Jeanette Krogstad Physical Therapy

04/29/2026

A little description of some of the techniques I utilize in my PT practice. 🤲

🌿 Support Your Clients’ Spring Wellness Reset with Barral Manual Therapy 🌿

As April comes to a close and we move into a new season, it’s the perfect time to help your clients refresh, rebalance, and feel their best.

Barral Manual Therapy offers gentle, hands-on techniques designed to support whole-body health—helping to relieve pain, ease tension, improve mobility, and enhance overall well-being.

From digestive and pelvic health concerns to chronic pain, stress-related conditions, and post-injury recovery, these therapies address the root of dysfunction—supporting your clients’ natural ability to heal and adapt.

📄 Share our updated Barral Manual Therapy for Health and Wellness flyer and invite your clients to explore a more integrated approach to care this season. Barralinstitute.com

02/20/2026

✨ Research on Visceral Manipulation & Women’s Health

A 2025 study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that five weekly sessions of Visceral Manipulation significantly​ help improve quality of life in women with endometriosis (p = 0.0001) and pelvic organ prolapse (p = 0.0093)

The Effect of Osteopathic Visceral Manipulation on Quality of Life and Postural Stability in Women with Endometriosis and Women with Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Study:https://www.iahe.com/storage/docs/articles/BHpNR3Rl7K5zyigO7e9Qm8QHK79fG1mJhABsSvwt.pdf

This non-invasive manual therapy approach continues to show promise in supporting women with complex pelvic conditions.

Learn More About Barral Manual Therapies for Women’s and Men’s Health:
https://info.barralinstitute.com/conditions/womens-and-mens-health-issues/

01/08/2026

A fresh look at what leads to optimal disc health - regular activity for the win!

Just published 🔥

𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰: 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹

📘 Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is still widely presented as an inevitable consequence of ageing and spinal loading (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16915105/). However, mechanobiological data increasingly suggest that this interpretation ignores how strongly disc health depends on dose, type, and variability of mechanical exposure. A brand-new editorial by Shala in BJSM (https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/01/05/bjsports-2025-110872) complements the contemporary biopsychosocial framework by highlighting the disc’s capacity for adaptation as one biological dimension within a broader system of physical, psychological and social influences.

💧The IVD is avascular. Disc cells rely almost entirely on diffusion for nutrient supply and waste removal. This diffusion is mechanically driven. Cyclic compression and decompression generate fluid flow, regulate osmotic pressure, and maintain proteoglycan synthesis (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16915105/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26666742/). When loading is reduced, diffusion decreases, anaerobic metabolism increases, intradiscal pH drops, and catabolic processes dominate (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26409630/).

🏃‍♂️‍➡️ Quantitatively, favourable disc responses appear to occur within a relatively narrow loading range. In vivo pressure measurements indicate that moderate dynamic loading generate intradiscal pressures of approximately 0.3–1.2 MPa, a range associated with anabolic or maintenance-oriented disc responses (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28422125/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26666742/). Loads below this threshold may be biologically insufficient, while sustained or excessive pressures may become harmful. Accelerometry-based MRI studies further refine this concept. Disc adaptations appear most pronounced when acceleration forces fall between 0.44 and 0.59 g, corresponding to brisk walking or slow running. Outside this window—particularly during high-impact or ballistic activities—changes in diffusion and hydration are less favourable, especially in individuals with pre-existing degeneration (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28422125/).

🩻 MRI data support these mechanobiological observations. Cross-sectional studies show that runners exhibit longer T2 relaxation times in lumbar discs compared with sedentary individuals, reflecting higher water and proteoglycan content rather than disc hypertrophy (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28422125/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32084224/). These adaptations are most evident in the nucleus pulposus, consistent with its role in load distribution and osmotic regulation. But we would like to add that interventional exercise studies so far were not successful in improving disc parameters in low back pain patients (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32211998/)

📊Importantly, disc tolerance is not constant throughout the day. Intradiscal pressure is highest in the early morning due to overnight rehydration and gradually normalises after 60–90 minutes of upright activity. High-load spinal tasks performed immediately after waking may therefore exceed tissue tolerance, even if the same tasks are well tolerated later in the day (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10222525/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9854759/).

🪑Sedentary behaviour represents a biologically meaningful exposure rather than a neutral state. Longitudinal MRI data show that individuals performing

01/07/2026

If you live with chronic pain, you already know it can be complex. I provide this specific manual therapy that can help you find relief.

What if chronic low back pain isn’t just structural—but neurological?

This peer-reviewed study shows that systemic manual therapy, including Barral abdominal motility and visceral protocols, can positively influence central sensitization, even when treatment is applied far from the pain site.

For manual therapists, this confirms what we see clinically every day:
🔹 Pain is often a global regulatory issue, not a local one
🔹 Visceral, vascular, and autonomic systems matter
🔹 Gentle, precise manual therapy can shift the nervous system toward regulation

If you work with complex pain, this article may change how you think about treatment.

Read here:https://www.iahe.com/storage/docs/articles/VJzqQexu8iVyKx9pnIoqA5Hk832ZneSXXhycIkoZ.pdf or Barralinstitute.com Research Article Database

12/07/2025

Visceral manipulation has become such a valuable skill for me to help clients recover!

12/02/2025

Truth - in the research and in my experience, too. Let me know if you need help getting active again.

A lot of people with osteoarthritis (OA) have been told the same thing: “Slow down. Protect your joints. Don’t push it.” It sounds cautious, even responsible. But it’s wrong, and it’s one of the main reasons people with OA lose function, gain weight, slip into frailty, and develop the downstream problems that shorten their lives.
My latest post on substack.

https://open.substack.com/pub/howardluksmd/p/no-exercise-doesnt-cause-or-worsen?r=8b26&utm_medium=ios

11/14/2025

Our bodies are so amazingly interconnected! I’m grateful for my training that enables me to help you 👐

A published study comparing treatment approaches for hip pain found that systemic manual therapy protocols—including Barral-inspired techniques focused on decongestion, neural desensitization, and visceral mobility—were more effective than exercise alone.

These findings echo what Barral-trained therapists see every day:
When you restore fluid movement, reduce protective tension, and address the deeper patterns influencing the hip and pelvis, the body responds with improved mobility and meaningful pain relief.

A powerful validation for hands-on, whole-body manual therapy!

📖 Read the full study:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1360859225000932

✨ Manual therapy matters.
✨ The body responds when we listen to it.
✨ And Barral techniques continue to lead the way in integrative, whole-body care.

10/13/2025

For people in their 40s to early 60s, life is full — and staying strong
matters. Physical therapy helps adults in midlife stay active,
independent, and ready for whatever comes next. And you do not
need a physician’s referral to see a physical therapist.
Explore the PT For Future Me campaign to learn how physical therapy supports lifelong strength and wellness: ChoosePT.com/future-me

10/08/2025

I see this often in my practice - the obvious injuries (bike crashes) and the forgotten injuries (martial arts, falls on the slopes). VM can help nudge you off the plateau in your recovery.

A Perfect Match: Sports Injury & Visceral Manipulation By Lorrie Harper, MSPT, CVTP

"What am I missing?" is often the question in therapists' minds when a client returns time and time again with the same sports injury. Sure, we have numerous skills to address muscle and joint pain, and we know much of it is related to structural alignment, but what else can be done?

The answer may be found in the organs (viscera). According to French osteopath Jean-Pierre Barral, DO, MRO(F), RPT, 90 percent of musculoskeletal problems have a visceral component. Our viscera have extensive connective tissue relationships to the musculoskeletal system.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4gJui6k or Barralinstitute.com Searchable Article Database

09/24/2025

This is something I see more often than you might think as I get to know a new client and how I might help them on their health journey.

🌿 Visceral Manipulation and Digestive Health 🌿

Functional dyspepsia—often experienced as bloating, early fullness, or upper abdominal discomfort—affects up to 15% of the population. A new systematic review highlights how Visceral Manipulation (VM) may help improve gastric motility, reduce hypersensitivity, and ease symptoms in those living with functional dyspepsia, with or without reflux. See full article here : https://bit.ly/4gFXMC2

✨ Visceral Manipulation works with the body to restore mobility and balance in the organs, potentially improving digestion and overall well-being.

🔎 Interested in learning how to integrate these techniques into your practice? Explore our upcoming Visceral Manipulation courses at the Barralinstitute.com