Mara Nicandro, NMT NCTMB
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Mara Nicandro, NMT NCTMB
Stress and imbalance are kicked to the curb when you ALIGN your body and your HEALTH. You are an extraordinary adaptive human. Despite movement glitches & pain your brilliantly designed body keeps forging ahead doing life, but you have goals to achieve. When the protective measures & adaptations have outlived their benefit your body lets you know in the most annoying way.

Pain. Immobility. Crankiness. Ignoring it or treating it passively will not make it go away. Let's work together to help you attain positive solutions. Offering effective hands-on & movement-based therapies to help you get the best, most comprehensive results, fast!
Services
Clients who suffer from acute to chronic pain resulting from occupational, sports and/or automobile injuries benefit from receiving integrative Neuromuscular Therapy in Chicago and restore muscle health.

Specific types of dysfunctions and repetitive motion and accumulative traumas respond well to this treatment, including sciatica, rotator cuff dysfunction, carpal tunnel and thoracic outlet syndrome, temporomandibular joint dysfunction and migraines.
Placing clients first since 2003 by helping individuals like you to function with less pain and stress in their busy lives. Work with me and the first line of defense will be to restore musculo-skeletal balance to the body because true wellness requires body and mind synchronization. The therapies I offer enhance your health and establish the body and mind connection.
Your feedback is welcomed and appreciated. Sharing is caring, your testimonial is a way to let others know they are not alone. Where to go for treatment of pain and to maintain wellness. Let them know your overall satisfaction/experience of coming to me and the benefits of receiving a treatment of Structural Balance, Neurokinetic, Manual Lymphatic Drainage or TMJ Therapy.
Getting out of pain has many paths. Attend to the entire person, including the mind and body, as a whole, not as parts or segments. Maximize the body's own natural healing resources to combat and prevent disease. What does balance mean to me, picture a 3 legged stool that supports you. I emphasize exercise, proper nutrition and personal connections as the critical legs of this sturdy stool.
It's my hope that the information you find here and in my Facebook page, will empower you with the knowledge, resources and support you need to help you prevent chronic symptoms of pain and inflammation. View the testimonials from others and don't hesitate to contact me for a consultation so I can answer any questions.
Reviews (16)
Kara Savage
Kara Savage
Nov 13, 2021
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Mara is incredible! She is fantastic at what she does and is incredibly smart, kind, and generous.
I have had chronic pain and reduced mobility for years.. Have gone down many different avenues attempting to improve functional movement and reduce the associated pain. My progress has been extremely limited by my inability to perform the stretches, moves, or exercises correctly.
Mara and her practice has changed my life. She works with your body to encourage proper movement by isolating certain areas to determine the root cause of the pain. She is extremely knowledgeable and teaches me something
Suzanne Willey
Suzanne Willey
Feb 21, 2021
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Had done traditional PT, massage and chiropractic to help my low back/leg issue and spent countless hours and dollars for years. Finally found Mara and am now actually healing. There are a million kind words I could say about her, but I’ll just say this—if you’re in pain and haven’t found a solution, definitely try neuromuscular therapy with Mara. Worth every second and penny.
Rachael Claire
Rachael Claire
Feb 12, 2021
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Mara is AMAZING! Truly, one of a kind. I was having dry mouth and pretty bad tmj issues (my jaw was clenching without my consent). She was recommended to me because (pre-covid), she would actually work inside of my mouth! She has a beautifully holistic approach. She taught me that muscles in my legs and back are connected to how my jaw functions, so she gave me a series of strengthening and stretching exercises that I can do at home to assist in training my muscles to function properly. She has also given me great advice as a music educator for ways I can help prevent injuries with my students
Alexis V.
Alexis V.
Apr 15, 2020
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Mara helped me after a neck injury and I am so grateful for her expertise. I would give more stars but after about 10 sessions I could no longer afford her services. She knew my situation and never once followed up to check in or see how I was doing. I expected more from a body worker/healer in that regard. It's basic human kindness.
Carrie P.
Carrie P.
Aug 22, 2018
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Godsend! I had so much pain in my jaw for months and was in tears thinking it wasn't going to go away. I went to a TMJ specialist who told me it was going to be over $12,000 to fix the issue. I had massages, mouth guards, etc. and still couldn't open my jaw or eat hard foods. Mara found the imbalances in my body that was causing jaw pain and fixed my mouth after the first time I saw her. Thank you so much Mara!
Mary Schultz
Mary Schultz
Aug 26, 2017
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Wonderfully healing experience ; absolutely amazing. Highest possible recommendation. Mara created a warm, safe, meditative calming environment with gentle ocean music and light fragrant oil that eased my mind and body and allowed me relax into the treatment. Her deep knowledge and understanding of the body and NMT was put into practice as she worked to 1st uncover the issues/areas causing the problems and then relieving the nerve and muscle tension and compression in those areas through pressure points, manipulation, lengthening/massage points etc... Mara is a godsend! I feel so greatful to have
Cristian P.
Cristian P.
Dec 17, 2015
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Bye bye back pain!

For years I've assumed that my spine gets misaligned when I over exert myself, and hence I'd suffer a week or two in pain. Mara's patience and unparalleled understanding of muscular anatomy helped me realize that I have a few extremely over active muscles that turn off my core in simple postures, so my lower back muscles must work too hard. With some simple messages and a few simple exercises, I feel like I'm reborn!

For anyone dealing with any sort of chronic pain or imbalance, I HIGHLY recommend seeing Mara.. She will change your life!
Kimberly Curtis
Kimberly Curtis
Feb 03, 2015
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My acupuncturist recommended an assessment with Mara for chronic back pain that we just couldn't solve. Mara's professionalism and thorough knowledge base impressed me right from the start. Not only has she helped me understand the basis for my chronic pain issues, Mara's work is actually SOLVING the problem! Additonally, Mara offers realistic "homework" to maintain and further the effects of a session. I recommend Mara's services without reservation.
Mary Truscott
Mary Truscott
Jan 17, 2015
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After trying many methods to manage chronic stiffness and recurrent back pain, I found Mara. She has an unusual ability to detect which muscles are working to perform simple movements - and these are often not the correct muscles. Within a treatment session, Mara restores equilibrium by waking up dormant muscles, and toning down the muscles that are behaving like bullies. With this renewed balance, I can work to correct my posture, and help my muscles re-learn to function as they should. Not only does Mara diagnose and correct muscle dysfunction, she explains how these problems set in. Mara is
Jessica Miller
Jessica Miller
Jan 13, 2015
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Mara is a fantastic massage therapist! My doctor recommended lymphatic drainage massage to aid in my recovery after a surgery, and after a little searching online I found Mara. She has helped tremendously with the inflammation and discomfort I was experiencing. I'm looking forward to working with her on a number of other pain issues I've been dealing with, and I'm confident she'll be able to help!
Kirsten Leenaars
Kirsten Leenaars
Dec 29, 2014
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Mara is a fantastic therapist. She is very professional, personable and very in tune with what is going on in your body. I felt better after every session and in every session I learned more about the workings of my own body. The additional support exercises Mara suggested are very beneficial as well. I cant think of any other therapist that I trusted with my well being in the way I do completely with the very capable and caring Mara Nicandro.
Corrin
Corrin
Sep 11, 2014
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Mara is a wonderful therapist. She's incredibly knowledgeable in her craft and doesn't speak to you in medical jargon. Her presence is calm and inviting. Mara has helped me uncover the many layers of poor muscle memory from years of being an athlete. She also provides helpful tools and recommendations for home exercises. I highly recommend her.
Marie P.
Marie P.
Jun 24, 2013
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Mara is a dream!! I have been seeing her for shoulder and neck issues related to several broken bones. I initially went to a physical therapist with whom I made some progress, then went to an ART (Active Release Therapist) with whom I made additional progress, but I was still unable to use my arm and shoulder correctly. I was also still in pain. It wasn't until I started to work with Mara that I really began to see leaps and bounds in my progress.

She has a way of finding the underlying muscular problems that are causing your issues. Her massages are functional massages; ones where
Apryl C.
Apryl C.
Aug 10, 2012
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I initially saw Mara for chronic knee pain. I have had physical therapy for IT Band issues, but have been too stubborn to give up running. I started working with a trainer to build strength, but needed more than just hard workouts to address the underlying issues. While the treatments are painful (she is a master at finding where all my pain points are), they have helped a great deal.

As an added bonus, I have had chronic shoulder and neck pain for over 10 years with at least a few instances each month where I can hardly move my neck and had limited mobility raising my right arm. However, since
Patrick L.
Patrick L.
Jul 04, 2012
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I have had a lot of messages from places like Massage Envy and they were always nice and relaxing, but never seemed to add up to me feeling better. Just after a few sessions with Mara I could tell the joints were starting to move correctly and pain in my knee was gone. It is a very different experience. She is very deliberate and focuses time on the muscles that effect my mobility. You can tell during a session that she really knows what she is doing and there is a method to how she moves through your body. Sometimes at massage envy it just feels like they are rubbing any muscle they can hit
Julie S.
Julie S.
Jun 13, 2012
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I've had occasional lower back issues for years. After the birth of my daughter last year, the occasional back spasm turned into a chronic issue. After re-injuring it two weekends in a row, I realized the old rest and heat tricks weren't going to cut it. My right hip began creeping up higher and higher and I began worrying that I was going to be permanently impacted. I googled and googled and came to think I had a lateral pelvic tilt and then read up on Neuromusucular Therapy. Mara's name came up in a search of local practitioners and her reviews on the Elemental Health page were