"Body Work For Your Health," will be the topic of a lecture this Wednesday at the YMCA.

Dr. Crystal Dyer, a board-certified family medicine physician who works in the sports medicine practice at Takoma Medical Associates, will speak from 10 to 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.

"Manual medicine is comprised of a wide range of techniques similar to those seen in the fields of chiropractic medicine, physical therapy and massage therapy," Dyer said in a news release.

"I couple this hands-on approach with the knowledge of traditional medicine and use it as an adjunct to medication when appropriate," she said.

Dyer, who is one of only a few physicians in the community to utilize manual manipulations, said she uses her hands and the patient's body position to optimize posture and range of motion.

"I try to restore balance to the body," she noted. "A body out of balance does not function as well."

She also will discuss other types of "body work," such as massage and acupuncture, and the role they play in health and well being.

For more information, call Tina Chudina, Takoma Regional Hospital community relations coordinator, at 798-8110.