What techniques are used in our Sports Therapy

Our Sports Therapy is a targeted treatment approach focusing on specific muscle regions that are in need of rehabilitation. In my practice, the common techniques I use in Sports Therapy include:

• Myofascial release 30%

• Passive assisted stretching 20%

• Pin & Stretch 20%

• Trigger Point 20%

• Wringing 5%

• Effleurage 5%

Myofascial release technique in our Sports Therapy aims to relieve pain and muscle tightness. Our technique involves" Pin & Stretch" and deep manual friction over specific points on the deep muscular fascia. A trigger point is a small tight area in muscle fiber and fascia. Each of muscles consist of bundles of muscles fibers in a web of collagen called "fascia". Because fascia holds muscle tissue together in our body and acts as "glue", I always refer it to my clients during the session as " glue". When blood flow restricts to the fascia area, also known as muscle knots, it causes pain because our muscle fiber becomes so tight. In many cases, there's also referred pain because the location of trigger points can be felt in a different area of the body such as tight, stiffness, reduced range of motion. Therefore, an examination such as finding "origin and insertion " during the session is necessary to locate the pain source.

Passive assisted stretching has many purposes and effects that make it an important techniques in our Sports Massage Therapy. During the session, our clients make no contribution to the range of motion. The stretch is held by the massage therapist to create force either manually or mechanically. Examples includes using a towel, band or another person to help you stretch. It creates the greatest effect of stretching muscle fiber and reduce muscle tissue stiffness.

Wringing is a massage technique of Petrissage (from French "to knead"). Our wringing technique applies lifting to the underlying muscles and squeezing the muscle forward and backwards in order to treat tight muscles. The alternate lifting and squeeing action also increases the tissue elasticity and extensibility. It is an effective massage technique to release tension and mobilize large muscles.

Effleurage (Stroking) is a massage technique that utilize flowing strokes to assist blood circulation and lymphatic drainage, We apply effleurage to shorten the recovery time and prevent injuries in our Sports Therapy. Effleurage is also used as a connecting technique in between wringing and myofacial release as a remedial procedure to reduce DOMS(delayed onset muscle soreness), DOMS can be caused by a number of factors such as muscle damage, muscle spasm and poor circulation.