Myofascia refers to the bundles of muscle cells and the connective tissue cells that surround and connect them to form a muscle and its related tendons.
Triggerpoints are small bundles of muscle cells that have locked into a contraction and Myofascial Triggerpoint will not relax. They are referred to as ‘triggerpoints’ because pressure on them often triggers a referral pain or sensation in another part of the body.
Most people experience some form of common pain issues like stiff necks, muscular pain and joint pain that may be eased by stretching or may require treatment to release it. A lot of these types of pains may be the result of myofascial tightness or triggerpoints that apply excessive or unbalanced pressure across joints and within muscle systems.
A common question asked, ‘How do these tight muscles happen?’ The answer is not always simple. It may be from:
- physical injury from a fall or other accident
- sports injury
- overworked muscles
- pregnancy
- surgery or other physical treatment
The resulting ‘shortened’ and dysfunctional muscle bundles create an imbalance that requires other muscles to increase tension to bring the body back into balance. These ‘balancing’ muscles may then become sore from overwork and produce chronic pain in the area. The really interesting thing is that the painful area is therefore not at the site of the real cause of the problem.
Massage on the painful area will likely ease the pain but if the counterbalancing knots are not treated the pain will re-occur later and most often the next morning as the body attempts to regain a relaxed balance while you are sleeping. The real cause of the pain is the counterbalancing knot, commonly in the antagonist of the sore muscle and often this locked tissue is not noticeably painful until pressure is applied.
The Solution
By implementing a range of musculoskeletal therapy techniques to determine the cause of the discomfort and to remove ‘locked’ tissue and stretch shortened tissue so that the body regains a balanced position from which it can heal.
Working from a base of Swedish Massage as a primary health promotion therapy we introduce other techniques as required and they include:
- Myofascial Release
- Muscle Energy Technique
- Positional Release Technique
- Neuromuscular Technique
- Joint Mobilisation
Myofascial Triggerpoint massage treatment option can be uncomfortable when significant knots are encountered. Once the knotted tissue is reduced the discomfort also continues to reduce. Treatment can be made quite a bit more comfortable using Chinese Cupping or Dry Needling. The Cupping draws fluid into the the tissue causing the knots to open more readily and less painfully reduced. The Needling stimulates a healing response at the site and changes the chemical structure of the tissue such that it becomes less tender and more responsive to further massage treatment.
The beneficial effects can continue for two or three days after treatment and if the main cause of the issues have been effectively treated the relief can be long lasting.
