What McKenzie (MDT) Is
Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy starts from an unusual premise: your own repeated movement, in the right direction, is the strongest treatment available. Rather than guessing, we test. During the assessment we load your spine in specific directions and watch where symptoms travel, which reveals the direction your body prefers. Jenny Gores is Cert. MDT through the McKenzie Institute, and it is common for people to feel meaningful change within two or three visits at our North Miami office.
Helps with:
Back pain Neck pain Sciatica Disc issues Posture Recurring flare-upsThe assessment is the treatment in MDT. You will perform repeated movements while we track one thing above all: whether pain is centralizing, meaning it pulls back toward the spine and away from the arm or leg. Centralization is the signal that we have found the right direction, and it is remarkably reliable.
Once that direction is known, the program becomes simple and repeatable. A handful of movements, performed often through the day, in the position that resolves your symptoms. Most people need far fewer appointments than they expect, which suits professionals who cannot spend three afternoons a week inside a clinic.
The second half of the method matters just as much. We teach you what to do the next time this flares, because for most spines there will be a next time. Sitting posture, lifting mechanics and desk setup all get addressed directly.
Where symptoms turn out to be fascial rather than discogenic, we redirect toward Barnes myofascial release treatment. Where a scoliotic curve is complicating matters, Schroth scoliosis therapy is the better fit. Every path is priced through our physical therapy program options.
The MDT Assessment Sequence
Mechanical History
We map what makes symptoms better and worse across your day, which usually points to the mechanism before we touch anything.
Repeated Movement Testing
You perform movements in several directions while we track whether pain centralizes, peripheralizes or stays put.
Your Directional Preference
The direction that centralizes symptoms becomes your prescription, performed frequently rather than intensely.
Independence and Prevention
We rehearse exactly what you will do at the first sign of a future flare, plus the sitting and lifting habits behind it.
Back and Neck Symptoms MDT Assesses Well
- Pain travelling into the buttock, thigh, arm or hand
- Symptoms that worsen after sitting or driving
- Morning stiffness that eases once you move
- A back that locks up during bending or lifting
- Recurring flares every few months
- Neck pain accompanied by tingling in the fingers
- Sciatica-type pain below the knee
- Trouble standing straight after a flare
- Symptoms that shift depending on posture
BRICKELL DESK SPINES
Fast Answers for Miami Professionals Who Cannot Disappear
A large share of our back and neck caseload is people who sit for a living. Attorneys, traders, agents and founders across Brickell and downtown, plus anyone whose commute over the causeways adds another hour in a car seat. They rarely have the appetite for a twelve-week schedule, and MDT respects that. Because the method identifies a directional preference quickly, the burden shifts from clinic attendance to a routine you can run between meetings. Weekend cyclists and runners who train early along Biscayne Bay get the same benefit, since they can keep training while symptoms settle. Clients working near the studios and offices around Wynwood book there for the shorter walk.
Your Specialist
Who You'll Work With
Jenny Gores
PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy - Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Jenny Gores, PT, DPT, serves as Chief Operating Officer of Integrated Physical Therapy & Wellness, where she oversees clinical operations and standards of care across the practice while continuing to treat patients directly. Her dual role keeps her close to both sides of the work - building the systems that make care consistent, and staying in the room where that care actually happens.
Meet the full physical therapy team