Guiding people to a life without pain.

And as many as we can. Because when you stop chronic pain, you make so many things possible – dancing, biking, bowling, hiking, moving, really living. That’s why we do this.

The DFR Therapy Institute’s 501c3 status ensures that our impactful research will continue, and that anyone who is interested in being trained in DFR Therapy, will be, in order to offer hope and healing through a fast-acting, long-lasting solution to chronic pain. Many of our donors are former patients who also see the value of research, teaching and training.

FOUNDERDr. Paul Mettler

Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, 2006

Dr. Paul Mettler is a doctor of Physical Therapy who has been practicing for 40 years. Early on, he became frustrated and discouraged by patients’ lack of functional improvement and long-term results using only the standard myofascial, physical or manipulation therapies for which he had been trained.

In 1991, Dr. Mettler discovered a way to rapidly identify and undo soft tissue damage using precise and focused manual physical therapy to restore scar/densified tissue that connects injured tissue. He originally called it the Mettler Release Technique® or MRT®.

In 2018, Dr. Mettler renamed the technique Dermal-Fascial Restoration® or DFR® as technology had advanced to permit colored imaging and quantification of tissue density to guide restoration of the skin and fascia. DFR has been proven to reduce skin and fascial stiffness through High Frequency Shear Wave Elastography imaging. DFR is a drug-free, harm-free, non-invasive and cost-effective therapy for chronic pain. It has been successfully used to treat over 20,000 patients over the past 25 years.

Awards

International Consortium on Manual Therapies
2022 Overall Competition Winner – Dr. Paul Mettler
For the abstract:

ICMT is a science-based interdisciplinary research symposium for practitioners and researchers with the goal of influencing future healthcare. Dr. Mettler’s abstract shows an invisible “restriction” below the skin and its “release”, made visual and measurable using handheld ultrasound. Abstract shows scientific proof of better outcomes using Dr. Mettler’s restoration technique, DFR Therapy.

International Fascia Research Conference
2015 Overall Second Place Award for Clinical Usefulness – Dr. Paul Mettler
For the abstract and oral presentation:

Benefactors

Kleinmuntz Associates LLC is a closely-held venture capital firm based in Chicago that focuses on start-up investments at the intersection of analytics, biotechnology, and healthcare. Using an approach that combines early stage capital investment with business advisory services, Catherine and Don Kleinmuntz are passionate about increasing research and training for the DFR Therapy Institute.

“Not bad for not being able to do this for 4 years.”

Melva England, former patient with Bell’s palsy

Feel better sooner. We’d love to help.