When people think of chiropractic, they often think of ‘cracking’ bones. However, we spend a lot of time working on tight or damaged muscles too. In order to treat the problem as a whole, we usually need to do some kind of muscle or ‘soft tissue’ release techniques. This means we are proficient at treating a range of sports injuries as well as disorders of the spine. There are many ways in which to do this, but personally I prefer trigger point therapy or active release (as do my patients). Trigger point therapy is a ‘press and hold’ method applied to a specific point on the muscle. It elicits a reflex response from the muscle which causes it to relax. This also tends to be less painful than deep tissue massage (or at least quicker).

Active release utilises specific movement patterns performed by the patient with pressure applied simultaneously by the therapist to the muscle or tendon involved. This helps break up scar tissue and release the tissues involved, which frees up movement and also promotes healing. It also allows the therapist to follow the fibrous scar tissue on the muscle during contraction, and so is a more dynamic way to treat it. The improvement is usually felt straight away, but may cause a little soreness the following day or two.

So next time you think about chiropractors, just remember we may be even more useful than you thought!

I would like to add that Active Release Technique or ART is a patented soft tissue technique, and I am not a registered practitioner of this. The training I have is from my Chiropractic degree and 8 years of clinical experience.

If you have any further questions or this is something you think you may benefit from then give us a call on: 07956 623852