Is It Massage
Therapy?
Yes and no...it is
a form of bodywork, but unlike many styles of massage therapy given for general
or relaxation
purposes, Soft Tissue Release is a much more specific Neuromuscular
Therapy for correcting muscular imbalances, accelerating the healing
of muscular injuries and quickly eliminating chronic pain.
As a form of Sports Massage, athletes are discovering
there's no faster way to
restore muscular strength and flexibility after an
injury.
How Does Soft Tissue
Release Work?
The essence of the approach is a method of applying pressure to a muscle
at the same time the muscle is being stretched.
This coordinated movement has a correcting effect on all muscular
imbalances, including injured areas where scar tissue has formed.
The "secret" to the
success of the technique is that it's not just another way of manipulating
your muscles—it's a way of communicating with your nervous system.
Lasting, often permanent change is achieved by engaging
your autonomic nervous system, the powerful mechanism that controls your
heartbeat, breathing, digestion, and other essential life functions.
The rhythmic pressure through a stretch routine
of the technique appeals to the language of your nervous system,
enlisting it in re-programming your muscles. "Engaging muscle
memory" is what this is called. (Think of it as pressing the reset
button on your muscles.)
Muscle memory, just like it
sounds, is your nervous system's memory of how your muscles should normally
be (not too tight, not too loose.)
Trauma to your muscles—even if that trauma is microscopic (micro
trauma)—triggers the inflammation process and causes your nervous system
to shorten or "shut down" your muscles to protect them, which
leads to loss of flexibility and pain. (Learn more about this process at the How
muscles heal page.)
Once muscle memory is engaged,
your muscles return to their normal length and tone, the inflammation process
stops, and relief from pain
immediately follows.
What To Expect In Your
Treatment
Don't worry,
although Soft Tissue Release may
sound like the kind of rough technique you need to bite down on a piece of wood to get
through—it's not.
You
don't have to endure even more pain to get out of pain.
Do expect to move
around more than you would in a relaxation massage therapy session
though—The special stretches and movements are part of what makes this
technique so effective.
(You will also
learn some of these stretches along with unique self-care techniques,
which you can do on your own to accelerate and maintain your progress.)
What to wear:
There's no need to get completely undressed like you might for a Swedish
or
relaxation-type massage session.
Just bring some type of
athletic wear to change into, as in shorts for men or shorts and some
kind of top, like a sports bra, for women. (Lycra is a good all-around choice
since it's not bulky and
stretches well.)
Is Soft
Tissue Release What You Need?
If you're experiencing
pain related to any of the following, Soft Tissue Release is often
surprisingly effective at quickly correcting the soft tissue and neuromuscular
factors (which, in my opinion, are usually the source of the pain 95 to
100% of the time—in ALL of the below:
(This material
is for informational purposes and does not constitute medical
advice.)
