No one session is the same - each session is tailored entirely to the individual, and draws upon my extensive skills and experience to get a good understand of what is going on, and how best to treat it. All designed to reduce pain, inflammation and restrictions in joints and soft tissue, and to restore balance to the body. Once the musculo-skeletal system is structurally balanced, all of the body's systems can better work together to function as one - restoring good health overall.
Why is it important to get the musculo-skeletal system in good working order? So that 'compressive load' and gravity is distrubuted efficiently through the joints in the body. Any change to the way in which this is distributed can lead to knock on effects else where in the body. For example, it is said that:
“For every inch of Forward Head Posture, it can increase the
weight of the head on the spine by an additional 10 pounds.” Kapandji, Physiology of Joints, Vol. 3
The aim of Myofascial Bodywork is thus to restore BALANCE in the body. Sometimes, this can mean working away from your area of pain, if it is thought that imbalance in other structures and areas are part of the cause. I look at the whole of the body. I look for the underlying causes of physical dysfunction, rather than just treating the symptoms.
Ever wondered why your right shoulder is sore, your right hip now I mention it can also be a bit painful sometimes, you had mild sciatica a couple of years ago but it cleared up and you forgot all about it, oh and yes now you ask I did badly sprain my right ankle 5 yrs ago but surely this didn't all start from an ankle sprain? Well, sometimes, things like this can be connected. You sprain your ankle, which means you have to walk in a different way - called a compensation pattern - the ankle healed but you didn't actually get treatment, so there is probably a build up of scar tissue which means the ankle is less flexible, the muscles are tighter, so you have continued to walk with that compensating pattern, which means the hip joints are moving differently than they used to, and you may be putting more weight on the other leg, so not moving the right hip as much as it has started to become sore when you do, and if the hip is sore, then you will unconsciously start to protect yourself by moving less in the back, you start to exercise less, the spinal muscles starts to become tight and you found yourself getting less flexible in your back, you start to wake upon with stiffness and/or pain in the lower back area, so you have to adjust the way you sit at your desk at work for 8hrs a day, and your body starts to rotate to ease the discomfort, and as muscles tighten they shorten, and before you know it your right shoulder is now sore also and it is starting to radiate up into your neck and now you're getting tension headaches from the stress of it all...
This is what makes the Myofascial Bodywork approach a longer lasting effect than other forms of bodywork. I want to know all about you, even the things you might have forgotten, to work out why your body has responded with pain and discomfort.
I use clinical assessment skills and a range of orthopaedic testing to try to identify the problem areas, which helps to put together a treatment plan. Usually, I will expect you to do some homework away from the treatment room, and have a good range of therapeutic exercises for lengthening short muscles, improving range and quality of joint movements, and can advise on ways in which to improve posture at your place of work.
