A growing number of people are making the decision to book a myotherapy appointment in Melbourne to treat various issues caused by post-injury pain and muscle/tissue problems. While myotherapy is not exactly a “new” thing, with development of it as a treatment option going back to 1976, it is new in the minds of many in Australia, who remain unaware of what it is and what its potential benefits are. Here’s a quick guide to myotherapy to help you get you started.
What is Myotherapy?
In simple terms, myotherapy is a special kind of massage that some might simply call a sports massage. It’s based on the idea of trigger point release being used in conjunction with other massage techniques with the goal of relieving myofascial pain. It is purportedly useful for those who get tight muscle fibers in the body as a result of overuse or injury — hence the frequent association with sports.
Believe it or not, it wasn’t common until the 1990s for medical practitioners to believe that pain can originate in muscles, but now it is quite widely held that muscle-originating pain is quite common. Myotherapy is still seen as an “emerging” specialization, so there isn’t a great deal of research behind the work, but it is based on the practices of Dr. Janet Travell, who famously was the personal physician of US President John F. Kennedy. The other major contributor to the ideas behind myotherapy was Dr. Hans Kraus, with modern more formalised forms being developed by Bonnie Prudden in the early- and mid-1970s.
Techniques involved in mytherapy include, but are not limited to:
- Sports or remedial massage
- Hot/cold therapy
- Trigger point therapy or acupressure
- Myofascial dry needling
- Passive stretching
- TENS therapy (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy)
What are the Benefits of Myotherapy?
Practitioners and those who have used myotherapy in the past claim that it has been instrumental in improving their chronic lower back pain. By dealing directly with the trigger points in the muscles that are causing the back pain, myotherapy has been shown to help greatly in this common form of pain, among many others.
Myotherapy can also be beneficial for those who don’t necessarily experience pain, but rather are simply keen sportspeople, as many Australians are. Gym goers, surfers, runners and other enthusiastic amateur athletes benefit hugely from the increased blood flow to their trained muscle groups. Myotherapy can also help to remove some of the lactic acid and toxins that can build up when exercise gets particularly intense.
The practice is also beneficial to those who are recovering from a recent injury, and not only athletes. Anyone who has experienced a fall or slip, or has been in a car accident, for instance, can end up with chronic pain and discomfort caused by the resulting faulty body mechanics that stem from the injury. Myotherapy is all about rehabilitating the body and muscles and restoring a kind of balance.
Besides being helpful in cases of injury rehabilitation, myotherapy can also be incredibly useful and effective in the realm of injury prevention. Since well-placed myotherapy techniques promote better movement in the body, this in turn helps you prevent injury to your muscle and joints when you move them with purpose. Many common injuries are caused not because of any accident but rather because the body is not properly attuned to the level of physical movement that it is currently experiencing.
When Do People Seek Myotherapy?
As the benefits show, myotherapy can be applied very widely. Some of the most common complaints for which people seek the help of a myotherapist include sprains, joint and back pain, and pain resulting from prolonged periods of poor posture. It is also a very common practice used by those recovering from sports injuries.
