Remedial Massage

A Remedial Massage practitioner has the ability to provide a comprehensive treatment plan based on their ability to determine the underlying cause of many musculoskeletal problems.

When muscles and tendons become damaged or injured, knotted and tense or strained, Remedial Massage provides a healing treatment that can be gentle or strong, deep or shallow. Remedial Massage holistically treats the whole body and traces the discomfort as far as possible back to the original cause, thus healing both the cause of the disorder and therefore reducing or eliminating symptoms.

Key benefits of Remedial Massage include: the stimulation to the blood supply allowing toxins in the muscles to be removed; the calming of the peripheral nervous system to ease pain and discomfort; and the toning and relaxing of muscles to improve joint mobility. An improvement to the health of the cells, the repairing of tissues, and the easing of stiffness and tension can also be experienced through therapeutic relaxation.

Muscular and skeletal dysfunctions often addressed with Remedial Massage include tension headaches, overuse syndromes, sports injuries such as rotator cuff strains, whiplash, fibromyalgia and low back pain.

Sessions usually take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the whether the practitioner will just address a specific area or give a whole body massage. Since the most advanced water soluble oils are used during the therapy, appropriate disrobing is required. Discretion is assured when working on sensitive areas by draping the body with adequate cover such that only the necessary region is ever exposed.

Deep Tissue Therapy

One of the most effective of the soft-tissue therapies, Deep Tissue Massage as the name suggests targets the deeper tissues and provides longer term relief and correction of muscle and other sort tissue injuries.

Unlike relaxation massage that leaves the patient feeling warm and relaxed, patient’s having deep tissue therapy are seeking to address more specific conditions or complaints and will feel the therapeutic difference. The effects of Deep Tissue Therapy are usually felt the day after treatment.

Myofascial Release

A gentle blend of stretching and massage, myofascial release therapy uses hands-on manipulation of the entire body to promote healing and relieve pain. Just as its name suggests, myofascial comes from the Latin "myo" for muscle and "fascia" for band—Remedial Massage therapists use the technique to ease pressure in the fibrous bands of connective tissue, or fascia that “hold together” muscles throughout the body. Injuries or damage to the fascia result in disruptions and irregularities to the tissue and are believed to be a source of pain and restricted motion. Instead of being uniformly aligned with long parallel fibres the fascia becomes “tangled and matted”. Gentle stretching and long massage strokes aim to realign the damaged tissue allowing for optimal healing.

Triggerpoint Therapy

This technique applies concentrated finger, thumb or even elbow pressure to an area within the muscle belly. When a muscle is over stretched or strained through injury or postural constraint it will develop nodules or concentrated areas of contracted muscle called “trigger points”. These occur throughout the body in a relatively predictable pattern. That is, muscles will develop a consistent trigger point pattern specific to the muscle involved.

Pain is usually characterised by local tenderness but may have a referral pattern. In other words the pain you feel in your shoulder may originate from a different site. Focused pressure to the area for approximately 30 seconds is used to break cycles of spasm and pain within soft tissue structures.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Stretching

PNF is also commonly known as isometric stretching. The process of performing a PNF stretch involves the following. The muscle group to be stretched is positioned so that the muscles are stretched and under tension. For example to stretch the hamstrings (the large muscles at the back of the thigh) the individual performs a straight leg raise while lying on his/her back then contracts the stretched muscle group for 5 - 6 seconds while a partner, or immovable object, applies adequate resistance to inhibit movement. Please note: the degree of contraction should be relative to the individual’s level of fitness.

The contracted muscle group is then relaxed and a controlled stretch is applied for approximately 30 seconds. The muscle group is then allowed 30 seconds to recover and the process is repeated 2 - 4 times.

PNF is an excellent stretching technique for athletes of all skill levels from the recreational participant to the world class champion.