Dry Needling vs. Acupuncture: What's Actually Different
Same thin needle. Completely different purpose. I break down what each one does, why they are not interchangeable, and which patients benefit from dry needling specifically.
Read articleBlog & Resources
Physical Therapy Insights from Dr. Birikov
Most PT content online is written by marketers, not clinicians. Everything here comes from 10 years of one-on-one patient work — what actually resolves chronic pain, why conventional stretching misses the root cause, and what methods I use when standard PT has already failed.
Written by Dr. Maksim Birikov
Founder and sole practitioner, Physica Medica — 800 S Bond St, Baltimore, MD. Every article reflects what I see in the treatment room, not what sounds good in a content calendar.
Browse by Topic
Find What You're Looking For
Organized around the problem you are trying to solve, not by technique. If you have already tried PT and are still in pain, start with Pain & Recovery.
Pain & Recovery
Back pain, sciatica, chronic pain: why it persists, what keeps it stuck, and what actually resolves it.
Posture & Movement
Forward head posture, rounded shoulders, thoracic kyphosis, scoliosis — and why the Pancafit method addresses what conventional stretching cannot.
Techniques Explained
Dry needling, IASTM, cupping: the mechanism behind each one, what the evidence says, and when I use them.
Breathwork & Cold
The Wim Hof Method coached with clinical structure. What diaphragmatic training does for pain, tension, and nervous system regulation.
Start Here
Most Read Articles
The pieces patients open most. If you are new here, these are the strongest place to begin.
Techniques Explained
Pain & Recovery
Does Dry Needling Hurt? An Honest Answer
What you actually feel during the session, what the soreness afterward means, and why the needle going into a tight muscle is not the same as a shot. No minimizing — just the facts.
Read articlePosture & Movement
5 Posture Fixes for Forward Head and Rounded Shoulders
The desk-bound patterns wrecking your neck and upper back, and the corrections I actually prescribe. Not generic advice — specific to how these problems present clinically.
Read articleMore Reading
The Full Library
Pain & Recovery
Why Your Back Pain Keeps Coming Back
The difference between treating the symptom and fixing what is driving it. Why most back pain treatment addresses the wrong level — and what a root-cause assessment changes.
Read articleTechniques Explained
What IASTM Really Does (and Why It Isn't Just Scraping)
The science behind the metal tool, what it reaches that hands cannot, and what to expect if you have never had instrument-assisted soft tissue work before.
Read articleTechniques Explained
Is Cupping Legitimate? The Clinical Case
Suction is not pseudoscience when it is applied with a clinical rationale. Here is the mechanism, the evidence, and how what I do differs from spa cupping.
Read articleBreathwork & Cold Exposure
What Is the Wim Hof Method, and Is It Safe?
Breathwork and cold exposure coached with clinical structure. What it does for chronic tension, nervous system tone, and recovery — and the contraindications most instructors skip.
Read articlePosture & Movement
What Is Pancafit? The Only U.S. Studio Explains
A global-postural method developed in Italy that decompresses the entire muscular chain at once. Why I trained in it, why I brought it to Baltimore, and why it produces results conventional stretching cannot replicate.
Read articlePain & Recovery
Sciatica: Why Stretching Alone Rarely Fixes It
When pain shoots down the leg, the nerve is usually tethered at a point well upstream from where you feel it. What actually releases sciatic nerve tension — and what makes it worse.
Read article