Kern Terry

Your experience at Terry Kern Physical Therapy will be entirely different from any previous experience you may have had.

I have decided to go to wearing a “mask is optional, but encouraged!” It has been my personal decision, however, to continue wearing a mask in the clinic. There is still too much we don’t know about Covid. In addition, it seems the infection rate of other viruses is still high. For example, RSV is the most common cause of bronchitis and pneumonia and all three of these viruses are spread primarily through respiratory droplets from coughing, sneezing, and talking. So with the “tripledemic” of Covid-19, influenza, and RSV driving spikes in the infection rates around the country, it is my professional opinion that it is sill prudent to wear a high quality, well fitting mask to prevent the spread of these respiratory illnesses and that is one reason why I chose to continue wearing a mask.   

•If you schedule and feel ill, please cancel in order to protect my wife and I as well as my other clients from infection. Remember, symptoms of COVID-19 include: Fever, Chills, Cough, Shortness of breath, Fatigue, Muscle or body aches, Headache, Loss of Taste or Smell, Sore Throat, Congestion or Runny Nose, Nausea or Vomiting, and Diarrhea. Symptoms of influenza include: Feeling Feverish or Chilled, Cough, Sore Throat, Runny or Stuffy Nose, Muscle or Body Aches, Headaches, Fatigue, Vomiting, and Diarrhea. Symptoms of RSV include: Cough, Running Nose, Sore Throat, Fatigue, and sometimes Fever and serious cases can cause difficulty Breathing and Dehydration. 

•You can cancel the day of the appointment with “no charge.” To cancel an appointment, you call 505-761-0016 and leave a voice mail. Messages are picked up on a daily basis. You can also e-mail me at [email protected]. I check my e-mails throughout the day.

•Please continue to be diligent about washing your hands or using a hand sanitizer, but especially before entering the clinic. You can wash your hands in the restrooms outside of my clinic down the hall. The bathroom code for women is 6712 and the bathroom code for men is 6711. I utilize a hand sanitizer between patients.

•I continue to wear a mask not only to protect myself from infection of COVID, influenza, and RSV, but also to protect my grandsons whom I am in contact with on a daily basis. 

•All physical therapy visits are now based on a $90.00 hourly charge. I do not have any physical therapy assistants or aides, so you are stuck with me during treatment. 

•I have added a new site for manual therapy clinicians including physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, acupuncturists, osteopaths, chiropractors, trigger point therapists, and massage therapists. Just click on “clinicians” at the top of the page and you will find a link to M.A.T. M.A.T. is the general systems approach to optimum skeletal posture and movement, analysis, balance, and treatment of acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain I have developed from my experiences as a nordic ski jumper and in the clinic. 

When talking about muscle/myofascial memory which I have shortened to “myomemory,”I am referring to the ability to reproduce a particular posture and movement without the intervention of the conscious mind, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of simple or complex postures and movements. This involves practice and as my coaches in nordic ski jumping would say, “Take the conscious mind out of the skill!”

Myomemory is a process of reorganizing and rewiring your brain/muscle/myofascia/fascia connection by using the different modes of sensory input that include proprioceptive, visual, and vestibular. Since about 60% of your brain is somehow involved with interpreting visual input, it is the most dominant mode of sensory input in my exercises. The vestibular system, involving the position and motion of your head and neck is second followed by  proprioception referring to the sensory input coming from your joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia of the body. 

The neuromyofascial patterns of posture and movement, the patterns of skeletal stability and mobility, are the development of muscle synergies where the the term “synergy” literally means working together. Once the brain and nervous system goes through the processing and integration of the visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive sensory input due to the vertical and natural forces of gravity and ground reaction force (GRF), the output is a coordinated recruitment of muscles with specific activation of posture and movement goals. 

With M.A.T., I first evaluate a patient’s integrated posture and movement and isolated joint alignment in a process called “body reading” on each visit, looking for the neuromyofascial and fascial compensation causing asymmetry. I have also acquired what is called a “tuning board” which I now use in my evaluation and treatment process. The exercises and education I offer within M.A.T. involve altering the isolated myomemory and integrated functional neuromyofascial patterning that is the result of compensation to the constant forces of gravity and GRF in everything you do.

My M.A.T. assessment made on a daily basis includes how you sit, walk, and move. It now includes how you balance with the “tuning board.” I also go over your body’s trigger points created by the dysfunctional myomemory and neuromyofascial patterning. There are many trigger points throughout your body due to compensation that’s been happening over time. Trigger points, taut bands of fibrous tissue better known as fascia, lie deep to the skin and along the fibers of muscle tissue. The fascia encapsulates the isolated muscle fibers called “myofascia” and becomes part of the tendon attachment of muscles to bones.

The fascial component also encapsulates the body’s organs in a supportive role, as well as separating and connecting organs and the different tissue layers. By applying vibration to the tendon attachments of muscles and their trigger points, I am altering the alignment of the collagen fibers. That is also accomplished by applying direct, manual pressure to the trigger points of the compensating muscles, I allow your body through its innate wisdom to realign itself reflexively and naturally. But again without active participation by the nervous system with the specific, M.A.T. exercises, the changes achieved are short lived allowing you to return to the old neural pathways. It is the M.A.T. exercises that allows the old myomemory and neuromyofascial patterns to fall away and facilitate new patterns.  

As you might imagine, these trigger points tell me a lot about how your body is working to maintain its COG and isolated joint alignment. They really help pinpoint exactly what is going on with you and how you are compensating with your posture and movement from both an isolated and integrated perspective. Yes, I can tell which muscles, muscle groups, neuromyofascial patterns, you need to work on and what you need to do to change their length, tensile, and compressive forces.

When there is a shift in your body’s integrated COG from the ideal, it becomes a problem because of the compensation affecting the length, tensile, and compressive forces that occur throughout your skeletal structure. This did not happen overnight, but occurred over time. As you fix one issue within your dysfunctional neuromyofascial patterning, another issue  might appear. This is not unusual because dealing with compensation is like peeling away the layers of an onion. It is bound to happen in your treatment with M.A.T. and is actually a sign that you’re making progress. Whereas an immediate benefit of M.A.T. could be a reduction in your pain, it is the long term benefit I am after which is creating “ideal static alignment” of your structure and the elimination of your pain. 

So, let’s get started today working on your myomemory and neuromyofasical patterning that affects your posture, alignment, and movement! Let’s change your myomemory and neuromyofascial patterning so you can manage and eliminate your pain while allowing you to get the most out of your exercise routine to improve your fitness level. To schedule an appointment, you can reach me at [email protected] or call me at 505-761-0016.