|
Deep Tissue
Massage
Everyday activity can cause overuse, misuse or disuse problems with your muscles and
joints. As a self-protection mechanism against serious damage muscles often go into semi-permanent spasms. These are the ‘niggly’ aches that can occur in your shoulders, back or hips. Bad posture,
poor technique in sports, sitting for long periods of time or bouts of activity that your body is not used to can all cause
injury & pain. Recurrent mild stiffness in the lower back or ‘sciatica’
pain first thing in the morning is a symptom of a buildup of ‘knots’ around the hips and lower back. Starting
a new exercise routine or stepping up the training creates tension in muscles that can develop into imbalances and musculoskeletal
injuries. Deep Tissue massage will be of great benefit to anyone who has to
spend hours sitting in front of a computer or behind the wheel. Massage techniques used are not necessarily painful, if they
are it is often described as a ‘good-pain’. The aim is to get you
pain-free in the quickest possible time and relief from muscular pain often occurs in one session. However if you have a
chronic problem, anything between 2 – 6 treatments could be needed to give a cumulative, long-lasting benefit. Regular maintenance deep tissue massages will ensure your muscles stay supple and are working at
their best. Various basic & advanced 'massage' techniques can be used depending on your particular need
but included myofascial release, soft tissue release and trigger point therapy.
Myofascia Release
All muscles, bones & joints; all organs, every blood vessel
and every nerve is contained within form of connective tissue, generically called fascia. Fascia is a continuous and
seamless membrane which acts like a 3-D body stocking weaving through all the layers of the body, providing structure and
separation.
An injury to a muscle or joint could lead to scar tissue and a restriction in one part of the body that can
directly ‘pull’ and effect somewhere else - Imagine pulling the corner of a table cloth and watching everything
on the table get drawn closer together towards your corner. In the body this could mean compression in joints, pain, loss
of movement and even postural problems.
Fascia is made up of, amongst other things, collagen and elastin fibres suspended
in an ‘extracelluar matrix’ (a gel-like substance that acts as a lubricate). The collagen provides strength
(a tensile strength of up to 2000lbs!) and elastin provides visco-elasticity and variable deformation properties.
Fascia is highly innervated with nerve endings and therefore thought to be highly sensitive to movement, tension and
pressure. In optimum health, fascia
is a mobile and moist tissue.
Under excessive stress, injury or continual lack of movement e.g. after surgery,
fascia can become rigid and lose its fluidity. Layers of fascia begin to glue to one another squashing nerves and blood
vessels, and can cause chronic pain and further restrictions. The
primary aim of Myofascial Release is to find fascial restrictions in the musculoskeletal system and ‘unglue’ and
re-hydrate the fascia layers.
Focused, slow stretching movements are performed using various hands-on techniques.
Because of the continuous nature of fascia, movement on the skin (or even through clothes) can have an effect on deepest layers
beneath. One
of two techniques can then be used: An indirect technique where pressure or traction is held for several minutes, allowing
the fascia to ‘unwind’ itself. Or the fascia is mobilised by directly stretching against lines of resistance.
The pressure used can vary from very light to relatively hard. A postural assessment may be conducted at the beginning of each session.
Myofascial release, along with specific exercises and advice on everyday posture and movement habits can resolve
long standing chronic pain and restore pain-free posture and movement.
Save money with regular treatments: Pay for five treatments
and get the 6th FREE
|
