Martinson Health

Martinson Health Martinson Health is an integrated clinic, training, fitness and dance studio

I’ve been sitting with this for a few years, chatting with colleagues and patients about a chronic pain scenario I see w...
11/16/2025

I’ve been sitting with this for a few years, chatting with colleagues and patients about a chronic pain scenario I see with surprising frequency that deserves more attention. Here’s the profile:

You come to the clinic grasping at another straw in your struggle with chronic joint and muscle pain. You don’t quite feel at home in your body — sometimes it feels like you’re disconnected from it. Your joints ache, click, and sometimes feel like they might slip out of place.

You’ve always known you were double jointed. Yet despite having the flexibility to put your palms on the floor, your back has always hurt; even as a kid you struggled with what everyone called “growing pains.”

Now that you’re older, your body tires easily, and even gentle exercise can leave you sore for days. And then there are the other symptoms that make everything harder: migraines that knock you flat, dizzy spells when you sit up too fast, and chronic fatigue that doesn’t seem to make sense.

You feel weighed down by labels like fibromyalgia, POTS, and “degenerative disc disease.” Maybe as an adult you’ve been diagnosed with ADHD or anxiety, making sense of years of restlessness or overwhelm, but (much like your TMJ problems and overcrowding) it hasn’t felt connected to a bigger picture.

⸻

I don’t know what it feels like to live with hypermobile Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (hEDS) or Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD), but I have heard these stories again and again.

This isn’t a checklist or diagnostic tool. Some symptoms are well documented in hEDS/HSD, others are still under study, and the role of a physician is critical. It’s a clinical diagnosis without conclusive lab tests — but reframing these seemingly unrelated problems as part of a systemic experience can be deeply meaningful.

If this hits home, I’m sorry it’s been so hard to feel validated. You are not alone. More clinicians are recognizing the nuance and complexity of it; let your story be heard, and assemble a healthcare alliance to help navigate this relatively unseen condition.

Great day out with a friend I haven’t seen in too long!
11/15/2025

Great day out with a friend I haven’t seen in too long!

Ok fine, I’ll also post a photo of the tonight 😝. More reds than usual! 🔥
11/12/2025

Ok fine, I’ll also post a photo of the tonight 😝. More reds than usual! 🔥

11/07/2025

Very proud of Jordyn as she’s embarked on Classical Pilates training! We’re looking forward to soon offering mat classes and bringing in more equipment options to challenge your movement system.

11/04/2025

Recently, I wrote about how treating local muscle tissue with Active Release Techniques (ART) probably doesn’t “break down adhesions,” but still works through neurophysiological mechanisms.

When it comes to nerves, though, the story’s a bit different. It’s well established that our soft tissues need to glide relative to each other — and that restrictions at these interfaces can affect how nerves move and signal.

When I combined Shacklock’s neurodynamics training with ART’s nerve course, I found I could more accurately identify and treat problems involving nerve movement. ART adds manual directional tension designed to help the nerve slide relative to the surrounding connective tissue — an approach that fits neatly within neurodynamic principles.

One thing we often forget:
Nerves have nerves.

That means a nerve itself can become sensitive or painful (neurogenic pain) even without numbness or weakness. More severe neuropathic pain — from actual compression or inflammation — usually needs a different strategy: offloading, graded movement, sometimes laser therapy, and plenty of reassurance.

The key is in diagnosis — understanding which mechanism is at play, and matching the approach to the person in front of you.

In the video, I demonstrate an example of how what this might look like in the treatment room.

—Davin

Have a fun and safe Halloween! 🎃
10/31/2025

Have a fun and safe Halloween! 🎃

Passive modalities can be useful tools to stimulate some physiological change or modify symptoms, and should generally b...
10/31/2025

Passive modalities can be useful tools to stimulate some physiological change or modify symptoms, and should generally be used in conjunction active recovery. Shockwave is no exception; a good loading program should follow the use of this therapy.

10/26/2025

I remember several years ago at public skating, another dad saw my daughter struggling with her first steps and handed me his plastic push-aid. “‘My son doesn’t need it anymore; it’s yours now.” Well here we are at public skating again a few years later. You never know how you get to be part of someone’s story.

It was a busy continuing education weekend, as Dr. Sarah did another paediatric course. She’s passionate and very knowle...
10/22/2025

It was a busy continuing education weekend, as Dr. Sarah did another paediatric course. She’s passionate and very knowledgeable in perinatal and paediatric populations, and it’s great to work with people who have these complimentary skill sets 😀

10/20/2025

I think it’s important that we talk about pain and treatment using clear language and without clinging to old stories that hold people back from recovery and resilience.

Manual therapy does help. But the “why” has changed.

For a long time, we were told pain came from tension, adhesions, or scar tissue—and that if we could just “fix” those tissues, the pain would go away. The problem?
1️⃣ Pain has never been well attributed to things like tightness, adhesions, or even weakness.
2️⃣ Questionable ability actually “release” those things anyway.

Active Release Techniques often works very well—but I would argue for different reasons than the ones above.

When we use ART, we’re likely changing how the nervous system processes sensation and threat, not physically breaking adhesions. The hands-on input helps calm protective tension, reduce sensitivity, and make movement feel safer. It’s a great entry point when someone’s feeling tight, guarded, or limited. And honestly, most people expect and value manual care.

To me, ART fits well within a biopsychosocial model: we use touch, education, and movement together, respecting how complex and adaptable people really are.

We don’t often find a single root cause or a perfect fix—we just need thoughtful care, curiosity, and a willingness to adapt as the evidence evolves. One of the best things about being human is we’re allowed to change our minds when we learn something new. The way I understand and discuss these things now is a lot different than I did 20 years ago.

I’m currently away doing my annual recertification in Active Release Techniques. I look forward to these 3 days every ye...
10/16/2025

I’m currently away doing my annual recertification in Active Release Techniques. I look forward to these 3 days every year for a variety of reasons.

It’s a great opportunity to step away and make space to reflect on work-related thoughts and ideas, to catch up on some research reading, and dig into business stuff that finds the back burner in the daily routine.

It’s nice to connect with colleagues from other countries. In Canada and the US, these courses are hosted in conference room spaces. In Europe, the groups are smaller and they are hosted in private clinics, which is an environment much more amendable for learning. And in that same vein, I find the learning is much better when I can transport myself into a novel place and put a few timezones between myself and other responsibilities.

The detail in palpation and therapeutic technique taught by the instructors at ART Europe is exceptional. I’ve got some issues to reconcile with the technique itself, however, and have a lot to write about it; in part 2 and 3 I’ll share these thoughts. Stay tuned!

The physical effects of Kinesio tape have been largely debunked, leading many to say it doesn’t work. Yet I talk to many...
10/15/2025

The physical effects of Kinesio tape have been largely debunked, leading many to say it doesn’t work. Yet I talk to many people who claim they experienced benefit. So what gives?

I get uncomfortable when people throw around the word “placebo,” because this gaslights the people who experienced benefit from an intervention. It would help if we could shift our understanding of pain as an experience of the central nervous system (and therefore open to a bunch of influences).

I’m confident that kinesio tape doesn’t support or mechanically influence tissue; rather, its effects are likely explained by how it influences the nervous system.

The tape provides new sensory input that could:
✅ Alter how the brain processes and interprets signals
✅ Compete with pain-related input (think Gate Control)
✅ Help shift attention away from reinforcing pain experiences
✅ Slightly lift the skin, which may influence local fluid dynamics

It’s not placebo; it might work, just not by “holding muscles together” or “pulling on fascia.” Instead, it could change the conversation your nervous system has about pain.

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