April Greetings Everyone!

Well, it’s allergy season, again. But the good news is that flowers are out, the dogwoods are in bloom, and of course, it’s time for yard work. We’ve recently planted three new trees in the back yard, and we’re looking forward to watching them grow.

This month, I’ve taken some time to talk about muscle injury and some of the ways massage can be used to treat it. I’ve also included self-massage for the face and an article on a type of massage called Muscle Release Technique (sm).

Enjoy! --- Heather Wibbels (615.294-6672)

Whether from kneeling to prepare garden beds, starting up practice for a community sports team, or from intense spring cleaning, warm weather means more injuries. Hospitals call this the "trauma season" for a reason - as people greet warmer weather with increased physical activity the rate of injury increases. In cases of muscular injury or soreness from overuse of muscles, massage remains an excellent means for preventing and treating muscular injuries.

What happens in a muscular injury? A muscle can be pulled (strained) by overuse, overstretching or stressing the muscle. A muscle strain causes tears in the microfibers of the muscle tissue. This causes the pain and soreness you feel throughout the muscle. Muscle strains can happen when you work muscles that haven’t been warmed up through stretching and light exercise before heavy use. They also occur when the muscle is overloaded or overused. Am I saying you need to stretch before your spring cleaning, sports practice and gardening? Yes – If you want to avoid injuries and soreness afterwards.

How does the body deal with muscle strains? In order to heal itself, the body sets about repairing those torn fibers by using connective tissue. This connective tissue (or scar tissue) is less flexible than the original muscle fibers, but it acts as a means to reconnect and repair the integrity of the muscle. Unfortunately, the repairing connective tissue often shortens the muscle. Imagine you are repairing a rip in a piece of fabric. In order to sew the material back together, you must have a small area of overlap of the fabric so that the thread can connect the two sides of the tear. The same thing happens as the muscle repairs the fiber tears of the muscle and the overall length of the muscle is shortened. In addition, the area around a muscle tear is more prone to developing knots and trigger points because the repairing connective tissue is less flexible than muscle tissue, and as the body repairs itself, adhesions may form between the muscle and other tissues/muscles nearby.

What should you do when you’ve injured yourself? Rest, Rest, Rest. Rest the muscle, and keep it elevated to reduce swelling. Keep the area wrapped with a sling or bandage to compress the area and minimize swelling. Begin to massage and mobilize the joint within a few days. Move the joint through its available range of motion, and make sure to massage the sore areas. Massaging those knots and sore areas will reduce scar tissue and adhesions built up at the injury site which are decreasing muscle length. It also reduces the size and tenderness of the knots. See my self-massage webpage for instructions on massaging particular areas of the body.

How does massage therapy help? Coming in for massage therapy after you’ve injured yourself increases blood flow to the injured area and reduces the size of the knots and trigger points. It decreases the scar tissue and adhesions, and increases range of motion of the affected joint. It also works the other side of the body, which may be beginning to suffer because it’s compensating for the loss of function on the injured side. This relaxes and relieves strain on all affected areas of the body, and can decrease the recovery time. Massage therapy also stretches and lengthens these injured, tight muscles in order to increase range of motion and return the muscle to its original, healthy length. In addition, your massage therapist can offer suggestions on stretches to perform to restore muscle length.

As your activity level increases this spring, be sure to take time to stretch before and after your exercise, intense cleaning, or yard work. Get massage on a regular basis to keep muscles lengthened and loose. Don’t push yourself too hard and risk injury. You’ll be preventing injuries, and keeping your body in shape.

More on Massage: Muscle Release Technique
Healing chronic pain through stretching and massage

The Muscle Release Technique (MRT) (sm) taught by Michael Young treats repetitive use injuries. It is designed to decrease and remove scar tissue, while lengthening the muscles back to their original length. The technique is used specifically to treat chronic pain and repetitive use injuries such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tendonitis, Sciatica Syndrome, Knee Pain, Plantar Fasciitis, and Hammer Toe.

When a muscle contracts, its length is shortened, enabling bones and joints to move. With repetitive use, the muscle constantly moves in and out of that shortened state, or the muscle remains in a shortened state for long periods of time. This stresses the muscle, making it more susceptible to injury. Just as mentioned in the article above, injury to muscles creates scar tissue through the body’s attempts to repair microtears. This scar tissue works to shorten the muscle. In addition, through repetitive use, muscles “forget” their natural, lengthened state, and begin to think that their shortened state is normal. Repetitive use resets muscle memory to tell the body that this short, tight muscle is healthy and normal.

MRT uses stretching in conjunction with massage and compression in order to lengthen the muscle and remove scar tissue. In an MRT session, the therapist isolates particular muscles or muscle groups, and stretches them for 2-3 seconds while massaging the body of the muscle. The muscle is returned to a neutral state, then worked again for 2-3 seconds while in the stretch. By stretching the muscle repeatedly, and for short periods of time, the therapist is able to reset muscle memory so that the muscle no longer stays in a contracted, shortened state when not in use.

Sessions last anywhere from 1-2 hours, and generally include education of the client on the nature of muscle injury and how the body attempts to repair itself. In addition, the therapist may suggest self-stretches to be done on a daily basis to keep the muscle in a lengthened state and pain free. The goal is to use massage and education to get the client to a place where pain is no longer a constant presence, and where the client has control over their own treatment through self-massage and stretching.

I recently received training in the technique, and would be happy to discuss it with you. If you have questions about it, please give me a call at 615-294-6672.

• Repetitive Use Injury Therapy