Muscle and Joint Pain

I use a variety of modalities to treat pain in the body, from osteopathy, acupuncture, naprapathy and soft tissue therapy.  These are used as needed in order to allow the body to return to normal health after injury or to address musculoskeletal disorders.

Muscular Energy Techniques

Muscle Energy Technique (MET) is a type of therapy that uses the gentle muscle contractions of the client to relax and lengthen muscles and normalize joint motion.

Muscle energy techniques are applied in order to lengthen shortened muscles, to build weakened ligament and muscle strength, and to improve your range of motion.     For instance, a patient may be asked to contract a muscle for approximately five or six seconds against an anti-force applied by the therapist. The muscle contraction is performed by the client two or three times in a row, with the aim of stretching the muscle further each time.

Muscle energy techniques can be applied safely to almost any joint in the body and, in fact, many athletes use MET as a preventative measure to guard against future muscle and joint injury. It is also used by individuals with a limited range of motion due to back, neck and shoulder pain, scoliosis, sciatica, unsymmetrical legs, hips or arms (for example when one is longer or higher than the other), or to treat chronic muscle pain, stiffness or injury.

Taping

I am trained and certified by RockTape to provide kinesiology taping, which can provide benefits such as:

• Symptom reduction taping – reduce pain, improve movement and function
•  Oedema (swelling) control taping –   can be used following acute swelling, or for more chronic swollen areas. Preliminary research has reported kinesiology tape to be a favourable alternative to regular compression strapping. RockTape has also reported some success with regional hypersensitivity syndromes.
•  Postural control taping – enhances the effectiveness of any postural correction treatment.
•  Powertaping – This is unique to Rocktape and is an exciting move forward, giving potential performance enhancing benefits. The tape is applied along the fascial lines (anatomy trains) or functional lines of the body to improve proprioceptive feedback and either control or prevent injuries.  To put it into laymans terms, having the tape applied in the right place and in the right way, can improve performance, maximise your ability to perform exercises to ‘good form’ and therefore minimise the chance of injury.

  Acupuncture

Traditional Chinese medicine has reaped the benefits from acupuncture, long before its adoption in the West.

Today, an increasing number of medical practitioners are using needling techniques in their daily practice.

The claims that acupuncture is beneficial for treating a wide range of conditions are still not scientifically understood, yet it can be particularly effective when treating pain, especially back pain.

The needles used are modern, sterile, very fine and single use only. Many people will experience different sensations whilst undergoing acupuncture, but for most, the level of discomfort is akin to a pin prick test.

Deep Tissue Massage

As the name suggests, this is a deep form of massage, and is carried out in order to allow the body to return to normal health after injury or to address musculoskeletal disorders.

It can be used to treat chronic musculoskeletal imbalances, strains, sprains, broken bones, bruising or any injury where the skin is unbroken.

Deep tissue massage can remove blockages, damaged cells, scar tissue and adhesions that can remain after an injury.

It will help to speed up recovery and encourages healing.

Remedial massage is also used for conditions created by modern lifestyles, for example, repetitive strain injury or back pain. It is designed to increase the flow of blood and lymph, particularly in the injured areas.

Gua Sha / Cupping

The benefits of Gua Sha and cupping are many and varied, but my school states that Gua Sha will redden the skin to allow for blood and Qi to come to the surface and initiate the healing and stimulation of collagen and elastin. This is done through friction pressure.

Facial cupping also brings blood and Qi to the surface to flush and plump up the skin, reducing contours, fine lines and wrinkles, which is achieved through suction.

They are both very simple to apply and are mutually compatible. They also can help smooth facial contours and improve facial appearance, fine lines, sagging, wrinkles and colouring.

Gua Sha is especially good for relieving stress and promotes relaxation on a deep level. Please do contact me if you would like to know more about this treatment.

Tuina

Tui na (pronounced “Twee Na”) is a hands-on body treatment that uses Chinese martial arts principles in an effort to bring the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into balance. A Tuina practitioner will use their hands to diagnose, through palpation, and treat diseases and illnesses with a variety of manual techniques. The practitioner can then use range of motion, traction and massage, through the stimulation of acupressure points. These techniques aid in the treatment of both acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions, as well as many non-musculoskeletal conditions.