Artemis Physical Therapy, PLLC

Artemis Physical Therapy, PLLC Move Well. Be Well. Experience the difference of expert, 1:1, patient-first care. Specializing in Orthopedics and Pelvic Health. Get back to what you love faster.

Experience the difference of patient-first, 1:1: care with physical therapy expert Dr. Sally Moores. Specializing in Orthopedics, Women's Health, Cancer Survivorship and Weakend Warriors.

03/21/2026

When your nervous system is dysregulated, your body starts reading normal input as a threat.

Things that should feel neutral start to feel like too much.

That’s when pain ramps up.

This is why pain doesn’t always match tissue damage.
It’s influenced by how your brain is interpreting what’s coming in.

If the system feels unsafe, the output gets louder.

This is also why chasing the painful spot often falls short.

You’ll get better results when you change the input:
🫁breathing
👀visual input
👃smell
🚶safe, controlled movement

Calm the system, and pain often settles.

Save this for the days when everything feels more sensitive than it should. Share this with a friend who you think might need it.

03/20/2026

I will almost never tell you to stop moving.

If your symptoms show up 24–48 hours later, it usually means your body tolerated the movement in the moment
and struggled with the recovery side of the equation.

Which means nothing is ripped or shredded or torn or on fire.. it's more a capacity issue. Not a red flag.

What’s behind that delay:

Delayed soreness (DOMS)
New or heavier load. Peaks 24–72 hours. Achy, stiff.

Inflammation lag
Tissue gets irritated, symptoms build over time.

Total load overflow
Workout + life stress + sitting + poor sleep.

Fatigue mechanics
End reps drift. Your back takes over.

Nervous system sensitivity
Pain shows up once things settle.

So no, I’m not pulling the exercise right away.

I’m changing: volume, tempo, range, recovery between sessions

Because your body doesn’t get stronger by avoiding load.
It gets stronger by tolerating it better over time.
Most people quit right before their body adapts.

03/19/2026

Most people think thoracic mobility is about posture or “opening up the chest.” It goes way deeper than that.

Your esophagus runs right down the thoracic spine. When this area is stiff, the tissues around it don’t move well. That can affect how things pass through and can feed into reflux or that stuck, uncomfortable feeling after eating.

Your sympathetic nervous system also lives here. That’s your fight or flight system. When the thoracic spine is rigid, your body reads that as a lack of movement options. It can keep your system in a more guarded, on-edge state, which shows up as anxiety, tension, or feeling wired.

Then there’s pressure. Your rib cage and thoracic spine help manage pressure every time you breathe, lift, or move. If that system isn’t working well, pressure gets pushed down. Your pelvic floor ends up taking more load than it should, which can show up as leaking or heaviness.

Which one surprised you?

03/15/2026

🤪Your tongue is supposed to live on the roof of your mouth.

When it presses there, it helps organize pressure in the mouth, airway, and rib cage.

That pressure system connects a lot of areas.

The tongue shares nerve connections with the jaw and neck. When it stays low or weak, the neck muscles tend to grip and help stabilize the head. Neck tension and headaches show up in that pattern a lot.

Tongue position also affects the airway. A low tongue narrows space and breathing shifts toward the chest and neck instead of the diaphragm.

Pressure management changes too. The diaphragm, deep abdominals, and pelvic floor all respond to the pressure created above them. Tongue posture influences that system.

So a small exercise like a berry smash gives the tongue some work and sensory input.

Sometimes the smallest muscles change the way the whole system organizes itself. 🫐

03/11/2026

Your body doesn’t get “tight” for no reason.

A lot of the tightness people feel is protective. Your nervous system is trying to guard a joint that feels irritated, unstable, or under-controlled.

So when you stretch it… it might feel good for a minute. Then the tightness comes right back.

Your brain still thinks the area needs protection.
If you want the tightness to change, the body has to feel safer there.

That usually comes from movement, strength, and control around the joint.

03/09/2026

Calves feel tight, you stretch them right?... Not necessarily.

A lot of the time the calf isn’t the real problem. The tightness is the body protecting something higher up the chain. Hip, pelvis, how you’re loading the leg when you walk or run.

Your nervous system shortens the calf to help stabilize things.

So when you stretch it, you’re pulling on a muscle your brain is actively trying to keep short. It feels good for a minute, then the tightness comes right back.

Heel raises tend to work better.

You’re contracting the calf and then letting it lengthen under load. Even better if you rise up and slowly lower your heel off a step into dorsiflexion.

That gives the brain a reason to allow the range instead of guarding it.

03/08/2026

👀 looks like a boring Ortho drill, but you know there is some neuro spice here.

Give this one a try. It's harder than it looks.

Drop a comment to let me know how it goes.

03/04/2026

Lateral heel pain can start higher up the chain.

In this case the driver was most likely a deep glute that wasn’t moving well. When those hip rotators get stuck, tension travels down the outside of the leg and can show up at the heel.

This spicy side plank helps the deep hip rotators turn on and share the load again.

When the hip starts doing its job, the stress through the outside of the leg and heel can calm down.

03/02/2026

Why? 👇🏻

Because I'm not chasing your pain.
Because I know pain is an output not an input.
Because I'm probably not the first provider you have seen for this problem and all they did was work on the area where your pain was.

Here's some other reasons...

Because your body shifts load.
Because your spine rotates when your hips don’t.
Because your rib cage locks up and your low back pays for it.
Because compensation works… until it doesn’t.

Pain is usually the last stop on the route.
If your left side doesn’t move well, your right side will work overtime. Overtime turns into irritation. Irritation turns into pain.

Most rehab chases the sore spot. I’m looking for the pattern that created it.

If you’ve been treated where it hurts and it keeps coming back, there’s your clue.

Clinicians, are you checking the opposite side?
Patients, has anyone ever looked beyond the painful area?

02/26/2026

I hear this all the time: “That’s not how I breathe.”

I know.
That’s probably why you’re here.

If your belly pulls in when you inhale, that’s paradoxical breathing.

On an inhale:
🫁Your diaphragm should descend
🫁 Your ribs should expand 360°
🫁 Your belly should gently move outward
🫁 Pressure should move down

If your stomach sucks in instead, you’re running a stress pattern.

That can show up as:
😐Neck tension
😱 Rib flare
🤔 Low back tightness
😐 Pelvic floor symptoms
😕 Feeling like you can’t get a full breath

Quick test:
🤓 Put one hand on your chest.
🤓 One on your belly.
🤓 Inhale through your nose.
🤔 Does your belly expand… or draw in?

Most adults are breathing in a way that keeps their nervous system on edge.

Did you know this?
How do you breathe?
Try the test and tell me what you notice.

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564 Loring Avenue, STE 2
Salem, MA
01970

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 2pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 2pm
Thursday 8:30am - 2pm
Friday 8:30am - 12:30pm

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Move Well. Be Well. Get back to what you love faster. Experience the difference of patient-first, 1:1: care with physical therapy expert Dr. Sally Moores. Specializing in Orthopedics, Women's Health, Cancer Survivorship and Weekend Warriors.