A Different Approach to Physical Therapy

If you are looking for physical therapy in Newport Beach but want something beyond a routine approach, Focus On Health offers a very different experience.

For nearly four decades, advanced hands-on treatment has been at the heart of our practice. We combine advanced manual therapy, integrative physical therapy, therapeutic exercise, movement rehabilitation, patient education, and extensive clinical experience to provide care built around the individual—not around a standardized treatment routine.

But we don’t begin with a predetermined treatment routine.

We begin with you.

Your history. Your symptoms. How you move and function. What is limiting you. What you want to get back to doing.

From there, we determine which physical therapy approaches make the most sense for the individual in front of us.

Physical therapy can be much more than you may have experienced before.

Advanced Manual Therapy Is at the Heart of What We Do

Manual therapy isn’t an occasional addition to treatment at Focus On Health.

It is one of the foundations of our practice.

Our practice has been shaped by decades of specialized hands-on treatment, extensive postgraduate education, and clinical experience.

We use skilled touch, palpation, manual assessment, and clinical reasoning to identify areas of restricted mobility, soft-tissue limitation, movement impairment, and relationships among different regions of the body that may be contributing to pain or limiting physical function.

Our hands help us gather information.

Our experience helps us interpret what we find.

In addition, our broad clinical training gives us multiple ways to approach treatment.

That’s where advanced manual therapy becomes more than a technique. It becomes part of how we practice physical therapy.

Integrative Physical Therapy Means Having a Broader Clinical Toolbox

No single treatment method is appropriate for every patient.

That is why Focus On Health has never been built around one technique or one treatment philosophy.

Instead, we draw from decades of clinical experience and extensive postgraduate education in advanced manual therapy, integrative physical therapy, rehabilitation, and movement-related approaches.

Our postgraduate training includes specialized approaches such as:

• Myofascial Release
• CranioSacral Therapy
• Visceral Manipulation®
• Neural Manipulation
• Vascular Manipulation
• Manual Articular Techniques
• Scar and Adhesion Treatment
• Lymphatic Drainage Therapy
• TMJ Rehabilitation
• The Feldenkrais Method®
• Redcord Therapy and Neuromuscular Activation (NEURAC)

These approaches do not define our practice individually.

Instead, they expand the clinical tools available to us when developing an individualized physical therapy program.

Sometimes treatment may involve significant hands-on work. At other times, therapeutic exercise, movement retraining, education, or other physical therapy interventions may become more important.

Often, it is a thoughtful combination.

We are not trying to fit you into a technique. We are choosing techniques and rehabilitation strategies to fit you.

Physical Therapy That Looks Beyond the Painful Area

Where you hurt matters.

But it may not tell the entire story.

Pain or loss of function in one area of the body can sometimes be influenced by mobility restrictions, compensation, previous injuries, scars, altered movement, or physical limitations elsewhere.

A shoulder problem, for example, may require us to consider more than the shoulder. A back problem may involve relationships among the spine, pelvis, hips, surrounding soft tissues, posture, mobility, previous injuries, scars, or other musculoskeletal structures.

The body does not function as a collection of completely independent parts.

That is why, at Focus On Health, we consider relationships among different areas of the body rather than automatically limiting treatment to the location of your symptoms.

Sometimes the most useful question isn’t simply:

“Where does it hurt?”

It is:

“What physical factors may be contributing to the pain, movement limitation, or loss of function?”

That question can lead treatment in a very different direction.

Physical Therapy for Complex Musculoskeletal and Functional Problems

Some people come to Focus On Health with relatively straightforward musculoskeletal or movement-related problems. Others come because their physical problem doesn’t feel straightforward at all.

Perhaps:

• Your symptoms have persisted longer than expected.
• Several areas of your body seem to be involved.
• Mobility or soft-tissue restrictions are limiting function.
• You are recovering from an injury or surgery.
• Scars or adhesions may be affecting movement.
• You have improved but still aren’t functioning the way you want.
• Previous treatment may have helped, but another clinical perspective may still be valuable.
• Or you may simply want a more individualized and hands-on approach to physical therapy.

You do not need to arrive knowing which treatment technique you need.

That’s our responsibility at Focus On Health.

We listen carefully, examine how you move and function, use our hands to gather additional clinical information, and develop your treatment around what we find.

Hands-On Care + Exercise and Rehabilitation

Exercise has an important place in physical therapy.

So does skilled hands-on treatment.

At Focus On Health, we don’t believe your clinic time should automatically be spent following the same exercise routine visit after visit.

Exercise should have a clear purpose and relate to your individual needs. Similarly, manual therapy should be specific and guided by what we find when it is appropriate. In addition, movement retraining and education should support your personal goals and functional needs.

As your condition changes, your physical therapy should change with you.

Our goal is to use your treatment time thoughtfully—combining the skills, strategies, and rehabilitation approaches that are appropriate for you.

Individualized Physical Therapy—Not a Predetermined Routine

No two patients arrive with exactly the same history, symptoms, physical demands, movement patterns, functional limitations, or goals.

Their treatment shouldn’t be identical either.

At Focus On Health, we begin by understanding the individual rather than simply selecting a technique or following a standardized protocol.

Your initial physical therapy assessment helps us identify the physical and functional issues most relevant to your care and develop an individualized treatment plan.

From there, treatment evolves according to your progress, response to care, and changing functional needs.

Nearly Four Decades in Orange County. Decades of Clinical Experience.

Focus On Health has served patients in Orange County since 1988.

Our experience is important.

But what matters even more is what we have done with those years.

We kept learning.

We continued studying advanced manual therapy. In addition, we pursued extensive postgraduate education. Over time, our understanding of rehabilitation and movement continued to expand. We also developed additional hands-on skills. Most importantly, we continued refining the clinical reasoning that helps us decide when—and when not—to use those skills.

Experience does not mean doing the same thing for decades.

Experience means having decades of clinical knowledge to draw upon while continuing to learn.

Our postgraduate education has never been about collecting techniques.

It is about continually improving how we practice physical therapy.

Why Do Patients Travel to Newport Beach for Physical Therapy?

Focus On Health is located in Newport Beach, but our patients come from throughout Orange County, Southern California, and beyond.

Many are looking for something specific:

• Highly skilled hands-on care.
• Extensive manual therapy experience.
• An integrative physical therapy approach.
• Individualized physical therapy rather than a standardized routine.

Some live just minutes away.

Others travel farther because they value the depth of experience and specialized approach available at Focus On Health.

Whether you come from Newport Beach, elsewhere in Orange County, or farther away, your care begins in the same place:

Understanding what is happening with you.

What Our Patients Say About Focus On Health

The Focus On Health experience can be difficult to describe until you’ve experienced it yourself.

That’s one reason our patients’ stories are so meaningful.

They provide a glimpse into what it can be like to receive physical therapy that is individualized, hands-on, and informed by decades of clinical experience.

Every patient is different, and individual responses to physical therapy vary.

But their experiences can help you better understand the kind of care we have worked to provide for nearly four decades.