What Makes Us Different

THE CONWAY CLINIC DIFFERENCE                                             

It’s the unique blend of manual and electrical protocols along with intervertebral (spinal) and extremity joint mobilization techniques that go way beyond conventional thinking in the sports injury world. Dr. Conway understands that the pain most people experience is not where it began...it's where the damage ended. With that in mind, Dr. Conway went on to develop his unique form of treatment that has shown in many cases to relieve pain 95% faster than conventional treatment. These unique forms of treatments work together to decrease swelling, reduce and many times eliminate pain, restore motion, and increase range of motion. These outcome based treatments are supported by numerous clinical and scientific studies.

Dr. Conway has taken a radical approach in the healing of sports injury. He believes that the foundation to all injury is a disruption of the neurological response to the muscle. When the nervous system doesn't provide the adequate message to a muscle or group of muscles that muscle will begin to shorten losing its ability to properly absorb force. Thus, putting an increase strain on tissue that is not designed to absorb force namely the fascia. The fascia once disrupted will cause pain, lack of motion, swelling and ultimately disability.

The key to eliminating pain and restriction is to locate the true pain generator. Combining scientifically specific functional orthopedic, neurological and movement examinations, Dr. Conway is able to uncover the true source of your pain.  “Over the years I learned a couple of things. One item that I found throughout all of my research into sports injuries was that most of the conventional treatment being offered to athletes quite literally were out dated,”  notes Dr. Conway.

Here is What Separates Us From Everyone Else

First and foremost it is Dr. Conway’s contention that all injury develops from a breakdown of the neurological system. The nervous system sends an impulse (somewhat like electricity) to the muscles in the same way your TV gets electricity from the plug coming from the outlet. The faster the nerve impulse to the muscle the faster the muscle contract.  

The muscle is designed to absorb force. The force can come from anything such as stepping of a curb, walking or running, repetitive motion and many other movements. When the muscle can’t contract fast enough it can’t properly absorb the force needed to keep it away from the joints. When that force continues to mount in the area of the tendons, ligaments and joints eventually inflammation occurs. Thus, putting an increase strain on tissue that is not designed to absorb force namely the fascia. The fascia once disrupted will cause pain, lack of motion, swelling and ultimately disability.

With time, inflammation begins to develop which initiates a message to the brain as damage which eventually produces pain response.

Here is where Dr. Conway separates himself from conventional thinking. Dr. Conway believes that in many cases, where you are feeling the pain is not where the damage began…it’s where the damage ended.  This is one of the main reasons why many injuries continue to reoccur with many athletes. This can lead to disrupted fascia, decrease back and forth messaging from the brain to the muscles eventually limiting the ability of the muscles to properly turn on and turn off.

In many cases disrupted fascia is an underlying cause to many sports injuries. The fascia becomes distorted to the point that it can produce serious pain, swelling and restricted range of motion. Dr. Conway has developed a unique diagnostic protocol of uncovering these areas of damaged fascial disruptions. Once corrected, immediate pain, swelling reduction and increase range of motion will be experienced.

By using specific diagnostic tools  including the ARPwave Dr. Conway can locate the area in which the damaged developed in the first place.  From there he will develop a protocol that will find the “short circuit,” to turn the muscle on and develop a protocol to strengthen that area so that again can learn to absorb force and prevent future injury.

Without going into too many more boring details here are a few actual examples of what Dr. Conway’s treatment have been able to accomplish.

Case Study #1488

Knee ACL Rehab (Post surgical)

A young male high school football player who recently underwent ACL reconstruction of his knee decided to have his post surgical rehab done with Dr. Conway. His surgeon gave us a prescription for his rehab that was listed in detail what he wanted done for his therapy which was listed to take place over 6 to 8 months period of time. We explained to the young man’s mother that we have own way of treating and that we will be not be using the surgeons outline for rehab. We started the patients treatments and in “7 weeks” he was rigorously tested to see if he could return to train with his football team. He passed the test with flying colors and returned to his normal routine working out with his football team.

Case Study #1021

Hamstring

A professional football player came to Dr. Conway with a moderate hamstring pull.  He reported that when he was coming out of his break he felt a pop in the back of his leg.  “I came out of my pivot and I felt a pop and I knew I had to shut it down.”

When I first examined him there was edema and mild ecchymosis (black & blue) in the area.  I began using the technique MyoFascial Disruption Technique to the area and within 15 minutes he was up doing squats testing it without any pain.  We continued treatment and after three full treatments he was able to return to his normal training without fear of the pain recovering. He was given a specific set of exercises to develop the muscles in that area to absorb force better to prevent future injury.

          Case Study #2315

Shoulder

A man that brought his daughter to Dr. Conway experiencing pain in her groin that wasn't going away. She was in physical therapy for over three months for this injury. While Dr. Conway was treating the young girl Dr. Conway noticed that the father was favoring his shoulder. The father reported that he himself was in physical therapy in months as well for injury that occurred at work.

The father was unable to raise his arm up any higher than 100 degrees (just about half way up from his side) out of a possible 180 degrees.  He told me that the therapist explained that he may have to go back to the surgeon to possibly have another surgery.

Dr. Conway began treatment and within minutes he was able to raise his arm up to a full 180 degrees without any trace of pain. The reason for this was because his main injury was over looked. He was suffering from a distortion of the fascia of the shoulder joint along with a alignment of a major tendon in that area. Once both released he was able to move his arm and shoulder within normal limits. And by the way, the daughters groin pain cleared up within a week and she was able to return to gymnastics without any restrictions.

Case Study #1299

ACL & Meniscus Tear - Knee

17 year old male playing football injured his knee while getting caught up in a pile of player and twisted his knee. MRI revealed a ACL tear, Meniscus tear and a sprain of the MCL. The patient was told that he would not be able to play in the rest of the football season including the playoffs. He was advised that he would need surgery and that his rehab time would take up to 8 months of healing before he could resume playing any sports. The player was devistated knowing this was his senior year and wasn't planning to go onto college to play.

He entered the office with his mother relaying the details of his injury. After a complete examination and complete review of his MRI findings he began treatment for his knee injuries. A combination of MFDT, ARPwave and specialized rehabilitation exercises were performed. As time continued the patient was given things to do at home at night and on the weekends. In three and a half weeks the patient was completely free of pain and restriction. After a intensive examination the patient was released to limited play at football practice. Continued monitoring of the patient with the coach allowing him to increase his performance daily. By the fourth week the player was released to play in his scheduled football game. He played the last two games of the season without any occurrence of pain or restriction.

Case Study #1984

Post Surgical Labrum Tear

18 year old male who injured his shoulder in a summer football camp. Examination revealed two tears in his shoulder labrum causing him restriction of movement and pain. He and his parents opted to have surgical correction in an out of town large city hospital. His parents wanted their son to have his rehab done at the Conway Clinic having previous success with other conditions treated.

The orthopedic surgeon sent along with the patient a multi-page detailed rehab outline of how he wanted the rehab performed. The outline called for six to eight months of rehab before the patient could return to his senior year of football. According to the outline written by the doctor the patient wasn't expected to have close to full range of motion until the fourth month of rehab.

Dr. Conway explained to the parents that he would not be following the surgeons outline and in fact will be doing his own unique form of rehab. The parents and patient agreed and Dr. Conway began his rehab program. The patient regained full range of motion in less than three weeks and the patient was released to continue to his weight lifting and football practice in seven weeks. You can just imagine how excited the patient was to return to play in his senior year without pain or restriction to his shoulder. This player went on to play football at a Division I football program.

Case Study #1358

Chronic Headaches

43 year old female entered reporting constant headaches that have been getting worse for over the last six months. Reports that many of the headaches would lead to migraine type of headaches causing nausea and vomiting. She also reported that she would develop sinus pressure in her frontal area below her eyes. The patient reported that many times the headaches would leave her disabled for two to three days when they were at their worse. She had been taking various medications from her doctor and even was seen by a neurologist who has her on different medications. She was seen by a chiropractor who attempted various treatments that only provided temporary results.

Examination revealed fascial disruptions up along the occipital ridge (the back of the head), and the left mid cervical areas causing restriction on movement of the neck. MyoFascial Disruption Technique (MFDT) was applied to these areas over a course of three days. The patient experienced major relief after the first treatment and after her fourth treatment she was released from active treatment.

Case Study #1190

Dislocated Shoulder

17 year old male entered the office in a sling two days after dislocating his shoulder in a football game. The patient reported that he was tackled in the game and when he hit the ground he felt an intense pain in his shoulder and couldn't move it due to the severe pain. He attempted to move it and heard a pop and feeling it go back into place. He reported that he was seen by the team doctor who put him in a sling and told him not to move it and that he would be out for four to six weeks.

The patient entered my office unable to lift his arm much past his shoulder 90 degrees (out of a possible 180 degrees). The exam showed no neurological damage but there was a complete shut down of the neuromuscular system leading to the rotator cuff muscles along with the other shoulder muscles. Treatment consisted of MyoFascial Disruption Technique (MFDT) and the ARPwave treatments.  By the end of the first week he was able to raise his arm to about 170 degrees without pain but with end range restriction. Treatment continued and he was released to play in the football game the following week less than two weeks after the initial injury. He continued to play the remainder of the football season without any other occurrence of injury to that shoulder.

Case Study #2291

Auto Accident

43 year old female involved in a motor vehicle accident who had been treating with several doctors for many years. She injured her neck, shoulder, knee and upper arm in the collision. Her family doctor first put her on medication for the pain and after months of only minimal improvement he refered her to physical therapy. She attended physical therapy with no results and then was sent to a surgeon who wanted to perform surgery on her neck. She was reluctant to have surgery with a family member having bad results with a surgical intervention. She was seen by a chiropractor who treated her over several weeks and decided that this treatment wasn't working for her. After two years of suffering with pain her lawyer told her that he had good results with other clients seeing Dr. Conway. She thought at first that she didn't want to  see another chiropractor but she trusted her attorney.

She began treatment with Dr. Conway using his unique combination of treatment protocols of both manual muscle, fascial and bio-electric treatments. To here surprise in less than a week she was feeling relief and continued to experience pain relief. She ultimately was released from active treatment and began rehab to build the muscle endurance and strength.

Case Study #1109

Hip Replacement

57 year old male entered the office with pain and disability of the left hip area. The patient reported that he continued to have on-going pain of the left hip and lower back. He was seen by an orthopedic surgeon who scheduled him for surgery to replace the hip with an artificial hip. The surgeon told the patient that he had severe arthritis and had "bone on bone" in the hip and it had to be replaced.  He consulted with Dr. Conway because he has heard through a friend that as a last chance before surgery that there was a possible alternative.

Dr. Conway examined the patient and reviewed the x-rays which revealed that there still was plenty of space in the actual joint. Dr. Conway explained to the patient that he did not have "bone on bone" and that there was a way to save him from surgery. There was well developed arthritis however not to the point in Dr. Conway's opinion that it needed to be replaced. Dr. Conway explained to the patient that the pain that he was experiencing was where the damage "ended" not where it began. By locating where the original area where the damage began and correcting it then the patient would be able to properly strengthen the supporting muscles that would allow him to properly absorb force and keep that force away from the joint....thus relieving him of pain.

Dr. Conway began his treatment protocols with the patient by locating the exact nature where the area of damage began.  From there he continued to treat this patient three times per week with the patient was driving about an hour and a half to get to Dr. Conway's office. In 6 weeks the patient began to walk without any type of pain and was able to continue on to strengthen at home with exercises that Dr. Conway designed for him. Since that point the patient was able to ge back to his normal daily activities without experiencing pain in the hip.