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Call or text 312-219-2051 for a free consult
Who we help
People with lingering or recurring musculoskeletal issues
Past patients include:
40 year old with chronic back pain that specialists couldn’t solve
50 year old Iron Man athlete who thought his hip pain couldn’t improve
Retiree who couldn’t exercise without pain or tightness
Teen with hip impingement who was headed toward surgery
30 year old weekend golfer with ankle irritation that wouldn’t go away
Philosophy
Most physical therapy and orthopedic care:
Focuses on treating symptoms. These solutions don't tend to last in the long run.
Only occurs once you have an official diagnosis or you are debilitated.
This can help with acute issues, but doesn't help prevent or solve chronic problems. That's where we come in.
Healthy movement strategies + Brain-body connection = less pain & more resilience
Healthy movement strategies
Injuries, surgeries, poor posture, and poor body mechanics can lead to compensation in how you move. These compensations can lead to pain. Pain is a valuable signal that something is wrong (and will probably get worse).
We focus on restoring healthy movement strategies to address the root causes of your pain so that you stay resilient into the future.
Brain-body connection
Once your body is capable of moving in healthier patterns, your brain needs to reliably tell your body to move in these ways. This gives you the tools to stay pain-free in the long run.
How it works
Assessment
Your first appointment will be a comprehensive movement audit to identify weak links in your movement systems that are causing your issues. From this, we develop a treatment plan.
Manual techniques
Manual therapy helps your body move more easily by loosening up tight areas and getting your muscles and nerves ready to work properly again.
Brain-body connection
The brain and body need a clear two-way signal to work well. Most people have more control over this connection than they realize. We help you tap into it.
Education
You live in your body far longer per week than you will get physical therapy. What you do with your body is vitally important to its health. We teach you how to keep your movement healthy.
Manual techniques
Tissue mobilization techniques:
Functional Mobilization
Fascial Manipulation
Astym
Functional Range Release
Myofascial Release
Active Release Techniques
Strain-Counterstrain
Positional Release
Joint mobilization techniques:
Functional Mobilization
Muscle Energy Techniques
Osteopathic Manipulations
Brain-body connection techniques
PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation)
DNS (dynamic neuromuscular stabilization)
Mindfulness to modulate awareness
Breathwork to improve autonomic nervous system balance
Guided Imagery to modulate body control and coordination
Cueing and biofeedback provided by the therapist, walls/floors/surfaces, and mirrors
Education topics
Great movement health requires a holistic perspective that also includes breath, nutrition, sleep, cardio and strength fitness, and mental health. We can help point you in the right direction in this areas.
We also educate on the movement system:
Symptom modification (foam rolling, medications, cupping, taping, electrical stimulation, heat packs, trigger point devices, stretching)
Specific exercise (Isolated stretching or strengthening of specific muscles groups or movements)
Habit change of posture and body mechanics
Mindful movement drills
Conditioning (for resilience)
Dr. Daniel McEowen
Founder, SustainAbility Movement Health and Physiotherapy
My Story
As a result of several injuries as a child, I developed compensations that led to severe chronic pain in my early twenties.
Frustratingly, what I learned in PT school didn't help me much, so I invested a lot of energy and resources into continuing education. I learned advanced techniques that helped people beyond what I thought possible.
I also learned that we don't have to wait for something to be severe or for disability to take hold. We can invest in our movement now so we can keep doing the things we love throughout our lives.
Set Apart
Creator of the Scale of Musculoskeletal Interoceptive Experience of Mobility Testing and Tissue Loading (SMIE-MT and SMIE-TL)
Creator of the Movement Health Restoration (MHR) model
Creator of the Restoration Ladder treatment method
Education
University of Indianapolis, Doctoral of Health Science (DHSc), 2025
University of Indianapolis Krannert School of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), 2011
University of Indianapolis, B.S. of Human Biology, 2009
Continuing Education
DNS Integrated Assessment Advanced Course, May 2025, Dr. Bill Tortroiello and Robert Lardner PT
DNS Clinical C Course, December 2023 and November 2024, Robert Lardner PT
DNS Clinical B Course, October 2022 and July 2024, Robert Lardner PT
DNS Clinical A Course, October 2021, Robert Lardner PT
IPA: Functional Mobilization: Upper Extremities, 2020, Christopher DeMarco DPT, CFMT, FAAOMPT
IPA: CoreFirst Strategies: Principles of Posture and Movement which promote an Automatic Core Engagement (ACE), 2019, Seth Blee DPT, CFMT, Linda Costello PT, FOC, CFMT
IPA: Functional Mobilization I: Soft Tissue Mobilization, PNF, and Joint Mobilization, 2019, Christopher DeMarco DPT, CFMT, FAAOMPT
RockTape FMT Movement Specialist Certification, 2019, Meghan Helwig PT, DPT
IPA: PNF I: The Functional Approach to Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, 2018, Linda Costello PT, FOC, CFMT, Ann Kaminski MPT, CFMT, OCS
Teaching People About Pain, 2018, Adriaan Louw PT, CSMT
CREAT: Decoding Dysfunction: A Practical & Functional Approach to Difficult Diagnoses, 2018, Anita Davidson PT, DPT, CAFS
(Re)Defining the Core: The Key to Functional & Corrective Exercise, 2018, David Lemke NMT, sEMG Tech
Safe Strides: A Vestibular Disorder and Balance Dysfunction Specialty, 2015
Physical Therapy Guide to PT Practice 3.0, 2015, Peter Altenburger PhD, PT
Orthopedic Trauma Symposium, 2014, Marcy Strine RN
Advanced Evaluation and Treatment of Hip Pathologies, 2014, Erik P. Meira PT, SCS, CSCS
Astym treatment for the Upper Extremity and Shoulder Girdle, 2013, Bob Helfst MS, PT, ATC, CSCS and John Zanas PT, CSCS, PES
Astym Treatment for the Lower Extremity, Pelvis, and Lumbar Spine, 2013, Bob Helfst MS, PT, ATC, CSCS and John Zanas PT, CSCS, PES
APTA Clinical Instructor Credentialing Course, 2013, Valerie Strunk PT, MS and Renee Van Veld PT, MS, DCE
Concepts in Applied Biomechanics, 2012, Robert H. Meier CO, BOCO
More on Dan's Personal Movement Health Story
I have not only sought out some of the highest-level knowledge and skillsets from reputable, advanced educational programs to stay at the forefront of providing high-quality care, but I also have to practice what I preach as well. As a toddler I broke a collar bone, I had a devastating femur (thigh bone) fracture at ten years old, had abdominal surgery for an appendectomy at eleven, fractured or dislocated both thumbs, and sustained numerous other less-severe injuries throughout my childhood. I felt I had recovered fully from each of these injuries and fully got back to all the activities I wanted to do. However, I later learned, I did so through compensations around the lost function these injuries caused in my movement system. These compensations, as well as others I had picked up from bad habits of posture and body mechanics, caused me to hit a point of frequent injuries that came out of nowhere and developing chronic pain by my early twenties. I felt fragile and that everything was going downhill. I couldn't sit on my stool in physics lab in undergrad without severe pain. I had developed knee, hip, and back pathologies that limited my ability to exercise and began to have chronic neck pain and intermittent spasms with sometimes severe pain that I would push through just to keep going in my early adulthood and as I started a family. Something as little as sneezing could set off another episode. The worst part is that what I learned in PT school didn't help me much. I could manage my pain and conditions much better without requiring medical interventions or painkillers, but I didn't have the resources to create a better version of the body I was living in and prevent the pain and injuries from continuing to accumulate. So, I invested a lot of energy and resources into continuing education and looked for new information everywhere I possibly could. What came of this process defines how I practice today. I learned that "better" is always an option and what "better" can mean was beyond what I thought possible. We don't have to wait for something to be severe or for disability to take hold. There's so much more that we can do for ourselves and achieve with the help of highly skilled therapy. Our movement is worth investing in, whether to overcome our current condition or to train our bodies in preparation for what we want to still be doing in our last decade of life. So take care of yourself, and, if you can, someone else too.
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