Remedial Massage Archives

April 7, 2021

By tim.huang Remedial Massage

How Remedial Massage Relieves Tight Muscles

The force of movements are generated by skeletal muscles. In the daily of life, muscles are not only recruited to create movements but also to maintain the body posture. Musculoskeletal pain occurs due to the hypertonic muscles and muscle injuries. Massage therapies such as Remedial massage and Swedish are popular to use for pain relief and muscle relaxation among injured people.

Athletes more frequently use sports massage and deep tissue massage to reduce fatigue after sports events and intensive training and increase sports performance.

Why Are Some Muscles Always Tight?

Bad Posture

In order to maintain the body postures such as sitting, lying and standing, our muscles have to work together. This muscle tension at rest is called muscle tone to resist gravity when you are at certain position. People with the poor posture always result in particular muscle fatigue.

For example, a sedentary lifestyle can lead to hypertonic nuscles such as upper trapezius, levator scapula, pectoralis major, hip flexors and lower back muscles. There are some muscles that tend to be weak and loose. The deep neck flexor and abdominal muscles are the typical examples. Non specific neck pain and lower back pain are contributed mainly by the muscles mentioned above.

Injuries

Overstretching or tearing of a skeletal muscle or tendon is called strain while an injury that tears or overstretches a Ligament is called sprain. Injuries like muscle, tendon strain and ligament sprain are very common.

When the muscle or ligament injury happens, the range of movement of the adjacent joint will be decreased. The surrounded muscles are guarding to limit any necessary movements to protect the injured site . The sensation of pain or swelling will further restrict the joint mobility that worsens muscle stiffness.

An overuse injury is due to the repetitive movement that causes micro trauma to the tissues such as tendon and bursa. The typical examples are stress fracture, tendinitis and bursitis. The overuse injury can happen in any parts of the body depending on the type of sports and occupations. Pain, swelling, inflammation, the limited range of motion and/or muscle guard can occur in the involved soft tissue with the overuse injury.

Why Do Tight Muscles Cause Pain?

A skeletal muscle is composed of a number of muscle fibres that are covered by connective tissues known as fasciae. Chronic stress, muscle injuries and overuse, especially sustained repetitive activities are the commonest causes of forming myofascial trigger points. Myofascial trigger points are hypersensitive muscle knots in the taut band of muscles, which muscle fibres form nodules.

There are two types of myofascial trigger points (active trigger point and latent trigger point) and both are palpable nodules. An active trigger point results in localised pain and referred pain spontaneously.

The active trigger point can radiate pain to surrounded tissues and/or distant regions depending on which muscle. Referred pain patterns of some neck muscles such as trapezius, splenius cervicis, sternocleidomastoid and suboccipital muscle group can mimic headaches. Trigger point forming in a different part of the same muscle can distantly refer to completely different locations.

In contract, a latent trigger point is a hyperirritable spot that leads to pain or discomfort with compression. The latent trigger point can become active when muscle trauma or psychological stress occurs. Otherwise, it can keep latent for years.

Muscle weakness, dysfunction and the reduced range of motion are commonly seen in both active and latent trigger points.

Remedial Massage Near Me

Remedial massage is one of the therapies that uses to release pain form tight muscles. A Remedial massage therapist palpates tense muscles and find palpable nodules. The light pressure of palpating an active trigger point can probably elicit “jump sign”, which is an involuntary muscle movement or a local twitch response. This is due to the irritation of myofascial trigger point that may cause local tenderness and/or referred pain.

Benefit of Massage

The remedial massage therapist will use varied massage techniques especially rubbing and pressing on found trigger points. Trigger points being pressed for around 30 seconds, “jump sign” or the local twitch response can occur before deactivating these hypersensitive spots. The deactivation of trigger points can reduce pain, muscle weakness and improve the range of motion.

Massaging the hypertonic muscles can also promote blood flow and lymphatic drainaget o the pain site to reduce muscle waste and supply nutrients and oxygen. Also, relieving muscle after massage is not fatigue easily.

Dry needling is another very effective method to release myofascial trigger points. If you would like to know more about the difference between dry needling and acupuncture, please read the related article on the chiropractor blog.

Service Areas Of Massage Services:

Kings Park NSW 2148

Kings Langley NSW 2147

Quakers Hill NSW 2763

Blacktown NSW 2148

Dural NSW 2158

Kellyville NSW 2155

Castle Hill NSW 2154

Bella Vista NSW 2153

Rouse Hill NSW 2155

Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

Glenhaven NSW 2156

March 22, 2021

By tim.huang Remedial Massage

Remedial Massage And Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain is the third most common musculoskeletal problem that people go to see medical doctors. The reason why shoulder pain is so common is due to its anatomical structure. The shoulder joint is the most complicated joint in the body. Frozen shoulder (also called adhesive capsulitis), shoulder impingement, subacromial bursitis, sprain, strain and tears in rotator cuff muscles are the common causes that occur at different ages.

Shoulder Joint Anatomy

As mentioned above, the shoulder joint (also known as glenohumeral joint) is a very complex structure compared to other joints of the body. The ball and socket structure allows the range of motion (or the range of movement) of the shoulder to move almost 360 degrees across different plants. It is the most mobile joint in the human body.

The rotator cuff muscles comprise four muscles that are on both sides of the scapula. They are supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis.

The movement of shoulder abduction and external rotation are performed by supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres. The deltoid muscle assists the movement of abduction. The subscapularis muscle mainly performs internal rotation and adduction of the shoulder joint.

The stability of the shoulder joint relies on the active and passive supporting structures. All four rotator cuff muscles that are the active support contribute the stability of the shoulder joint. The shoulder joint capsule and ligaments including glenohumeral, coracohumeral, transverse humeral and coraco- clavicular ligaments around the shoulder joint are the passive supporting structure. Due to the lack of muscles in the front of the shoulder, shoulder dislocation is prone to occur anteriorly.

A bursa is a sac filled synovial fluid which works as a cushion to reduce friction between tendons and other structures. Subdeltoid bursa and subacromial bursa are located under the deltoid muscle and in the subacromial space. Subdetoid and/or subacromial bursitis due to the shoulder joint overuse and poor posture can cause shoulder restriction especially abduction, external rotation and internal rotation) and shoulder impingement.

The Common Causes Of Shoulder Pain

Due to the high mobility of the glenohumeral joint, the shoulder joint is more vulnerable than other joints. People with the poor posture that have anterior head carriage, rounded shoulders and hunchback are more likely to have shoulder pain.

The repetitive motion such as overhead movements that overuses the rotator cuff muscles can cause the inflammation of tendon (tendinitis) and bursa (bursitis). Inflamed rotator cuff tendons are more vulnerable to tear. Age over 45 year old is also more prone to rotator cuff muscle tear rather than muscle strain.

Shoulder pain is common on volleyball, baseball and tennis players. Repeated stress on the glenohumeral joint capsule during serve leads to shoulder pain. In order to increase the power and speed of serve, athletes will try to maximise the shoulder external rotation. These athletes are more susceptible to shoulder bursitis and other types of shoulder injuries.

How Remedial Massage Treatment Releases Shoulder Pain

Apart from dry needling, trigger point therapy and chiropractic care, people who are suffering from chronic shoulder pain always use remedial massage therapy to reduce chronic pain. Highly-trained remedial massage therapists will palpate the shoulder muscles and the adjacent regions including neck, upper and middle back because shoulder pain may be probably radiated from these regions.

Once the damage tissues such as immature scar tissues and myofascial trigger points are found, remedial massage therapists will focus on that area to apply different massage techniques. Kneading, rhythmic pressure, tapping and rolling are the basic massage techniques. Myofascial trigger points can be deactivated by applying certain pressure on hyperirritable spots to reach myofascial release. Remedial massage also increase blood circulation and lymphatic drainage to enhance the healing process.

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