What will the appointment/treatment involve?
The initial appointment will include time spent talking through your symptoms and any history that is relevant. Following on there is an examination. The examination involves movements and tests that identify any of your restrictions and tenderness. This helps me to understand what the issue may be, and how best to treat you.
The range of techniques used include massage, joint articulation and muscle energy techniques (MET).
Massage:
Muscles, tendons are stretched and massaged in a variety of ways, with the intention of helping to reduce tension, create an increased blood flow to the area and reduce swelling. This can be a soft tissue massage or a deep tissue massage, a little like sports massage.
Joint Articulation:
This involves gentle, repeated movements of a joint with the intention of improving range of movement.
Muscle Energy Technique:
Muscles are stretched, by patients contracting their muscle, whilst being resisted, followed by a stretch with the patient relaxing. This helps to lengthen shortened/contracted muscles and can be used to help build strength to weakened structures.