In a previous blog, we did talk about heat packs, now it is time to talk about the Ice Pack. Ice pack application, in the last few years, is a practice that got reviewed. What Ice Pack is about? An Ice pack, as the name says, is a cold (icy) bag. As better explained in this study an ice pack is something that can be applied to an acute injury, to prevent swelling and reduce pain, but it can’t be used for too long. As per the heat pack, an Ice Pack burn the skin, and that’s one reason why its usage has to be short (10 to 15mins at a time). In addition, extended exposure to icy temperatures, would reduce the blood flow around the injured tissue and can also damage nerves. Ice Pack usage recommendation: You have a new injury or aggravation of an existing condition, and the pain is above 7 out of 10. Where you want to minimize swelling to keep you mobile later. There are different types of Ice packs: Home-made one, ice from the freezer wrapped in a towel. Gel pack Ice Bag (as per the photo) Instant one – most of the time found in the first aid kit. Snap it and a chemical reaction would occur in the bag and freeze the bag. Those last ones are efficient as you can store them anywhere safely and use them as you need them. The cold lasts for about 20 minutes. Not to be used if they are broken. On the other hand, if you running out of ideas of what to use as a Cold pack, you can even use a bag of frozen food. Still would do the work. We have the ice bath and the cold show related to this topic. I did experience cold showers myself, most of the time not of my choice, but because of a limited supply of hot water, and I have to say that even on this topic, there are a series of debates on how that works and if it’s beneficial. So far, a cold shower, compared to a hot shower, is better for dry skin. This is because the heat of the water combined with soap can wash away the good oils of the skin. Then the benefit of an Ice bath can be more of a placebo effect. But again, I haven’t done much digging about myself, so I would stay out of any comment regarding it. Ice pack after a Massage? Well, as mentioned above, the usage of Ice Pack is suggested after an acute injury. So, either after a Remedial Massage or a Thai Massage, firstly there should be no acute injury, secondly, you want the blood flow along the worked area to stay active and not restricted. That’s why a heat pack would be more recommended. If you find this helpful information and need a massage, book your next session here.
Tag Archives: muscle
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Chronic Venous Insufficiency and Swollen Legs: Compression Is The Way To Go
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It Is Never Too Late To Join A 1:1 Fitness Class
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MLD vs Lymphatic Massage: A Clinician’s Guide to What Works and Why
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Shoulder Pain Isn’t Just a Shoulder Problem
Shoulder pain is one of those presentations that can stop you from enjoying your day. [...]
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Jun
Calf muscles make up the lower posterior portion of the leg. Calf Muscles are: 2 are the calf muscles, the Gastrocnemius and Soleus. Below is a table with Gastrocnemius and Soleus’s Origin, Insertion and Action. Gastrocnemius Origin The posterior surface of the lateral and medial condyle of the femurs Insertion Calcaneus via calcaneus tendon Action Flex the knee Plantar flex the ankle Soleus Origin Soleal line; the proximal posterior surface of the tibia and posterior aspect of the head of the fibula Insertion Action Plantar flex the ankle So, due to their origins and insertions, we can clearly understand how the Gastrocnemius is involved in knee flexion and how the Soleus is not. The Gastrocnemius does across the knee, as it originates from the femur itself. On the other hand, the Soleus doesn’t cross the knee, so it doesn’t play any role at the knee level. This aspect is so important to differentiate what of these 2 muscles are involved in the restrictive movement at the ankle, and or in calf pain. Calf Muscles testing Firstly the patient is lying down in a supine position (face up) doing active dorsiflexion. Secondly, we will ask the patient to lie in a prone position (face down), and we knee bend (passively), they would go in ankle dorsiflexion again. What happens there is when the knee is flexed passively, the Gastrocnemius is deactivated, and so the ankle dorsiflexion is happening by pulling the soleus only. Now, 2 are the case scenarios that could happen: Still a limited range of motion at ankle dorsiflexion with or without pain A better quality of ROM with a greater angle in dorsiflexion. In the first case, the tension muscles could still be both. In the second case, the Gastrocnemius is clearly the muscle limiting the ROM. For ankle ROM in dorsiflexion, we are looking for a minimum of 20° to up to 30°. It is not all about Muscle Pain. But can calf pain be related to something else and not just to muscle pain? The answer is YES. Calf muscle pain can be a RED FLEG for Deep Veins Thrombosis (DVT), especially after a flight. DVT Symptoms: Sharp pain; Heat at the touch; Soreness at the touch; Redness on the skin. In this case, you want to contact your GP immediately. Massages are absolute contraindications. In conclusion, for a full calf or muscle recovery, we want to look in too some exercises. Remedial Massage, Myotherapy, and Thai Massage are great ways to reduce pain and manage symptoms, but exercises are essential actually to heal a muscle. Indeed, when we talked about plantar fasciitis, those exercises are something that we can look at for calf strengthening.
Apr
A Scap-Off Load is a special test or functional test that we use to evaluate the implication of Lev Scapular and Up. Trap in Cercival Rotation. As previously mentioned, in cervical rotation, we got a fair bit of muscle working towards this action. As many clients come in with cervical pain, it’s time to explain in more detail what’s going on there. Cervical Rotation. How does it happen? So, when we rotate our head, either right or left, the muscle on the same side of the rotation movement is contracting. If a muscle along those is weak, we may reproduce pain in rotation along the same side. To thin down which muscle is responsible for the limited ROM, we have to safely deactivate some of them to see if the left behind one can deliver the expected movement. Here is an example of how scap offload works. If a client comes in with 30° Cervical rotation on the R and pain on top of the scapula, that could be an indication that its levator scapulae is the muscle to target. To confirm this hypothesis, I would ask the client to shrug their shoulders and flex their elbow (the client is sitting on a stool). After that, I will make my way behind the client, and I will support their shoulder weight with my forearm and hands. As the client relieves the shoulder tension, that lev scapulae and up. Traps. are now deactivated. The next thing would be to ask the client to perform the cervical rotation. Ideally, I would like to see the client have a full range of motion (80° to 90°). If this post talks to you, book your next massage session by clicking here. That would tell me that the only muscles that are limiting the cervical rotation are the lev scap. and up trap. On the other hand, what could happen, is that the cervical rotation is, yes improved, but still limited, compared to the ROM expected. In this case, the muscles involved in the stiff range of motions are not only lev scap. and or upper trap. In fact, what is causing the limitation is the cervical occipital muscles. And yes, spending long hours at the computer or looking at the phone doesn’t help. After this test, to narrow down even more which other muscles are involved in the stiffness of the cervical area, I do run another series of tests. Those tests would look into joint areas like C0-C1, which would refer to Obliquus Capitis Superior muscle, and the C1-C2 test, which would look at tension for Obliquus Capitis Inferior. Furthermore, for the other facet joints that make up the lower cervical region (C3 to C8), I would analyze each facet joint individually. These series of tests are indeed part of my Myotherapy training. Last would be then the usage of the joint mobilisation technique. In this case, we would look into what joint has lost mobility or which one has an excess of it. Strengthening the cervical. In order to improve the presentation, massage on its own is not enough. As per any condition so far, the strengthening of the muscle, in this case, the cervical and upper thoracic one, would allow to prevent further pain and discomfort. The work that the cervical muscle has to do daily is considerably high, giving the natural weight of the skull. So exercising a chin tag in a supine position can help. Ideally, we would do these exercises in the supine position (lying down face up) so that we have gravity to fight back as we train our deep flexors. To further improve the strengthening, once the chin tag is not enough, we can start using a soft rubber band to create resistance. Said so, be mindful that the cervical area is a delicate area to work on too, and those exercises are best practice under the supervision of an expert trainer or massage therapist.
Mar
As Massage Therapist, I often see people who come in for treatment due to pain and discomfort. Indeed, I am more than happy to be that person who, by manual therapy, can alleviate others’ agony. Exercises post-treatment. At the end of the treatment, I tend to show the client a series of corrective exercises and, most of the time, a straightforward one. Those corrective exercises must be done to help maintain the change we created in the body along the massage session. Massage treatments like Myotherapy, Remedial Massage, Thai Massage or MLD can be a good starting point to change the musculoskeletal unbalance of the body. Even though the changes we created will not last long unless there is constant work done on it. So, when the client returns to routine life, those change tends to disappear quickly. That’s why we give clients exercises. How can exercises help? Exercise can help address everyday muscle weakness, joint stiffness and or painful presentation on your own time. And yes, I understand it’s hard to find the time to do exercises, but would you rather live a life in pain or find a way to feel better about yourself? It’s part of our behaviour to want the fast, quick and immediate change we want. Isn’t it?! But nothing comes easy in life. We must learn that changes take time, and along this time, we must work hard for it. Said so, I am more than happy, and I feel honoured to treat people. I feel like Massage skill is one of the skills that can change people’s life. And when I do run a Thai Yoga class and teach people the exercises, I feel even more accomplished as a massage therapist. Book your next massage session by clicking here if this post talks to you. In conclusion, postural exercises are the key if you are willing to get rid of the body ache and pain. Then, working at the gym or doing sports activities is still as important. But those activities, if not monitored by a coach or done professionally and with full awareness, can lead to injury and pain. Indeed, when doing strengthening exercises, you want to ensure you correctly use the body biomechanics. But not only that. Indeed, you want to make sure that your joint has enough range of motion to deliver that action correctly. Following this link will give you access to the Thai Yoga Class videos.
Feb
Massage appointments, how often? How often should I come for a massage appointment? Often I got asked this question, and the answer is not as simple as. A massage, that is Remedial Massage, Thai Massage or MLD treatment, has the aim to heal a condition or alleviate the pain. Well, at least that’s the main aim of those techniques. Said so, the second, but not less important task for a massage is to induce relaxation. Therefore, if you are aiming to get some relaxation, I would suggest considering getting a massage appointment regularly. Like, every 2 weeks, every month or every 2 months. Of course, depends mostly on finance. So, a regular massage appointment, allows the body and mind to aim for something positive. It is like a reward. On the other hand, if the message is not limited to relaxation time, then, you may need it more often. That’s the case when the client comes to the appointment that is in pain (99% of the time). If this post is talking to you, book your next massage session by clicking here. The fact that you are in pain can be a sign that the body issue has been there for a while. Indeed with a massage, we can alleviate the pain, but to actually fix the issue (if it’s fixable by the way) or to make the best out of what the condition is, we need to do more than one session. In fact, one session may release the pain for a couple of days, but then, as you go back to your daily routine, the pain would come back. Therefore, a series of close massage appointments, in a short time can actually help for the best. Another important aspect of pain management is exercise. Corrective exercises are a key role in expanding the time between one session and the next one. If you actually do the exercises, you can by yourself improve your body conditions, reducing the risk of injury and pain. In conclusion, the frequency for which you should attend a massage appointment is based on your needing. For a Remedial massage or a Thai Massage, you may wanna initially see the therapist once a week for the first 3 to 4 weeks. With MLD is different. With MLD the need for seeing a therapist can be more frequent. Obviously depending on the condition that has to be treated.
Jan
MLD and Pain. As previously mentioned, MLD is a massage technique pain-free. This is one of the reasons that makes it so special. It doesn’t matter where the technique is applied, the touch has to be so light, that the patient doesn’t have to feel any pain. And believe it or not, MLD can be applied right after surgery, when you get sunburn or right after physical trauma. Indeed, what MLD does is prevent the body to feel the pain. So, in order to explain this, I may use the mosquito bite example. When a mosquito bites us, after several minutes we start to feel itchy. In fact, the first auto-reaction is to start stretching the body. What does the scratching do? Firstly, by scratching, we stimulate the mechanoreceptors of the skin. The mechanoreceptors, send a signal to the spine (to CNS) that inhibit the pain receptors, which are constantly stimulated from the mosquito bite. Indeed, the pain receptor can be stimulated once and keep reacting, whereas the touch receptors, in order to be activated need constant stimulation. Now, in MLD that’s what we do, we constantly and gently stimulate the mechanoreceptors. If this post is talking to you, and you are in need of a massage, book your next session by clicking here. In fact, we keep inhibiting the pain receptors, reducing the pain signal frequency. Secondly, and no less important, by stimulating the lymphatic system activity, we reduce the amount of nociceptors. Per nociceptor, we refer to the actual sensory neuron that transports the pain signal to the spine and brain. Furthermore, by reducing the pain, the client can start experiencing a high state of relaxation. Indeed a high state of relaxation is another efficient way to deal with pain and eventually pour mobility, due to the injury the client is dealing with. In conclusion, this is how MLD can reduce the pain in an injured area.
Oct
Firstly the Cervical Occipital muscles are a group of muscles, that seat inferior to the skull and are bilateral to the first and second cervical vertebrae. Cervical Occipital muscles are responsible for 45° of rotation out of 90°. Along with these muscles we find: – Obliquus Capitis Inferior; Origin: Spinous process of Axis (C2) Insertion: Transverse process of Atlas (C1) Innervation: Suboccipital nerve – Obliquus Capitis Superior Origin: Transverse process of Atlas (C1) Insertion: Superior line of Occipital bone Innervation: Suboccipital nerve – Rectus Capitis Posterior Major Origin: Spinous process of Axis (C2) Insertion: Inferior line of Occipital bone Innervation: Suboccipital nerve (posterior ramus of spinal nerve C1) – Rectus Capitis Posterior Minor Origin: Spinous process of Atlas Insertion: Inferior Line of Occipital bone Innervation: Suboccipital nerve The actions supported by Occipital Muscles are to extend and rotate the head. How tight Occipital Muscle affect ROM. When rotating the head, so looking at your right or left, you may notice that you don’t have a full range of 80° to 90°, and you start rotating with the thoracic too. One possible reason for this is tension at the occipital area, due to muscle tension and or facet joint irritation. Moreover, to the rotation and extension actions the Cervical Occipital Muscles, are responsible for holding the head up straight. This characteristic is to be taken into consideration with the anti-gravity functionality. In addition to the Cervical Occipital Muscles, other anti-gravitational muscles are the Soleus, Quadriceps Femoris Group, Gluteus Max, and Erectors Spines group. The anti-gravity functionality is essential for the body to fight back gravity (9.81 m/sec2) and allows the body to stand straight up. This group of muscles received information in regard to the gravity pressure from the feet. This information travels along the nervous system starting from the Center of Gravity (COG) of the feet. If the COG is not balanced all body gets affected with a loss of balance as per result. Furthermore, in modern days, the Cervical Occipital Muscles are under constant stress as per all the other anti-gravitas muscles. This is due to spending long hours standing or seating. For example, standing for long hours would overload the feet, leg and back muscles, whereas seating would inhibit the leg muscle but overload the back and cervical muscles. On top of that, spending long hours looking at the phone and or PC would additionally put stress the Cervical Occipital Muscles muscles, as they get over-stretched. How massage can help? As per massaging this area, as therapists, we look into avoiding the Suboccipital triangle, which is defined by the border of the OCI, OCS, and the RCMaj. The Suboccipital triangle is an endangerment site. This means contains superficial, delicate structures that are relatively unprotected and therefore prone to injuries, such as the Vertebral artery, Suboccipital nerve (C1) and Suboccipital venous plexus. If this post is talking to you, and you are in need of a massage, book your next session by clicking here. And what about exercises? As per all the muscles of the body, there are exercises that can be done for the Cervical Occipital Muscles. Along with Thai Yoga, I teach a really simple exercise that recalls the Scap Off Load Test ( a Functional test used to determine what muscle of the cervical region may affect the head rotation). Firstly, in this exercise, available in the Melbourne Massage and Treatment YouTube playlist, you are seating on the floor with a cross leg (a yoga block or pillow can be used as per support), hands projected backwards, with wrists seated below shoulders on a straight line. As per result, the neck would seat in between the shoulders. Secondly, by flexing the head forward, reach the manubrium (the bond that connects the clavicles) with the chin, and with a gentle rotation movement, start rotating the head in a circular movement. Indeed per many Thai Yoga exercises, it is important to be aware of the movement, the body sensation and the speed of movement, which is to be slow and weighted out.
Sep
The Psoas Muscle. The Psoas muscle is a muscle that seats in the Lumbar region of the body. It is palpable through the abdominal region when the client is in the supine position. Psoas Muscle is often related to and taken into consideration with iliacus muscle, as those 2 muscles share the insertion tendon and point. For this reason, they get called Iliopsoas Muscle. Origin, Insertion, and Action of the Psoas Muscle: Origin: Body and Transverse process of the Lumbar Vertebrae (L1-L5) Insertion: Lesser Trochanter of the Femur Action: with the Origin fixed: flex the hip externally rotate the hip with the Insertion fixed: flex the trunk towards the tight tilt the pelvis anteriorly flex the vertebral column laterally. Innervation is supplied from the anterior rami of spinal nerve L1-L3 Blood Supply from the lumbar branch of the iliolumbar artery The Psoas muscle has a reference pattern that involved the abdominal area but even the front of the tight. It is often tight for people who spend a lot of time seating on a chair, like office workers and or who drive for long hours. This happens because the muscle is in constant contraction when we spend time seating. On the other hand, the Psoas Muscle is often also related to emotional distress. This can happen because when we live with negative emotions we tend to contract the abdominal area and tight the muscle-up, especially for reaching out a fetal position, which recalls maternity safety. By analyzing the action of this muscle, it is easy to notice how is involved in assuming a fetal position, as it is a hip flexor. In fact, it contracts the 2 limbs, the upper and lower to gain one with each other. Treating the Psoas Muscle directly is not always recommended as direct work unless the person has been going through a series of treatments already. This is because where the muscle is lying it is a sensitive spot to access and as it holds a lot of tension, can be a bit sensitive to the touch. In need of a massage? Book now your next appointment, at Melbourne Massage and Treatment clinic. To treat the Psoas Muscle the client is lying in a supine position. Firstly we identify the muscle. For doing so after the client did lie in the supine position, the therapist will place her/his hands off the rectus abdominis, on its lat. border, and will create resistance on the client’s tight as it goes for active flexion. With the hand seating next to the rectus abdominal area, the therapist can feel the muscle activating. Once the Psoas has been isolated, the therapist can place both hands or one on the muscle, asking the client to breath-in deeply as is flexing the knee (foot running along the table) and as the client’s breath out (it is important here following the breathing wave) the therapist can apply a force straight down. Furthermore, to ensure that we can release tension from the Psoas Muscle, we have to work on the muscle surrounding it, like the other muscle that holds the same Origin/Insertion patterns, like: Erectus Spinae group, Quadratus Lumborum, Quods Hamstring In fact, the psoas muscle can be involved in presentations such as lower cross syndrome (LCS). Are you struggling with pain and or body ache? Book now your next massage appointment, at Fitzroy North clinic. Often as therapists, we would work on the surrounding muscle before doing direct work on the Psoas. This is because direct work in such a sensitive area can be too intense to start with and could make the client feel vulnerable or uncomfortable. A good exercise to keep the Psoas muscle in shape is a daily walk, even though for a nice and balanced walk we want to make sure to have a correct Extension Leg Firing Pattern.
Aug
Muscle Firing pattern Muscle firing pattern is the sequence in which muscle should get activated to complete an action or movement. Whenever we move a joint, is not just 1 muscle to do that action there are multiple numbers of muscles that allow the action to happen, and other multiple numbers of muscles counterbalance that action. So, the muscles that control the action are called agonist muscles and the antagonist are the muscles that counterbalance that action. The antagonists are usually the muscles that do the opposite action to the one played. Said so we have also to introduce another term, that in the massage industry is known as synergetic muscles. Synergetic muscles work together to make allow a joint to complete an action. But let’s look into an example. Leg extension firing pattern. Leg extension is controlled by the synergetic muscle: gluteus max (GM) hamstring (HM erectors spine (Esp o) (opposite side of the leg) erectors spine (Esp s) (same side of the leg) The antagonist in the leg extensions are the Quadriceps. So, let’s focus on the agonist of this action for now. If the GM is weak or inactive, when we go for leg extension the Hm gets overpowered. As the Hm gets overpowered the ES starts firing too early to stabilize the pelvis abandoned from the weakness of the gluteus. Moving forward with this unbalance, the ES on the same side could end up to start being the first muscle that gets fired for doing the action of leg extension when it should be the last one. And this could happen because the Esp o is holding the body still to get the action done. Lower back pain or hamstring tear can be often a consequence of these unbalances. Lower back pain can happen when the firing pattern is like: 1st Erectos Spine (opposite or same side) 2nd Hamstring 3rd Gluteus Max (because if weak or inactive) Hamstring tear can happen when the firing pattern is like: 1st) Hamstring 2nd) Eroctos Spine (opposite or same side) 3rd) Gluteus Max (because if weak or inactive) But nothing is lost, and the firing pattern can be reorganised. For doing that we have to look into exercises for firing pattern reestablishment. For the leg extension, for example, the exercises would be: Lying in a prone position (face down) Tugged the toes under the feet Squeeze the gluteus one against the other With the gluteus, squeeze and extend the knee Still with the gluteus squeezed to release the knee The final step, release the gluteus. Repeat 30 times for 6 weeks every day. To don’t fall back into an incorrect firing pattern, make sure to strengthen the gluteus. Massage would help to release the trigger point in the GM. Thanks to the release of trigger points the muscle can start to be trained to get stronger. Are you struggling with pain and or body ache? Book now your next massage appointment, at Melbourne Massage and Treatment. Also, massage can help in fastening the process of firing pattern reestablishment, by reducing tension in the hamstring and or reducing pain in the lower back by flashing out the tensions that have been accumulated over time.
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