Chiropractic (Back to Top)

Chiropractic, although often misunderstood, is about helping people live healthier, fuller lives. While typically thought of as "bone doctors", chiropractors actually focus on the nervous system, particularly the spine, as the key to a healthy and pain-free body. The basis of our work focuses on correcting misalignments in the spinal column (called “subluxations”), improving the functioning of the entire nervous system.In order to reduce pain and dramatically improve quality of life, chiropractors make ‘adjustments’ that re-align your body and re-establish proper nerve flow throughout the body. Once the correct structural order has been restored, the nerve signals between the brain and the body flow freely, allowing your body’s natural healing systems to function optimally. Chiropractic work is widely researched, practiced, and respected, and has been shown to help a wide range of ailments, from allergies to whiplash.

Applied Kinesiology (Back to Top)

       Classical Kinesiology is the study of how the body moves, how muscles pull bones. Applied Kinesiology (AK) draws on many of the principles of Classical Kinesiology to create a powerful system of diagnosis, using muscle tests in order to obtain information from your body. In other words, your own body has the capacity to yield answers, to identify the root cause of the problem. Muscle testing will indicate whether the problem is Structural, Chemical,or Mental in nature. (These three components comprise a "Triad of Health," which serves as the foundation of Applied Kinesiology.) The benefit is that with a simple assessment, Dr. Herman can quickly pinpoint the cause of your ailment, direct a course of treatment, and get you started on the path to wellness.


       The five spheres around the Triad correspond to the five primary systems treated within Applied Kinesiology. N — Nervous System. This is comprised of the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves within the entire body. Your nervous system produces electricity. It is this electricity that is responsible for maintaining our general movement as well as organ function. AMC — Meridian Therapy, or treatment aspects of Chinese medicine. Your body possesses vital energy or life-force called "Chi." This energy travels through skin in channels called meridians. The meridians are directly connected to your organs and vice versa. Therefore, if you have a dysfunction in your meridians, then you have a dysfunction in your organs. If your organs are not working at 100%, then you will have a meridian imbalance. NL — Neuro Lymphatics. These are reflexes that infulence the body's lymphatic system (lymph nodes) to increase drainage to different organs, muscles, and other areas of the body. The lymphatic system can be thought of as the "garbage disposal" of the body. CSF — Cranial Sacral Function. This deals with how the bones in your head and bones in your hips move in unison with your breathing. This movement creates a "pumping" action which moves fluid throughout the Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord) to provide proper nutrition for it. NV — Neuro Vascular. These are reflexes that stimulate blood flow to the different organs, muscles, and other areas of the body.

Nutritional & Vitamin Therapy (Back to Top)

We're constantly told about new vitamins and nutritional supplements, pills and powders that promise to prolong life, stop cancer, decrease pain, take off weight, or simply give us more energy. Many of these may indeed have the potential to yield better health, but the question is, which ones are actually right for YOU?

Advertisements and health articles do not always address you as an individual or your specific needs. The result is that quite often, you end up paying costly sums for special foods and supplements that your body does not even put to use. What if there was a way to discover EXACTLY what your body needs – what supplements to take and in what quantity, which foods to eat and which to stay away from?

There is a way. Using an advanced scientific technique called Nutritional Response Testing(NRT), Dr. Herman determines precisely what the body needs more of or less of. He guides the patient in making positive changes to their diet and recommends supplements if necessary. What you take into your body is vital to the way you feel and perform throughout the day. Ensuring that you start with the "right stuff" is a cornerstone of our practice.

Acupressure (Back to Top)

What is Accupressure? Acupressure is an ancient healing art developed in Asia over 5,000 years ago that uses the fingers to press key points on the surface of the skin to stimulate the body's natural self-curative abilities. Acupressure is a form of body work in which pressure is applied to these specific points to balance internal function.Acupressure is practiced around the world. It uses the same points as with acupuncture, but acupuncture employs needles, while acupressure uses gentle pressure on the points. The points are held until they "release" - to encourage the release of muscular tension, sedate or invigorate the nervous system and help the body to deeply relax. A typical acupressure session is done in a relaxing environment and does not require removal of the client's clothing. What are the benefits of Accupressure?Accupressure can help with:

Back Pain
Relaxation
Headaches/migraines
Anxiety/Stress
Smoking Cessation and Drug Withdrawal
Weight Management

Swedish Massage (Back to Top)

Swedish Massage is a very relaxing and therapeutic style of bodywork. It combines oils or lotion with an array of strokes such as rolling, kneading, and percussion to help the body improve its circulation. The benefits of this type of bodywork are wide-ranging and include relief from aches and pains, decreased stress levels in the body, enhanced mental clarity, improved appearance, and greater flexibility.

Craniosacral Therapy (Back to Top)

CranioSacral Therapy is a bodywork method that focuses on gently stimulating your craniosacral system (membranes and fluid that surround the brain and spinal cord) to heal the body by improving the functioning of the central nervous system. CST effectively complements your body’s natural healing process, and has been known to help alleviate a wide variety of problems including:

Chronic Pain
Central Nervous System Disorders
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
TMJ
Fibromyalgia

Deep Tissue Massage (Back to Top)

William Collinge, M.P.H., PhD. classifies deep tissue massage as a Contemporary Western massage type. Contemporary Western massage includes methods based primarily on modern Western concepts of human function, anatomy, and physiology, using a wide variety of manipulative techniques. These may include broad applications for personal growth, emotional release, and balance of mind-body-spirit in addition to traditional applications. These approaches go beyond the original framework or intention of Swedish massage.Deep Tissue Massage is used to release chronic patterns of muscular tension using slow strokes, direct pressure, or friction usually on a focused problem area. Often the movements are directed across the grain of the muscles (cross-fiber) using the fingers, thumbs, or elbows. This is applied with greater pressure and at deeper layers of the muscle than Swedish massage and that is why it is called deep tissue. Deep Tissue Massage is a technique used in Sports Massage and will be discussed further in the future article on Sports Massage."Deep" doesn't necessarily mean "hard." With the proper technique, muscles deep in the body can be reached with a minimum of pressure.Pfrimmer Deep Muscle Therapy® (PDMT), also referred to as Canadian Massage, was created by Therese Pfrimmer in the 1940's and led to the reversal of her own paralysis. It is an exacting series of cross-fiber movements employing principles of muscular restoration. It works across the muscles manipulating deep tissues, stimulating circulation and regenerating lymphatic flow, thus promoting detoxification and oxygenation of stagnant tissues. PDMT is designed to bring fluids into the cell, stimulating corrective changes on a cellular level. PDMT releases adherent and fibrous muscle conditions existing in deep layers of muscle and actually corrects muscles and other tissues which have become damaged. PDMT has a synergistic relationship with chiropractic and osteopathic. Treatment of damaged muscles aids chiropractic and osteopathic adjustments to the skeletal system.