how to resume self-treatment if symptoms do return, and typically will not need to come back in for evaluation.

If you would like to read more concerning MDT, click here.