Melody Pitman CLMT, CNMT, CIMT
Neuromuscular Bodywork &  Therapeutic Massage

Lifestyle!    Does yours take it out of you?
Define & Enhance!      OR     Unwind & Relax!

 
Why Soft Tissue Therapy



Soreness?
Tenderness?
Body fatigue easily?
Athletic pain issues?

How we use our bodies has a direct impact on our posture, nervous, circulatory, digestive, muscular and lymphatic systems; affecting mood, sleep, and how we enjoy everyday life.  Unfortunately it's our muscles and joints that end up complaining, leaving us feeling achy, sore and overwhelmed with fatigue.

Muscles are fed oxygen and nutrient rich blood to work correctly.   Closely packed through-out the body,  they are individually covered in fascia that holds them in place like support hose.  Powered by the command of the nervous system to contract and relax; dysfunction or injury interrupts that conversation sending out faster signals causing chronic pain.  Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years and usually don't respond to the medial model or care.

Chronic pain is any pain that persists longer than the reasonable expected healing time (3-6 months) for the involved tissue.  People may be unable to work or sleep, loose their appetite, physical activity of any kind can be exhausting and may aggravate the pain.  Major effects of chronic pain are: irritability, depressed mood, fatigue, lack of Range of Motion (ROM) as in lifting their arm above their head.

Fascia assists muscle by moving them and helping them slide over one another as well as neighboring  structures smoothly.  Chronic tension, scar tissue or adhesion's within the fascia causes restrictions and dysfunction which causes friction between muscles, leading to inflammation causing more adhesion's with a lack of ROM which in turn causes more pain (pain cycle).  Muscles need unrestricted fascia to glide smoothly over one another.  By individualizing the muscles and working out fascial restriction's (like separating the skin from a chicken) movement is enhanced.  Runners benefit from this work greatly, at times enhancing their performance and beating their running time.

There is a constant neurochemical conversation between the nerves and the muscles.  If they are asked to contract too hard or for too long, they simply tighten up and shut down in self defense causing pain.  over-contracted muscles pull on tendon ends causing more pain.  Joints guard so as to not cause further injury as we humans override and push ourselves further, eventually causing even more pain.  Working out adhesion's with neuromuscular bodywork, stimulates the circulatory system, deactivates trigger points within a taut band of muscle, interrupting those pain signals and releasing the muscle bringing fresh oxygenated blood flow back to the area and allows the lymph system to flush out toxic waste product built up into the muscles by the adhesion's.

The Goal:
To have healthy muscles that support healthy joints by maintaining normal function and overall health (helping the central nervous system maintain homeostatic health).