The Fascial Distortions Model (FDM)

FDM offers a new way of looking at your complaints or their causes.

Stephen Typaldos D.O. - Pioneer of FDM

Stephen Typaldos D.O. was born in the USA in 1957. After graduating as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, he worked as a physician and emergency room physician in the hospital as well as in his own practice.
Beginning in 1991, Typaldos began to develop a completely new model of diagnosis and treatment through close observation of his patients. By looking and listening closely, he realized that patients intuitively know which treatment steps are important for them. This is because they express this through typical gestures and words. The targeted manual treatment based on this was immediately effective and relieved pain.
This motivated Stephen Typaldos to accurately describe and publish both the FDM view and the treatment method. He published his findings in medical journals and wrote several reference books on the fascial distortion model (FDM).
Stephen Typaldos D.O. passed away unexpectedly on April 5, 2006 at the age of 49. Since then, his students and companions in Europe, the U.S., Japan and Africa have founded the FDM Association and thus ensure recognized quality standards for FDM training as well as cross-cultural medical exchange on the fascial distortion model.

It is a novel concept in which the cause of pain and restricted movement is traced back to specific anatomical changes in the fascia / connective tissue. By "reading" the body language, it is possible for a trained practitioner to identify the exact nature of the pathological change, i.e. the fascial distortion, and to treat it specifically.
It is an incredibly effective treatment option for your musculoskeletal complaints.

Further information can be found at: https://www.fdm-europe.com/language/en/

A client comes to the therapeutic practice and reports that she has twisted her ankle during sports. The right ankle is clearly swollen and painful under pressure. She reports a pulling, burning pain. She runs her fingers along the outer right ankle. She is also bothered by a stabbing pain on the front of the ankle. She points her finger at these areas. Her mobility is limited, so she can only walk with a limp.

Conventional medical view and treatment:The doctor diagnoses an ankle sprain and prescribes immobilization, ice application, compression bandaging and elevation. In addition, he prescribes an ointment with pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory components. The patient can start playing her sport again after a few weeks.

FDM view and treatment:The therapist attributes the complaints to two different fascial deformations. He corrects these fascial distortions by manual hand movements, sometimes with great force. After the treatment, the client is able to walk normally again, and after the second treatment - a few days later - she can resume her sports activities without restrictions.

FDM therapists are matrix specialists (matrix = interconnected connective tissue). They feel so-called fascial distortions in the client's connective tissue. According to Typaldos, these are incorrect cross connections of longitudinal fascia bundles, connective tissue adhesions, twists and strains of the connective tissue fibers or also fabrications in the tissue where they do not belong. Also included are disturbances in the production of synovial fluid as well as the entrapment of fatty tissue between different layers of connective tissue.
Treatment according to the fascial distortion model loosens adhesions and aligns connective tissue fibers in their course correctly and without tension or also improves the viscosity of the joint fluid. This leads to normalization of mobility and freedom from pain.
Depending on the duration of the complaint, only one or even several treatments are needed: The more acute the event, the faster they can be eliminated. In the case of fresh complaints or after sports injuries, clients are almost or completely free of complaints in most cases after just one treatment.
FDM therapy consists of manual movements and requires few aids. An FDM therapist treats with sometimes significant pressure along pain pathways or points on muscles, joints and connective tissue, at joints restricted movements are released with targeted impulses.
Simple at first glance, the therapy requires the highest level of practice and skill acquired by the FDM therapist.

EFDMA Informationsfilm FDM (Deutsch)