Total Motion Release Seminars Where Miracles Happen Everyday
I am more of a story teller and have set the website up to reflect this both with stories and videos. My intention is for you to gleam a bit about the 'soul' of Total Motion Release and the transformational value it can have for your patients.
Those of us who practice the Total Motion Release Concept will tell you there is no better feeling than to see your patients' eyes light up the moment they do an exercise, feel the relief and laugh or cry because they cannot believe that THEY achieved these results - THEMSELVES.
Knowing they can do it again and again provides them a sense of security and peace. For many patients for the first time they have control over their pain.
This patient empowerment can be compared to the same wonderful feeling of watching a child learn to ride a bike for the first time. It opens up new worlds to them.
It is these ah-hah self empowered results that you'll get addicted to. TEACHING patients to fix themselves and then seeing them do it quickly, hands down beats the traditional TREATING of the patient. My deepest desire as a therapist has always been to 'give my skill away to my patient. With Total Motion Release I can do that.
The purpose of life is to find your gift. The meaning of life is to give it away. David Viscott
The Benefits of Total Motion Release [TMR]
Teaches Patients to Fix Themselves
Takes less visits than traditional therapy
Improve Patient Compliance - able to achieve results at home in sessions of 10 minutes or less.
Is a life long skill that can be used for any ache or pain be it chronic or acute.
Works on variety of conditions such as pre & post joint surgeries, herniated discs, arthritis or just 'old age.'
Helps with those who suffer from pain with prolonged standing, sitting or walking
Improves function & performance of daily activities and athletic performances.
Did we mentioned - the Patient learns to fix themselves faster than most therapists can. That's pretty cool!
The easiest way to describe Total Motion Release [TMR] is to ask you the same questions I ask students at the seminars. Here goes:
If a patient walked in to your clinic with right shoulder pain, what area are you 'programmed' to treat?
Most likely you said the right shoulder? Correct?
Have you ever experimented with treating or exercising the opposite shoulder to see what result would happen on the injured right shoulder? Why Not? Seriously - Why Not? Have you even thought about trying this? Does it even cross your mind?
Have you ever experimented with treating or exercising the trunk to see what it would do to the injured right shoulder? Wouldn't a rib out of place, even if it was a lower rib, affect the kinematic chain and couldn't this restriction cause the shoulder to elevate properly?
Have you ever experimented with treating or exercising the same sided hip or the opposite sided hip to see what it would do to the injured right shoulder? Couldn't a misaligned pelvis pull on the shoulder via the lats or indirectly from the paraspinals?
So if you are like most of the students I expect you answered NO to the above questions . By now [after watching the videos and reading this] I hope you are beginning to open up to the idea that what you have held as the 'truth' or the 'way' to fix an area of pain might be very limited in scope. Your 'reality' may be what is preventing you from fixing some of your patients.
Many students at this point start feeling a little awkard that they have gone for so many years and never even thought about doing other areas of the body to compare the results. They are almost embarassed. I remember one student saying - Tom, I cannot believe that I have only been using 10 degrees of the body when someone is in pain and now you have shown me how to use the entire 360 degrees of the body to produce faster results.
They also will say things like - I have spent 25 years believing the best way to fix a right shoulder is to work primarily on that area. In a matter of minutes, the entire body is now part of the canvas for treating patients. Instead of being scary it is refreshing. They have a new vigor to go back and treat patients again.
I've had people ready to leave the profession who are now huge advocates of TMR in their specialities. Several TMR Tots therapists have been an incredible blessing in expanding the TMR knowledge within every field of therapy. Total Motion Release is now used in every field of physical therapy except for wound care.
Total Motion Release is being used in every setting of physical therapy:
Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
Pediatrics
Home Health
Neuro - Stroke & Brain Trauma
Sub-Acute & Skilled Nursing
Acute Care
Aquatics
How Long Does TMR Last?
The fact that TMR seminars teaches you to use other parts of the body to fix an injured area isn't the greatest thing about TMR. Some of you may think using other parts of the body may take longer, and wouldn't be worth the time and effort. If you feel this way make sure to watch the videos under the tab learn more. They'll show you that TMR can be fast in gettng results. Go watch the videos if you've read this far and have yet to watch them. You'll be glad you did. These are not before and after videos. They short clips of patients fixing themselves and how they did it.
Typically when people watch the videos and see the quick results - the next thing out of their mouth is - Yeah but the results probably won't last long. It is a natural instinct to think it is less effecitive if it is different from what one knows or does.
Long term results are what makes TMR so powerful. The reason is - ours skills as a therapist are 'given' to the patient so they can treat themselves. One might think teaching a patient the skills to fix themselves would require a lot of time. This is not the case.
Total Motion Release tests for the biggest imbalances in the 5 largest joints of the body - the Shoulders, Spine, Hips, Knees & Ankles using ONLY 6 motions. We call them the FAB 6.
The 6 motions are common within ones daily life. They include an arm raise, trunk twist, leg raise, sit to stand and bent knee toe reach. These motions are tested left side versus right side and the area found to be most out of balance is treated first. The second most restricted is treated second and so forth. It doesn't get much easier than that. The testing becomes the treatment so there is nothing additional to teach the patient. This process saves the therapist time in their evaluation too.
Most people have been led to believe that pain relief is complex and it follows no patterns. How many times have you heard people say - I have no idea how it comes on, it just happens!
I don't have time on this page to explain this statement, but the cause of pain is NOT random and the relief of pain does NOT require a huge tool box of techniques to help people. In fact, there are fundamental laws that cause and relieve pain. These laws have specific steps that when known & applied can lead one out of pain without confusion and complexity.
The Total Motion Release concept is simple:
Find motions that are out of balance left side versus right side in the 5 largest joints of the body.
Treat or Exercise toward the easier side to achieve fast & effective results
Use the Rules to Wellness to determine what to do no matter what happens to the patient
These 3 steps will alleviate the aches and pains in about 95% of the patients you see. Some will need modifications such as tweaks of the FAB 6 exercises, adding another dimension of motion, or choosing a different body position. Learning the Total Motion Release Process is an exact and step by step process that allows the therapist to teach everything he/she learned easily to their patient.
Total Motion Release systematically takes students and patients through each progression of the program until the desired results are achieved. The remaining 5% of patients who do not respond may need more hands-on care. The hands-on care we use still treats the patient using the same concept. Those who don't respond to treatment we know in a few visits, not weeks, if they need to be referred out for other care.
Can 6 Exercises Really Make That Big of a Difference?
The idea that 6 exercises can have an effect on a large percentage of aches & pains and the entire skill of fixing pain can be turned over to the patient can seem very unfathomable. I tell students, you should be skeptical. In order for this to 'become part of you' you have to see success using it again and again.
It is only as you have more success that you build your own confidence. It is at this time, what once seemed impossible is now posssible. At this point you wonder how you ever treated pain any other way. It won't happen over night, but even the imperfect or bastardized way you'll begin treating patients with often produces some very powerful ah-hah moments that will spur you on to continue doing TMR on more and more patients.
I want to cement home to you the power of Total Motion Release with another question and then an example from the TMR Seminars.
How long would it take you to reduce by 50% the pain of 20 people using your current techniques?
Who would do all the work to fix them - YOU or THEM?
What we do next kind of blows our students minds. I have each of them find an issue and then find a motion that increases it to at least a 5 out of 10 [instead of using 1-10 we use 1-100]. Just knowing how to increase a persons restrictions to being above a 5 out of 10 is a pretty cool skill. Knowing what motion increases an Issue is a roadmap of how to help them.
In about 1 hour and 15 min the students at the seminar learn what to do to reduce their pain, and how to treat themselves without me ever touching them. In a class of 20 people they will have potentially 20 different aches & pains, but the FAB 5 motions will be used to test & treat all of them . At the end of this time frame, I ask them to give me their pre & post scores for their Issue [an issue can be anything from a pain, ache, stiffness, weakness, etc].
I write everyone's score on the board. Typical results are [and no I am not exaggerating these for a marketing purpose]. 15 people will be 70% or greater improved, 2 people achieve around 50% better, 2 people only get 5-30% better and 1 doesn't improve.
In less than 90 minutes 17 people get at least 50% better.
These results happen even with non-therapists. I hold patient seminars and present the same material. I had one the other day with 10 people. 7 out of 10 got 50% or greater improvement, 2 hovered around 30% and 1 did not improve.
How long would it have taken you to get these results? Hours, Days, Weeks?
The Total Motion Release Program gives the patient the ability to fix themselves in a short period of time. It uses simple motions that a toddler can understand and provides a medically designed progression so the patient can improve to the level they desire. It not only is effective one on one, but can be applied to large groups.
My Life Changing Moment
A patient I was treating once asked me - Tom how good are your patient results? I puffed up my shoulders and said - excellent. I am in the top 10% of therapists when it comes to results. I have taken this, that and the other thing. I am highly trained and will do whatever it takes to make sure I can help get my patients out of pain.
He then asked me, how good are your patients at getting results. In that moment he changed everything I had come to believe about treating patients.
I didn't know what to say. From that moment forward my career has been about improving the results PATIENTS can get on themselves and not about the results I get on patients.
My gold standard for myself now is this - In 2 minutes, 2 hours, 2 days, 2 months or 2 years will my patients be able to fix themselves?
If the answer to the question is yes, then I know my job was well done. I no longer stress about how much I need to know or how many techniques I should have in my toolbox. Instead, I focus on if my patients have the skills to help themselves.
This is a different mindset than what we as medical professionals are taught, however, I think it is what we all yearn for.
Why do I think this?
Let me ask you another questions - What patients are the biggest 'energy suckers' or the most draining to you?
Most likely, they are the ones who want you to do all the work for them. They are on the extreme end of the FIX ME -------- FIX MYSELF scale. On the other end of the spectrum are the patients who you probably enjoy the most and are the most rewarding.
The reason Total Motion Release is so rewarding is it creates so many more FIX MYSELF patients. It causes more light bulbs to go off and you'll see more people cry from appreciation than you have in your entire career. To transform one from pain to empowerment is incredible.
If you have read through this entire webpage then chances are you too are looking for this type of transformation, both in yourself and in your patients. If you are ready there are many ways to begin your TMR Journey. Go to Seminars and learn how.
Seeing is Believing, Doing is Knowing
From the Tabs at the Top of this page, under Learn more there are more videos that I think will challenge your current treatment paradigm in an enjoyable and non-threatening way.
You'll notice there is enough free stuff on this website so you can start achieving results on yourself and patients immediately.
Of course, it wouldn't be me if I didn't share one last story.
I remember some therapists where saying some negative stuff about Total Motion Release on www.rehabedge.com. I was offering ideas for fixing a few patients using the TMR concept.
If you have never been on this website you'll see certain techniques outside of the norm can be picked apart from a few of the members. I wanted to provide a means that they could try out TMR and report back the results to the forum. I was hoping those who were being negative would at least try it out and post what happened when they tried TMR. I didn't care if it was negative or positive. I just wanted them to try it out for themselves. I am very confident that anyone can get good results using TMR and the idea these people would be novices and reported back their results might make some anxious, but I was certain of what they would find.
This is where my first set of free videos originated. I wanted to help people experiment using the TMR concept and have them come to their own conclusions. I wanted it to be unbiased. I was hoping others would willingly try it.
Guess what happened?
All the discussion stopped. Not one single person who wanted to resist or argue against TMR tried it and posted something.
At the time I found that unusual. I know now that in order to get someone to stop resisting or stop being skeptical, or stop doing what they have always done or stop them from believing what they have always believed is to give them something to do. It is not with words that a person changes, it is within the act of doingness that changes an individual.
I hope you'll take time out of your day and DO a few of the things offered on this website and from this DOING you'll learn something of value. Enjoy!
If I can be help you in any way don't hesitate to contact me via email or give me a call. I love sharing.
Tom Dalonzo-Baker, MPT - Founder of Total Motion Release
PS. I found the section below in some of my old writings and thought this too was some important information
How the FAB 5 Came Into Existence
The first year of Total Motion Release was mainly done by finding the patients restricted motions. A picture was taken of what the patient was supposed to do at home and they were given instructions on how to do the exercises. Finally Tom figured there had to be a handful of exercises that worked better than all the others. He wanted to find these exercises and create a pain relief program that could be developed around them. He planned on using the exercises to develop a self help process for his patients.
Tom got together with two of his therapist and began a process of elimination which eventually turned out to be the Fabulous Five. Tom asked Chip Moseley, and another therapist, to write down their top twelve TMR exercises they most often used on their patients. The three of them had fifteen exercises in common. After a discussion they finally whittled the fifteen down to twelve. Tom challenged them all to use only these twelve exercises on their patients during the next month. At the end of the month they agreed to share there findings.
Tom’s original intention was to whittle the twelve down to four exercises. At the meeting he told the other therapist that he wanted the twelve whittled down to eight. After this was done Tom expressed his concern that this was too many for a patient to remember. Tom says that he remembered from psychology class that people best remember five items plus or minus one. Therefore, his target was four exercises.
After a lengthy discussion they all selected the following: Arm Raise, Trunk Twist, Leg Raise and Sit-to-Stand. These were the exercises the patients had the most success with. Chip Moseley strongly suggested that another exercise needed to be added to the four, the Bent Knee Toe Reach. After listening to his reasons, which would later prove to be accurate, the Bent Knee Toe Reach was added. The FAB 5 was created.
Not knowing it at the time, the three had selected exercises that addressed the largest joints in the body. The Arm Raise affects the shoulder joints and the spine (upper.) The Trunk Twist affects the rib cage and the whole spine. The Leg Raise affects the hip joint and the spine (lower.) The Sit-to-Stand affects the hip and knee joints.
Additionally, these five exercises are functional motions the body assumes though out the day and each of them occurs in one plane of motion. The single plane movements allow the Fabulous Five to be easily learned by the patients. Tom challenged each therapist, including himself, to use only the FAB 5, for the next month, on every patient no matter what their condition.
He held each accountable and attempted to reduce the amount of fiddling by having patients shared between therapist. This way each of them could supervise the other and, most importantly, they could hold Tom accountable because he was the person most likely to fiddle.
The results over the next month were pretty astounding. They used the FAB 5 with every patient and on any condition. Each time a therapist fiddled into other motions the results were less effective and took a longer period of time to get pain reduction. When the therapist stayed pure to the FAB 5 the results were quicker, longer lasting and more easily followed by the patient at home.
After the month it was decided that there was enough evidence to prove that using the FAB 5 (regardless of the condition) resulted in better and longer lasting results. Because of this the FAB 5 became the foundation for the Total Motion Release concept. Advanced pain relief processes, know as the WOW, Wind Up, Super Six, Combinations and Free Flow were developed. Within a year Total Motion Release became the only concept practiced at the clinic.
Interesting patterns . . . .
Migraine headache sufferers - the eye in which they experience the throbbing headache in is often times the side they have shoulder restriction.
People who grind their teeth at night and are unable to open their mouth very wide are relieved both in tightness and in their ability to open their mouth simply by them gently compressing their teeth for two minutes.
Plantar fasciitis may not resolve until the upper rib cage or upper thoracic is released.
A person who is "unable" to stand up straight or backward bend can usually extend on one side easier than they can on the other side. Same goes for bending forward. A person who cannot bend forward, can bend forward if the bending is more one-sided.
A person who is balanced in their tissues can spin around like a child and have very little, if any, dizziness. The more dizziness a person experiences with this activity the more restrictions that will be found throughout the body (if you are going to try this - do it on yourself and not your patients.)
Tail bone and pelvic pain is not completely eliminated (long term) if the thoracic area and rib cage is not made more flexible.
Testing an individual for which eye they can see better out of is also the side of the shoulder/arm that is more flexible.
An acute back pain sufferer never (except on a few occasions) comes in stuck in extension. They are always slouched forward or to the side, and almost always the traditional form of therapy will try to get them standing up straighter rather than slouching over further. Have you ever tried to exaggerate what the body is doing - it is wonderful to see what effect this has on a person's pain. Try it!
Tightness of lets say the hand also shows up in similar movements of the shoulder. For example, a restricted motion at the wrist - cocking the hand out to the side can present as a restriction at the shoulder of not being able to raise it up and back, as if being a driver and reaching behind the passenger side car seat.
If one finds rotation restrictions at the shoulders most likely the patient will also have rotation restrictions at the hips.
When a person goes to squat down to pick something up, they invariably weight bear and squat down more on one side than the other.
If a person is asked to move their jaw to side to side, the side they can move to further (8 times out of 10) has a tighter shoulder and arm of that side.
Foot pain or issues of numbness and tingling also correspond to hand numbness or tightness on some occasions. Many people with plantar fasciitis also sufferer from tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, etc in one or both of their upper extremities
Restriction of the trunk can show up as a variety of ailments from musculoskeletal to visceral. Free up trunk range of motion and patients will tell you that all sorts of things have changed for them.
Every person has a good side and a bad side for every movement. Next time you get out of a chair focus on which side you place more weight on. Chances are you do this every time you go to stand and sit down. I have found this asymmetry to be one of the root causes to many pain complaints.
A pelvic shift and tailbone rotation causes a three dimensional issue in the entire spine and the patient usually has a variety of complaints they are seeing you for.
People even have a good and bad side for which ear they can hear out of better and which eye they can see out of better.
