Neuromuscular Therapy
Bodymedics is leading the field in soft tissue therapy.
Musculoskeletal soft tissue disorders are one of the most common reasons for people to seek medical care. Problems in the soft tissues, including the muscle, tendon, ligament, or fascia, lie at the root of many of these disorders. An approach focusing on soft tissue rehabilitation provides an excellent opportunity as a healthcare intervention.
Treat Chronic Pain • Muscular Trauma • Sports Injury
Why Choose Neuromuscular Therapy?
The primary use of Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) applies to the treatment of chronic pain or a recent (but not acute) trauma; however, it may also enhance sport performance and help to prevent injury.
Although NMT addresses the deeper tissues of the body, the usage of the term ‘deep tissue massage’ would be inappropriate as both the superficial and intermediate muscular layers must also be assessed in order to determine the precise location of pain. Sufficient preparatory work should be undertaken before deeper layers of muscle are treated. NMT has diverse practice settings, while the main focus lies in the medically orientated spectrum of massage techniques.
A distinct focus of NMT is the identification and treatment of trigger points, a skill that manual practitioners with comprehensive anatomy knowledge and palpation skills can easily master (for more information, see ‘Trigger Point Release’).
The primary goal in neuromuscular therapy (NMT) is to uncover the root cause of myofascial pain. This requires a thorough and precise examination of each muscle involved in the patient’s presenting complaint.
A variety of myofascial conditions may be uncovered, such as ischemia, adhesions, neural entrapment or compression, or repetitive positioning that results in soft tissue dysfunction.
Importantly, there may be a number of these conditions within a specific region, for instance, radial nerve entrapment can occur at the cervical region, within the triceps (e.g., from ischemia or scar tissue), or within the supinator, or even at both of these locations. It can be a result of neurofascial interface, postural implications, or ultimately, it may stem from habits of use.
NMT protocols would assess all of these possibilities, from the spinal region to the hand, and would also consider trigger points that may create the same symptom profile as true neural entrapment.
NMT aims to eliminate the source of dysfunction, increase fluid exchange (blood and lymph flow) in the muscle tissues, restore muscles to normal resting length, deactivate trigger points, and heighten awareness of posture, habits of use, nutrition, and other perpetuating factors.
