Soft tissue therapy is remedial and targeted clinical massage. It is hands on bodywork that can get you out of many kinds of painful episodes.
Soft tissue therapy reduces tensile and compressive stress on your body and can dramatically speed up the healing process.
‘Soft tissue’ refers to the type of body structures that are targeted in a treatment session.
These Soft Tissue structures include:
- Muscles, tendon and ligaments,
- Fascia (superficial and deep)
- Fluids such as blood, lymph, interstitial fluid (between cells)
- Arteries, veins, lymph nodes and channels.
- Nerves
Soft Tissue Therapy is not “just massage” ‘massage’ simply not encapsulating the full scope of knowledge and treatment techniques used by fully qualified Soft Tissue Therapists.
Conditions that respond to Soft tissue therapy includes:
- Random muscle aches and pain that move around the body
- Neck and lumbar spine disc bulges.
- Poor posture- rounded shoulders and sway backs
- Functional and structural scoliosis of the spine
- Growing pains in children and adolescents
- Thoracic outlet syndrome
- Muscle tears
- Tendon and bursitis conditions
- Computer posture and repetitive strain injuries
- Tennis and golfers elbow
- Plantar fasciitis
- Whiplash
- Many kinds of nerve conditions in the neck, lumbar spine, arms and legs
- Tension headaches and some migraines.
- Erasing Compensation patterns post injury and post surgery.
- Post joint surgeries (once Surgeon/physio approval has been given)
- Adrenal fatigue and central fatigue (nervous system burnout)
- Unusually rigid tight muscles throughout the body.
The assessment procedures and the techniques used are universal to Osteopathy and Physiotherapy. However many techniques are unique to Soft tissue therapy.
techniques include:
- Remedial massage and sports massage techniques
- Myo-fascial Trigger point therapy
- Deep Ischemic release techniques with elbows, thumbs or fingers
- Myo-fascial release techniques
- Passive stretching of contractile tissues
- Muscle energy techniques
- Proprioceptive Neuro - Muscular Facilitation techniques
- Deep Transverse Friction
- Active release technique
- Positional release technique
- Kinesiotaping for support
- Postural taping techniques
- Breathing retraining.