Postural Alignment Therapy in Alpine, WY
The same spot keeps hurting. Or the pain moves: your low back this month, your neck the next. You stretch, you rest, you get some relief, and then it's back.
At Teton Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine, postural alignment therapy starts by finding where your body is compensating. Then treatments work to correct the pattern driving the pain – drug-free, non-invasive, and rooted in science.
Find out whether postural alignment therapy is the right next step for you.
Teton AIM takes a root-cause approach to posture.
Dr. Melissa Franklin, DACM, evaluates how your body shares the load, from your feet to your head, then treats the pattern driving your pain, not just where it shows up. Dr. Franklin's background combines a master's degree in Microbiology and Molecular Immunology with over a decade as a functional movement therapist, giving her a clinical lens that most postural therapists don't have.
Our clinic is located in Alpine, WY. We see patients regularly from Jackson, Pinedale, Swan Valley, and throughout Lincoln County for care that supports the demands of mountain living.
Pain Is Usually the Last Link in the Chain
Most people ask what's wrong with the spot that hurts. Dr. Franklin asks: What is the rest of your body doing?
The body doesn't work in a straight line from A to B. When one side of the pelvis sits elevated and rotated, the muscles around it adapt. Some get locked short. Others get locked long. That muscle imbalance travels, so a rotated right hip can show up as pain in the left shoulder, and a knee problem can pull on the hip and the ankle.
Postural strain eventually lands on whatever tissue has the least room left to give. That's where you feel it. It's also why a stretch, a massage, or an injection can help for a while and then stop helping. The sore spot got treated. The pattern behind it didn't.
So, every plan starts with an assessment of the whole chain.
You may be a candidate for postural alignment therapy if you:
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Have pain that keeps returning to the same spot, or moves between spots
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Have one hip higher than the other, or one shoulder that sits lower
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Sit, drive, or type for most of the day
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Work a physical job in the trades, on a ranch, or in the field
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Ski, ride snow machines, or run trails and feel it in your hips or back first
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Are preparing for surgery, or recovering from one
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Improved with other care, then plateaued
Your plan starts with how your body actually moves.
What Is Postural Alignment Therapy?
Postural alignment therapy is an individualized corrective exercise program built from a detailed assessment of how you stand and move. Posture isn't only how you stand. It's how you sit, lie down, walk, and run.
Dr. Franklin's approach is based on the Egoscue method, trained through PTX Therapy, along with ELDOA. You may also hear it called posture therapy or posture alignment therapy.
Most plans combine the following:
A Thorough Orthopedic Assessment First
Dr. Franklin evaluates how you stand and move: how your feet, knees, hips, pelvis, spine, shoulders, and head relate, plus joint mobility, strength, balance, and weight distribution. She's looking for where your body is out of balance and how it's compensating. What she finds decides what you do next.
Corrective Exercise and Hands-On Work
Your program is a specific sequence of exercises built from your assessment, with clear instructions on the technique and purpose of each one, so you can do them right at home. When muscle guarding or tight tissue gets in the way, hands-on myofascial work (Tui Na) releases it. If pain creeps back between visits, static back is often your first move.
How Acupuncture Supports Postural Work
Acupuncture for posture comes in when pain or muscle guarding makes it hard to move well. It relaxes tight muscles, activates nerves, and improves circulation, which helps your body realign. The treatment eases the restriction. The exercises build the control to keep it from coming back. Some patients do posture work on its own.
If you've been skeptical of integrative medicine, Dr. Franklin’s approach is worth understanding. It's grounded in orthopedic assessment and functional neurology, not energetic theory. She assesses the whole system, explains the why, and partners with you on the plan.
Conditions Postural Alignment Therapy Can Help
Few people search for posture work first. They come in for the pain: a back that won't settle, a shoulder that keeps flaring, tension headaches that won't let up. When the assessment traces that pain to how your body carries load, posture work goes into the plan.
Postural Imbalances
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Pelvic tilt and rotation (pelvic misalignment)
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Muscles locked short on one side and locked long on the other
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Postural strain from sitting, driving, or screen time
Sports Injuries, Work, and Daily Load
Skiing, skijoring, snowshoeing, snow machines, trail running, golf, fishing, ranch and field work, the trades, long days at a desk, and long drives through the canyon all repeat the same motions for hours. Repeat a motion enough times and a small imbalance can turn into a pain pattern.
If your hips feel tight on the snow, your weight keeps drifting forward, or you're taking more falls than usual, that's often a hip stability and control issue, not just a strength problem.
Before and After Surgery: Prehab and Posthab
If surgery is on the table, how you go in matters. A body that's been compensating for an injury is already off balance, with one side locked short, the other locked long, and the hips, shoulders, or ankles adapting around it.
Prehab uses posture work to reset your body before the procedure. Posthab works on the muscles that took over the load, while the injury itself heals.
Posture work won't replace a surgery you truly need, and Dr. Franklin will tell you honestly what she sees. See how this applies to knee and hip cases.
Let's find out what your body is compensating for.
Not every condition responds the same way, but many patients are surprised by what improves when the underlying patterns are addressed.
Benefits of Postural Alignment Therapy
Sometimes called body alignment therapy, this work aims for pain-free posture: comfortable alignment, supported by the strength, mobility, and coordination you need for daily life.
Patients who stay with it often notice:
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Less pain from the pattern that was driving it
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Walking and standing longer before pain sets in
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Better range of motion and balance
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More control on the snow, the trail, and the job site
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Getting back to the activities they'd been working around
For some, that means finishing a full ski day without the hip that used to quit by lunch. For others, it means a long drive over the pass without the familiar ache between the shoulder blades.
Why Choose Teton AIM for Postural Alignment Therapy
Clinical Expertise
Dr. Franklin spent ten years running her own training center in Minneapolis, diagnosing and treating complex pain through movement, often in patients who hadn't improved with conventional treatment or surgery. That functional movement therapy background, plus her Egoscue-based training through PTX Therapy, shapes every assessment she runs.
Lasting Results
The goal is to correct the pattern so your body can stop compensating around it. That takes time, and Dr. Franklin will be straight with you about how much. The plan shifts as you progress, with the aim of change that holds after your visits end.
Patient Partnership
Postural alignment therapy is a partnership built around clear functional goals, consistent work at home, and regular assessment. Dr. Franklin assesses you, builds your program, and adjusts it as you progress. The reps at home are yours. If you're ready to put in that work, she's ready to guide it.
Dr. Melissa Franklin
Licensed Acupuncturist | Doctor of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine
Over 15 years treating complex pain and movement conditions.
Dr. Melissa Franklin specializes in treating complex pain and movement problems using orthopedic acupuncture, postural alignment therapy, and functional movement analysis. Before becoming a licensed acupuncturist, she earned a Master's degree in Microbiology and Molecular Immunology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
She is board certified (NCCAOM) and previously spent 10 years diagnosing and treating complex pain conditions through movement therapy.
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Your History and Goals
Your first visit starts with your symptoms, health history, what you're having trouble doing, and what you want to get back to. You'll complete a detailed online intake before you arrive.
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Your Corrective Exercise Program
Based on what she finds, Dr. Franklin builds a program for your body. If pain or tight tissue is in the way, she may pair it with targeted acupuncture and hands-on treatment. Posture sessions are booked separately from acupuncture, on Fridays in our posture clinic.
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Your Posture Assessment
Dr. Franklin evaluates your standing alignment and movement to pinpoint what's driving your symptoms.
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Follow-Ups and Progress
At each follow-up, Dr. Franklin checks your symptoms and function, reviews your technique, and progresses or adjusts the program based on how you respond. Posture photos help document changes in your alignment. Progress is measured in what matters to you: walking tolerance, standing endurance, range of motion, balance, and getting back to the activity you want to return to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can acupuncture help with posture, too?
Yes, as part of a plan. Acupuncture helps release muscles that are locked short and reactivate ones that have stopped firing well, which makes the corrective exercises easier to do right. It doesn't retrain your posture on its own. Your corrective exercises do that, and the two are designed to work together.
Can bad posture cause back pain?
Yes. When the pelvis tilts, rotates, or sits higher on one side, the lower back takes uneven load all day, through every stride and every hour in a chair. Over time that can become pain. With lower back cases, correcting the pelvic imbalance is usually where Dr. Franklin starts.
Can bad posture cause headaches?
It can, and more often than most people expect. Forward head posture and tension through the neck and upper back are common drivers of tension and cervicogenic headaches. Sometimes the source sits even lower: releasing the piriformis, a deep rotator in the hip, can ease headaches that start in the neck.
How long does it take to fix posture?
That comes down to two things: how long you've carried the pattern and how consistently you do the work. A problem that just showed up usually responds faster. One that's been building for years, creeping from a 2 to an 8, takes longer, and this is long-term work. Once she's assessed you, you'll get a realistic picture of what to expect.
Do posture correctors work?
A brace can remind you to sit up straight, but it holds you in place instead of retraining the muscles that are supposed to do that job. Take it off, and the pattern is still there. Dr. Franklin's approach works on the muscle imbalance itself.
Is this the Egoscue method?
It's based on it. Dr. Franklin trained in the Egoscue method through PTX Therapy, a branch of the Egoscue approach, and she also uses ELDOA. Teton AIM isn't an Egoscue clinic, and Dr. Franklin isn't Egoscue-certified. What you get is her assessment and a routine built for your body, with acupuncture when it helps.
Can I do postural alignment therapy remotely?
Yes, when it's needed. Remote assessments use photos and guided videos to evaluate your posture and movement. That helps if you're driving in from Pinedale, Jackson, or Idaho Falls, or if winter roads make the canyon a gamble. An injury, unexplained symptoms, or anything that needs a hands-on exam may call for an in-person visit.
Is postural alignment therapy covered by insurance?
Coverage for posture work varies by plan. We don't bill insurance directly, but we can provide a superbill you can submit for possible reimbursement. Many patients use HSA or FSA funds. Visits are pay as you go, and we don't sell packages.
Ready to Stop Compensating?
Left alone, a posture problem doesn't stay put.
Muscles that were never built for the job take on the load. The pain moves, and the list of problems gets longer.
This work is for people ready to do the daily reps that change it.
Dr. Franklin's advice: come in when it's a 2, not a 10.
Early treatment consistently produces faster results.
Are you ready to address the root of the problem?
Postural Alignment Therapy Across Star Valley & Jackson Hole
Teton Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine is located in Alpine, Wyoming, at the gateway to Star Valley and Jackson Hole. Patients from western Wyoming and eastern Idaho regularly drive an hour or more for posture correction built on the Egoscue method. When an in-person visit isn't practical, remote assessments are available.
We regularly treat patients traveling from:
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Alpine, WY
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Etna, WY
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Star Valley Ranch, WY
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Thayne, WY
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Afton, WY
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Smoot, WY
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Hoback Junction, WY
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Jackson, WY
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Moran, WY
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Pinedale, WY
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Swan Valley, ID
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Victor, ID
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Driggs, ID
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Idaho Falls, ID