The emerging science of biotensegrity provides a fresh context for rethinking our understanding of human movement, but its complexities can be formidable. Biotensegrity: The Structural Basis of Life, Second edition - now with full color illustrations throughout - explores and explains the concept of biotensegrity and provides an understanding and appreciation of anatomy and physiology in the light of the latest research findings. The reader learns that biotensegrity is an evolving science which gives researchers, teachers, and practitioners across a wide range of specialisms, including bodyworkers and movement teachers, a deeper understanding of the structure and function of the human body. They are then able to develop clinical practice and skills in light of this understanding, leading to more effective therapeutic approaches, with the aim of improved client outcomes. The second edition provides expanded coverage of the developmental and therapeutic aspects of biotensegrity. Coverage now includes: A more thorough look at life's internal processes Closed kinematic chains as the new biomechanics Embryological development as an evolutionary process The human body as a constantly evolving system based on a set of unchanging principles Emergence, heterarchies, soft-matter and small-world networks A deeper look at what constitutes the therapeutic process
In this book Maren Diehl describes biotensegrity as a new explanatory model for living bodies and especially horse kinetics, as the alternative paradigm to biomechanics. By connecting biotensegrity with the latest knowledge on myofascial tracks in the horse, the encouraging results of brain research and the "sphere of possibilities" as a practice field, the author provides another book filled to the brim. It is an invitation to merrily join motoric learning, tensegrity thinking and feeling, problem-solving processes and personal development. As difficult as the topic might initially appear: anyone who still has pleasure in contemplation or would like to reawaken their enthusiasm for learning and researching in the real, creative sense is well served with this book.
'What a multi-sensory pleasure in learning! I will be a better teacher and better clinician using what I am learning from this book.' Carol M Davis DPT, EdD, MS, FAPTA The emerging science of biotensegrity provides a fresh context for re-thinking our understanding of human movement, but its complexities can be formidable. Bodywork and movement professionals looking for an accessible and relevant guide to the concept and application of biotensegrity need look no further than Everything Moves: How biotensegrity informs human movement. In order to work with our own bodies and the bodies of our students, clients and teams most effectively, we need to understand the nature of our human structure. Everything Moves offers the enquiring bodyworker or movement professional, who wants to take their understanding of how to apply biotensegrity in their work to the next level, a practical and relatable guide to the biotensegral nature of our bodies, in which all of the parts are one, yet all are constantly changing. Throughout Everything Moves, concepts and ideas are presented with activities and exercises to make them tangible, accessible and applicable. The material presented is suitable for coaches and movement teachers new to biotensegrity, as well as those with more advanced levels of understanding. Whether your focus is performance, sports, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, yoga, Pilates, martial arts, or dance, any arena in which bodies move can be informed by Everything Moves!
Musculoskeletal Pain - Assessment, Prediction and Treatment presents a common sense approach to interpreting and applying existing clinical knowledge and new research to help clinicians make sense of the complex phenomena of acute and chronic post-traumatic musculoskeletal pain. Built upon the Assess, Predict, Treat framework, the authors offer a method to help clinicians better understand their patients' pain. They present evidence-based decision tools to predict the natural and clinical course of common conditions, such as neck and low back pain, and they then synthesize that information into a logical, integrated treatment approach, which respects the individuality of the patient, the experiences of the clinician, and the value of evidence-informed practice. David Walton and James Elliott are leaders in the field of post-traumatic pain and recovery. Their work provides a valuable framework to facilitate novice clinicians in their transition towards experts and helps mid- and late-stage clinicians better interpret, synthesize, and discuss complex information on pain with the goal of optimised outcomes for patients.
Fascia, Function, and Medical Applications is essential reading for medical and allied health practitioners who want to bring scientific insights of the importance of fascia to human health into their clinical practices. Fascia – the biodynamic tissue that connects every muscle, bone, organ, and nerve in the body – is fast becoming the latest trend in healthcare and allied health modalities. This book is edited by David Lesondak, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, author of the international bestseller Fascia: What it is and why it matters, and Angeli Maun Akey, MD, international physician educator and board certified in both internal and integrative medicine. It contains contributions from a team of top researchers and expert practitioners including physicians, clinicians, therapists, dissectors, and surgeons. Fully illustrated in color, this book presents the latest scientific knowledge of fascia and explains insights into problems like chronic pain and myriad musculoskeletal symptoms that may not respond to conventional treatments. It gives practitioners the information they need to make better decisions to improve the health of patients often without pharmaceuticals or surgeries. FEATURES • Provides comprehensive overview of how fascia, as a tissue and a system, affects various body functions and systems, from musculoskeletal disorders to nervous system, circulatory, and auto-immune function. • A section devoted to medical applications highlights a comprehensive and critical overview of various fascial therapies. • Gives practitioners the knowledge they need to refer or add as an adjunct therapy to their department or rehabilitation team. This is a cutting-edge, practical guide that will appeal to researchers, physicians, and clinicians alike.
This book is about empowerment for chronic pain patients and care providers alike. Every chronic pain condition has a treatable myofascial trigger point component, including fibromyalgia. Many of the localized symptoms now considered as fibromyalgia are actually due to trigger points. The central sensitization of fibromyalgia amplifies symptoms that trigger points cause, and this book teaches care providers and patients how to identify and treat those causes. Chronic myofascial pain due to trigger points can be body-wide, and can cause or maintain fibromyalgia central sensitization. Trigger points can cause and/or maintain or contribute to many types of pain and dysfunction, including numbness and tingling, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, plantar fasciitis, osteoarthritis, cognitive dysfunctions and disorientation, impotence, incontinence, loss of voice, pelvic pain, muscle weakness, menstrual pain, TMJ dysfunction, shortness of breath, and many symptoms attributed to old age or "atypical" or psychological sources. Trigger point therapy has been around for decades, but only recently have trigger points been imaged at the Mayo Clinic and National Institutes of Health. Their ubiquity and importance is only now being recognized. Devin Starlanyl is a medically trained chronic myofascial pain and fibromyalgia researcher and educator, as well as a patient with both of these conditions. She has provided chronic pain education and support to thousands of patients and care providers around the world for decades. John Sharkey is a physiologist with more than twenty-seven years of anatomy experience, and the director of a myofascial pain facility. Together they have written a comprehensive reference to trigger point treatment to help patients with fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, and many other conditions. This guide will be useful for all types of doctors, nurses, therapists, bodyworkers, and lay people, facilitating communication between care providers and patients and empowering patients who now struggle with all kinds of misunderstood and unexplained symptoms. Part 1 explains what trigger points are and how they generate symptoms, refer pain and other symptoms to other parts of the body, and create a downward spiral of dysfunction. The authors look at the interconnection between fibromyalgia and myofascial trigger points and their possible causes and symptoms; identify stressors that perpetuate trigger points such as poor posture, poor breathing habits, nutritional inadequacies, lack of sleep, and environmental and psychological factors; and provide a list of over one hundred pain symptoms and their most common corresponding trigger point sources. Part 2 describes the sites of trigger points and their referral patterns within each region of the body, and provides pain relief solutions for fibromyalgia and trigger point patients and others with debilitating symptoms. Pain treatment plans include both self-help remedies for the patient—stretching or postural exercises, self-massage techniques and prevention strategies—as well as diagnostic and treatment hints for care providers. Part 3 offers guidance for both patients and care providers in history taking, examination, and palpation skills, as well as treatment options. It offers a vision for the future that includes early assessment, adequate medical training, prevention of fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, changes to chronic pain management and possible solutions to the health care crisis, and a healthier version of our middle age and golden years, asserting that patients have a vital role to play in the management of their own health.
A major development in the safe and effective treatment of myofascial trigger points and myofascial pain, this book is a concise, comprehensive, and well-illustrated reference on dry needling. John Sharkey—an international authority on myofascial trigger points, myofascial pain, myofascial trigger point dry needling, and neuromuscular therapy as well as an accredited clinical anatomist—draws on his thirty years of experience in bodywork and movement therapy to provide accurate and essential criteria for the identification and subsequent treatment of myofascial trigger points through the exclusive use of a fine, filiform needle. The ideal accompaniment to course notes and the perfect tableside reference guide, this book describes the origin, etiology, and pathophysiology of the myofascial trigger point as well as indications and contraindications for myofascial trigger point dry needling. Instructive illustrations support the text, along with standards and guidelines that ensure safe, effective, and appropriate application. Physical therapists including osteopaths, chiropractors, neuromuscular therapists, soft tissue therapists, physiotherapists, and sports massage therapists will find this guide indispensible. Because Sharkey explains why so many people have unresolved chronic pain and provides clear explanations of how pain is propagated, the book is also an invaluable source of information for patients with chronic pain and their care providers.
This book is the product of an important collaboration between clinicians of the manual therapies and scientists in several disciplines that grew out of the three recent International Fascia Research Congresses (Boston, Amsterdam, and Vancouver). The book editors, Thomas Findley MD PhD, Robert Schleip PhD, Peter Huijing PhD and Leon Chaitow DO, were major organizers of these congresses and used their extensive experience to select chapters and contributors for this book. This volume therefore brings together contributors from diverse backgrounds who share the desire to bridge the gap between theory and practice in our current knowledge of the fascia and goes beyond the 2007, 2009 and 2012 congresses to define the state-of-the-art, from both the clinical and scientific perspective. Prepared by over 100 specialists and researchers from throughout the world, Fascia: The Tensional Network of the Human Body will be ideal for all professionals who have an interest in fascia and human movement - physiotherapists, osteopathic physicians, osteopaths, chiropractors, structural integration practitioners, manual therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, yoga or Pilates instructors, exercise scientists and personal trainers - as well as physicians involved with musculoskeletal medicine, pain management and rehabilitation, and basic scientists working in the field. - Reflects the efforts of almost 100 scientists and clinicians from throughout the world - Offers comprehensive coverage ranging from anatomy and physiology, clinical conditions and associated therapies, to recently developed research techniques - Explores the role of fascia as a bodywide communication system - Presents the latest information available on myofascial force transmission which helps establish a scientific basis for given clinical experiences - Explores the importance of fascia as a sensory organ - for example, its important proprioceptive and nociceptive functions which have implications for the generation of low back pain - Describes new imaging methods which confirm the connectivity of organs and tissues - Designed to organize relevant information for professionals involved in the therapeutic manipulation of the body's connective tissue matrix (fascia) as well as for scientists involved in basic science research - Reflects the increasing need for information about the properties of fascia, particularly for osteopaths, massage therapists, physiotherapists and other complementary health care professionals - Offers new insights on the fascial related foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine Meridians and the fascial effects of acupuncture
