When M’Lynn Ganey hurt her back, she could not find any relief from the pain.

“All my muscles were locked up,” the Pilates instructor said. “Nothing would help.”

Finally she tried fascial stretch therapy, a technique being offered by a former colleague. It involves stretching and pulling on the muscles and joints of a patient in a specific way to bring freedom from pain or to loosen the muscles. The philosophy behind it is that the body is interconnected and whole, not a bunch of individual muscles.

“It was the only thing that brought me relief,” the Louisiana native said.

She was so impressed that she went back to school to study fascial stretch and now has more than 120 hours of training under her belt.

She moved to Bermuda 2½ years ago to work as a Pilates instructor at the Centre for Sport and Orthopaedic Medicine on Par-la-Ville Road in Hamilton.

She noticed that many of her clients were also suffering from muscle and joint pain, and thought fascial stretch could help them.

She now sees six or seven clients a day in an even mix of Pilates and fascial stretch clients. Some fascial stretch clients are athletes trying to enhance their performance, while others are suffering chronic pain.

Adding fascial stretch to the offerings at CSOM is part of a push to expand the practice in the Vallis Building. Owner Annabel Carter recently added more floor space and will soon begin offering a new therapy gym. CSOM has also hired new staff.

“We had three physiotherapists, and they were usually booked up three weeks in advance,” practice manager Justine Foster said. “We just added a fourth physiotherapist, and they are now just as busy as the others.”

There are many physiotherapy practices on the island, but Ms Foster thinks that CSOM being multidisciplinary is partly fuelling the demand.

“In addition to our physiotherapists, we have an osteopath and a Pilates instructor,” Ms Foster said. “We have expanded further to add a massage therapist and a fitness and conditioning instructor.”

Ms Foster said they also have a new doctor, Chris Tomlinson.

“Dr Tomlinson was previously the British gymnastics team doctor,” Ms Foster said. “He has worked at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and the Paralympics. Our last doctor was headhunted by the Liverpool Football Club.”