Soraya Coyte
Massage, Sports Therapy, Aromatherapy
Stretching - a forgotten skill
How often do we feel stiff after driving a long distance or sitting at at the computer for hours?
How many of us play a sport and then make a mad dash for our next appointment without cooling down?
As a result, the majority of joint or muscle dysfunction or injury I see in the clinic is due to a lack of time given to simple stretching.
Often the injury or pain is not due to a one off incident but years of disuse or overuse of a muscle or muscle group.
When muscles are overused, they can suffer trauma at a microscopic level (micro-trauma) where just one compartment or a very few fibres are torn.
The pathological changes which take place are the same as with any soft tissue injury: bleeding and swelling and the onset of secondary muscle tension in the surrounding tissue, followed by the formation of scar tissue.
Scar tissue is stronger than muscle fibre, but it lacks the elasticity and so creates a tight spot within the muscle. These tears in their early stages are too small to give any pain or problems, but as adjacent fibres have to work harder to make up for the deficiency, then these fibres too become over-used and so a cycle begins.
Massage and fascial release are a wonderful way to help you kick start good stretching habits. I can give you a functional assessment, both of your immediate problem area which is giving you pain or loss of function, but also of your whole body and any postural factors including any compensatory movements you have developed.
Massage can be useful in breaking down the tangled fibres of scar tissue to re-align them with muscle fibres, or to be broken down completely and be absorbed through our lymphatic system. A level of tissue flexibility can be achieved through massage which is not always possible through stretching alone and we often find that we have a greater range and freedom of movement after treatment
Once your needs have been identified, I will be able to set you a simple range of stretching and/or strengthening exercises for you to continue with at home.
Soraya Coyte is available for consultation on Tuesday evenings, Wednesday evenings, and Thursday and Friday mornings. Please call the clinic on 01209 315701 for further information or to make an appointment.
