There's a whole lot of healing happening at Black Rock Therapies where there are nine osteopaths and 13 massage therapists.
Five years ago when demand grew for Black Rock's holistic health care services, the Red Deer business moved to 108B 179 Leva Ave. in Gasoline Alley and doubled its capacity to treat patients.
"Our mission statement is to help people do more of what they love to do," said co-owner and manual osteopath Dwayne Manary.
He said sometimes pain interferes, whether it's from hours staring at a computer screen and hammering away on the keyboard, a knee injury from hockey, overworking muscles maintaining an oilfield drilling rig, or women coping with pregnancy issues.
"Our clients are driven by pain," said Dwayne about the clinic's broad client demographic, from babies to seniors.
New pain can also be connected to a long-forgotten injury or wear and tear, and that's where Black Rock therapists may be able to help.
He said an osteopath looks for dysfunctional patterns in a body.
"An old ankle injury can actually end up as a shoulder pain or an elbow pain or headaches, so we take a very holistic approach to the treatments," Dwayne said.
Manual osteopaths at Black Rock manipulate joints, muscles, ligaments and connective tissue with techniques such as stretching, massage and joint mobilization.
He said massage and osteopath care is often included in employee health care plans, but there are still a lot of people who don't realize such treatments are covered by insurance, or know even they exist to give them a try.
"With osteopath, it's super gentle. Most of the time clients don't even know when we do a correction," said co-owner and manual osteopath Debbie Manary.
Clients will visit to address a very specific injury or pain, and some return for regular body maintenance, she said.
"They love how it makes them feel so they'll go on a maintenance schedule and come in every month or every second month, or whatever works for them."
She said both osteopaths and massage therapists take courses each year to learn new techniques.
One of the massage services Black Rock offers, called acoustic recovery massage, incorporates sound therapy to help relieve anxiety and stress by calming the brain.
"We take a very therapeutic approach even to relaxation massage," Dwayne said.
He said once people find Black Rock, they will often tell a family member or friend about the centre. Clients come from around Central Alberta and even outside the region.
Relocating to Gasoline Alley provides easy access to clients from all directions, with free parking in a roomy parking lot, he added.
"We've got highway exposure. I think it's a great location for us."
For more information visit www.blackrocktherapies.com.
