Dr. Sheffield’s New Integrative Spine and Fascial Services offered at Westlake Chiropractic, PLLC add an energetic fascial and muscle component to her spine care approach, taking her integrative spine care to another level.
- Scoliosis Protocol
- Posture Protocols
- Advanced Fascial Work
- Muscle Retraining
These new services includes a combination of modalities that are layered in to address muscles, connective tissue, and fascial problems that arise when spine trauma alters biomechanics, or when people have postural syndromes that arise from poor posture.
If you're looking for a personally tailored, full spectrum care for scoliosis, postural imbalances, and persistent bodily tension, you're in the right place.
Ready to take the next step?
Download and fill out our questionnaire to see if you qualify. Email it to us at [email protected]. We will let you know when we receive your email, and then after we reviewed your case and let you know what the next steps are.
For those with questions, here are our FAQ's.
Q: Who can this help?
A: People looking for non-surgical methods to manage postural syndromes such as scoliosis, Dowager humps, ‘turtle neck,’ forward head posture, exaggerated thoracic curves or ‘hunch back; ‘sway back,” and general tightness that doesn’t respond to regular stretching or body work.
Q: What if I'm not sure if | have scoliosis or other postural syndromes? Can she help? Yes.
A: Dr. Sheffield can diagnose scoliosis, upper cross/ lower cross syndrome, and other spinal biomechanic problems. She can also treat, monitor, and manage those cases.
Q: I already get massages and fascial work, is this different? Yes.
A: Dr. Sheffield is a huge fan of excellent massage and body work. The Scoli and Posture Protocols are different because they are using the concepts of energetics as it applies to fascia, and muscle grouping patterns that occur with scoliosis and postural imbalances.
Q: I feel tight all over, all the time, despite regular stretching, yoga and massage. Can this help? Yes.
A: Persistent body tension n unresponsive to regular stretching, massage and yoga have a high rate of response to these protocols.
Q: Can Dr. Sheffield diagnose scoliosis? Yes.
A: Dr. Sheffield specializes in diagnosing and treating both scoliosis and scoliotic curves. She manages patients with scoliosis and knows when to refer to an Orthopedic Doctor if necessary.
Q: What if | already have Harrington Rods? That's OK.
A: Dr. Sheffield’s ‘s approach can help people with Harrington Rods decrease pain and increase mobility without invasive techniques. She has many patients with Harrington Rods, and now these new protocols can add another layer of help for people with Harrington Rods experiencing pain, limited range of motion, muscle spasms, plus many other symptoms.
Q: What if | have all over body pain?
A: Dr. Sheffield can evaluate your bio-mechanics and let you know if your spine is causing and/or contributing to your body pain. She can help direct you to a provider if you don’t fall under her scope of care.
Q: Is this different than Physical Therapy? Yes.
A: These Protocols use targeted frequencies to address biomechanical imbalances in conjunction with specific Manual Therapies, exercise, spine work, and Dr. Sheffield’s specific chiropractic approaches depending on the patient and what their goals are and how their body presents. It is very specific to each person and what is going on in their body.
Q: How do I know if | am a candidate for this work?
A: Great question. We have created a questionnaire for new patients to fill out and this will help us determine if you are a candidate for this work.
Q: Are the Scoli and Posture Protocols different than chiropractic care? Yes.
A: These protocols involve an energetic component, or frequency work applied to spinal biomechanics. Dr. Sheffield’s chiropractic spine care approach involves both atlas upper cervical work combines with gentle full spine non rotational adjusting. No twisting or cracking.
Q: What is ‘fascial frequency work”?
A: Great question. It targets the flow of energy along the fascia, or connective tissue, versus the flow of energy in the nervous system flowing from the brain and spine to the body that chiropractic targets. It's a different system, so it impacts the body differently.
Q: Are there any conditions that are not compatible with Dr. Sheffield’s Scoli and Posture Protocols? Yes.
A: If you are pregnant or breast feeding, you are not eligible for this work.
Q: Are there any side effects from this work? Yes.
A: Soreness and tiredness are possibilities. You will be given post care instructions after a treatment based on your case.
Q: Will | have homework? Yes
A: You will be given exercises and most likely supplements to support the long integration process.
Q: Does ‘energetics’ apply to bodywork? Yes.
A: There is an energy flow that occurs on our fascia that is separate from the spinal system. The Posture Protocols targets this with an arsenal of different frequencies based on each person’ case and is restorative.
Q: Is spine care and the Scoli and Posture Protocol synergistic? Yes, for 2 reasons.
1. They have a synergistic effect for a few reasons. The positioning (posture) and movement of the body is facilitated by the flow of signals through the central and peripheral nervous system(s), which has its roots in the brain, spinal cord, and spinal nerve roots. Direct spine care works to restore optimal flow of signals through this system, thereby supporting the sustainable positioning and movement that will be addressed through the Protocol.
2. Often, spinal imbalances, myofascial imbalances, and abnormalities of energetic flow that runs along our fascia go hand-in-hand. Therefore, a full spectrum approach combining direct spine care, postural restoration, and noninvasive, needle-free energy flow therapy combining targeted frequency work and some acupuncture principles can address the root cause of imbalance from multiple angles.
Q: Do | have to be a chiropractic patient to get these services? Not necessarily.
A: These new services can either be stand alone or done in conjunction with certain spine care chiropractic approaches, depending on the patient.
Q: What if | already have a chiropractor. Is that ok? Yes.
A: We can work with you to find a treatment plan that will honor your work with most other chiropractors and get the results you are seeking. If their techniques are not compatible with your case, Dr. Sheffield will let you know and you can discuss options.
Q: Are these protocols covered by insurance? No.
A: Chiropractic care may be covered by some insurance plans, but the protocols are not.
Q: I am ready to move forward with this integrative spine care. What is the next step?
A: Fill out our Questionnaire and email it to us at [email protected]. We will contact you with next steps if you qualify for this work. By sending us this email, you are authorizing your personal health information to be emailed.
Want more information?
This new connective tissue and muscle focus approach is getting excellent results. This new combination of modalities are showing much promise, including the ability to significantly decrease the lateral curves in adults.
Whether you want to golf into your 90's, continue to pick up heavy grand kids, travel the world, or just feel more limber with all the things you love to do, this connective tissue/fascia focus is an excellent choice.
Here are case studies and examples of patients who have gotten results with different modalities Dr. Sheffield uses.
A. Evidence of how Dr. Sheffield's spine care approach impacts scoliosis. Read below.
B. Evidence of how the new fascia and muscle approach add a synergistic layer and impacts scoliosis. Read below.
A. Case Studies: Results of Dr. Sheffield's spine care approach impacting scoliosis.
1. Scoliosis reversed in an 11-year-old patient with full 24-degree S-curve scoliosis, receiving an over 90% decrease in her scoliosis to a mild C-curve scoliotic curve. (Scoliosis is defined as a Cobb angle over 20 Degrees. Scoliotic curves are less than 20 degrees.) This outcome was the result of chiropractic techniques Dr Sheffield has put together and results were achieved in less than 16 visits.
2. Harrington Rod Patients. Numerous patients of Dr. Sheffield who have had the surgery for scoliosis as children or teenagers (Harrington rod placement) receive decreased pain and muscle spasms from atlas corrections.
The surgical hardware has fused spinal joint motion, so that area cannot be directly adjusted. The atlas misalignment adjustment relieves the cause of the side to side, or right to left imbalance, and taking that pressure off relieves pain in people with Harrington rods.
3. In adults and children over the age of ~ 13 years of age, Dr Sheffield's chiropractic spine care techniques decrease pain, increase functionality and movement, and prevents scoliotic curves from progressing. It has decreased the scoliotic/ scoliosis curves by ~ 5-10%. Patients with full scoliosis have been golfing, traveling, and working with manageable pain with spine care maintenance.
B. Case Studies: Results of Dr. Sheffield's Scoli and Posture Protocols adding a synergistic improvement to her spine care impacting scoliosis, postural imbalances and tightness that won't respond to regular stretching and massage.
1. A 55-year-old female scoliosis patient. This patient has been with Dr Sheffield for over 13 years, having completed a correction many years ago, and then maintaining. Her pain was manageable, her functionality maintained so she could live and exercise and do the things she loves to do.
Then, she had 2 injuries. She fell off her bike and broke her shoulder and had a bad car wreck within a few months. Her condition worsened with this new trauma, including her scoliosis. Her Cobb angles increased. She started another correction with weekly visits, The fascial work layered on her spine care was significant, making the muscles more relaxed and the fascial tension relaxed.
2. Another long-term 69 year old female patient with a full scoliosis S curve has reported excellent results with decreased pain, muscle tension, and tightness as well as increased mobility.
3. A 75 male with significant forward head posture, resistant to massage, Pilates, and postural exercises had a a 50% improvement with forward head posture and the Pilates has increased it's effectiveness. He is a veteran helicopter pilot.
4. A70 year old female with a compressed scoli curve in her lumbar spine reports decreased chronic tightness and intermittent pain in that area, even after traveling.
There are more success stories coming in all the time.
Details for the 'how' and 'why' people:
How direct spine care and the Posture Protocol are synergistic
Spine care: Dr. Sheffield's chiropractic approach targets the cause of global imbalances with direct spine care as well as the primary nervous system's energy flow, in the following ways:
1. Atlas misalignments with Upper Cervical specific work. The C1 or atlas drives weight bearing in the side-to-side plane, which is the cause of lateral or scoliosis/scoliotic curves.
2. Full spine adjusting targets restoring regular movement in the spinal joints. This stops the chronic degenerative nature of spinal arthritis and disc compromise.
3. Both atlas and full spine care takes pressure of the delicate spinal nerve roots which cause trigger points, muscle spasms, traveling pain, numbness, and tingling.
4. The front to back’ plane is impacted by neck curves and postural habits. Most patients with decreased neck curves are candidates for neck curve restoration.
5. The energy flow restored with spine care is the Central Nervous System, which is the brain and spinal cord, the spinal nerve roots (the Peripheral Nervous System), and the ANS, or Autonomic Nervous system.
Posture Protocol/Scoli Protocol: This new service includes a combination of modalities that are layered in to address muscles, connective tissue, and fascial problems that result from altered biomechanics.
1. Adults with spinal imbalances often have fascial problems as well. This can cause the residual tightness some people experience. Some of these won't resolve completely on their own after spine care. Manual therapy like massage feels nice and is helpful to a degree, but it doesn't target the energy flow which runs along the fascia, which is essential to longer lasting results.
2. The approach involves muscle groupings seen as 'battery packs' as well as some acupuncture principles, but it is not acupuncture.
3. There is an energy flow that occurs on our fascia that is separate from the spinal system described above. The Posture Protocols targets this and is restorative.
Download our questionnaire and email it to [email protected] to see if you qualify for this Integrative Spine and Fascial Services.
