Approach
Where you feel pain is rarely the whole story.
The body works as one connected system. The place you feel pain is often where a problem shows up, not where it began, so assessment and treatment follow the whole chain, not just the sore spot.
Listen · Assess · Treat · Reassess · Plan
How a visit runs
Five steps, every time.
01
Listen
Your history, your injuries, your sport and training, what you've tried, and what you want from your body.
02
Assess
Joints, soft tissue, movement and the information the body sends the brain, followed along the chain.
03
Treat
Hands-on work, specific to what the assessment found.
04
Reassess
How your body responds to treatment tells us whether we're on the right track, and shapes what comes next.
05
Plan
What comes next, with whom on the team, when to return, and the daily habits that support it.
The assessment
What we look at, and how.
Seven areas, each with its own method, so you know what to expect and a referring clinician can follow the reasoning.
Area
What we look at
How
Injury history
Every sprain, surgery and concussion, including the ones you stopped mentioning.
Conversation and the intake form, before anything hands-on.
Joint mechanics
How each joint moves, segment by segment, and where motion has gone missing.
Motion palpation and passive and active range of motion.
Soft tissue & fascia
Restriction, density, glide and the continuity of tissue from one region to the next.
Palpation, comparing one side and one region with the next.
Proprioception
How well the body senses where it is and how it is loaded.
Balance and position-sense tests.
Compensation
The workarounds the body has adopted, and what they cost elsewhere.
Watching you move: walking, squatting, reaching, rotating, and your sport's key positions.
Sport demands
What your sport, position and training load actually ask of your body.
Understanding your sport as a whole: your position, how you train, your competition schedule and where you are in the season.
Lifestyle & recovery
Sleep, stress, nutrition and recovery habits that shape how tissue adapts.
An ongoing part of care: it starts at the first visit and continues throughout, including tracking the habits that matter most for you.
When the history or the findings call for it, standard orthopedic and neurological screening comes first. If something needs a physician's attention or imaging, we tell you and help you get there.
The treatment
Hands-on, and specific.
Most of the work is done by hand. The tool depends on what the assessment found, not on a routine.
Joint mobilization & manipulation
Restoring motion at a joint that has lost it. Manipulation only when appropriate and with your agreement; many visits use none.
Soft-tissue & myofascial release
Active and passive work on restriction, tension and glide, sometimes with you moving through the range.
Fascial & osteopathic techniques
Specific techniques from SomaTherapy (Guy Voyer, DO) that treat tissue along its continuity.
Instrument-assisted work
Another tool for soft-tissue work, used when clinical judgment calls for it.
Corrective exercise
A small number of exercises, chosen to hold what treatment changed.
The table. The floor. The field.
Treatment changes what the body can do. Training decides whether the change lasts.
That's why care doesn't end on the table. Once the body moves better, that change has to be retrained and then tested under the demands of your sport or your life, by the people best placed to do each, working from one plan that is shared with your permission.
01
The table
Assessment and hands-on treatment.
Dr. JC Zegarra, DC, CCSP
02
The floor
Corrective exercise, ELDOA™ and progressive loading.
Ben Velazquez · Theo Aasen · or the physiotherapist or coach you already work with
03
The field
Strength, speed and sport preparation.
Your coaches & our performance partners
An honest account
What hands-on care can do, and what it can't.
Research supports manual therapy as one useful part of care for many musculoskeletal problems, most often alongside exercise and a gradual return to load. It can ease pain and restore motion, clearing the way for rehab and training to do their job. On its own it is not a cure, and it doesn't make anyone injury-proof. After your first visit we'll give you an honest estimate of the care you need, but everyone responds differently: age, history and how consistently the work continues between visits all play a part.
What we can promise: a clear explanation of what we find, a plan you understand, and an honest call when something needs a different professional.
Questions
Do you adjust or “crack” joints?
When it is appropriate, yes. Joint manipulation is one tool among several, used when the assessment shows a joint that will respond to it and you are comfortable with it. Many visits use none: gentler joint mobilization and soft-tissue work often do the job.
Does treatment hurt?
Some techniques can be uncomfortable, and where and how much varies from person to person. Communication is key: tell us what you're feeling, and the pressure is adjusted to stay within what you can tolerate. Some soreness in the first day or two after treatment is normal.
How is this different from massage or physical therapy?
Massage mainly addresses muscle tension. Physical therapy usually centers on exercise-based rehabilitation, and many of our patients see a PT alongside us. What sets our work apart is the combination of two things: a way of thinking that looks at the whole body first, then breaks the problem down joint by joint along the chain, and specialized techniques on the table and the floor, from fascial and osteopathic work to ELDOA™ and proprioceptive training, that few clinicians bring together. And we don't stop at cleared to play. Our work is built to close the gap between cleared to play and ready to perform.
Will I get exercises to do at home?
Usually, yes, when the timing is right. For some people that's after the first visit; for others it comes later in care. Exercises are few and chosen to hold what treatment changed. When you need a full rehab program, we coordinate it with Ben Velazquez or with your own coach, trainer or physiotherapist.
Your first visit starts with your story. Sixty minutes for the history, the assessment, treatment and a plan.