Neuromuscular Therapy - What Is It And What Does It Do

Massage therapy has been used for thousands of years to help relax and calm people as well as offer physical healing. Neuromuscular therapy is used to relieve pain and specific problems a patient is experiencing. It is used to focus pressure on certain areas of skeletal muscle and can reduce pain and tension, but also help balance your posture and lengthen as well as strengthen tissues. These areas are often myofacial trigger points.

Myofacial trigger points are hyper irritable spots located within skeletal muscle. These spots are associated with nodules of bands of muscle fibers. These nodules become small contractual knots and therefore cause pain to the patient. By focusing on these points with neuromuscular therapy, a massage therapist with the right training can help decrease the contractions and this help relieve the pain. It is a great therapy to assess, treat, and help prevent soft tissue injuries and thus relieve chronic pain. Neuromuscular therapy is often used by occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, chiropractors, and those that practice osteopathic and physical medicine.

The technique of neuromuscular therapy (sometimes referred to as NMT) was developed by Dr. Stanley Leif and Boris Chaitow. Both were trained in chiropractics and naturopathy, which is a philosophy that seeks to improve health by focusing on the body’s innate ability to recover. They worked with Dewanchand Varma and Bernard MacFadden to help develop neuromuscular therapy in order to help patients suffering from soft tissue dysfunction. One part of neuromuscular therapy focuses on the fact that the body can heal itself. Stimulation from neuromuscular therapy can help hasten the natural healing process.

A neuromuscular therapist takes into account many aspects of the patient before beginning therapy. Things like age, stress, prior therapy, family history, diet, and nutrition will be looked at. By looking at the patient’s history and health, they can ascertain what type or how much therapy is needed. They may work with the patient’s primary physician if certain conditions exist. For example, if an elderly woman with a calcium deficient diet had hip or lower back pain; the therapist will need to watch for possible osteoporosis or hip fractures. They may need to alter their procedures to accommodate such patients. They will also look at posture distortion to see what other pains that can be causing.

The therapist will use their thumbs, fingers, and elbows as well as pressure bars during the massage. The pressure bars help release the muscular contractions. One good thing about neuromuscular therapy is it concentrates on placement much more than degree of pressure, so a good deal of pressure is not normally necessary.

Who can be helped by neuromuscular therapy? Anyone that suffers from chronic pain can be helped by neuromuscular massage. Whether you have chronic pain due to an occupational injury, a sports injury, or an automobile injury, if you suffer from chronic pain, you may want to give neuromuscular therapy a try. Others that respond well to neuromuscular therapy are those that suffer from sciatica, rotator cuff dysfunction, carpal tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and even migraine headaches.

Annalisa Zisman, a proficient author and tutor, she is a leading practitioner for many massage courses


Annalisa specializes in Indian Head Massage


Thai Foot and Thai Herbal Compress Massage techniques.

The Truth about Over the Counter Medicines for Headaches

Almost everyone has used over the counter medications at one time or another in their lives to treat headaches. Lets face it, when your head starts throbbing, the fasting thing you can to alleviate the pain is grab some over the counter ibuprofen, aspirin or acetaminophen. These types of medications have become a way of life for many people.

Over the counter pain relievers such as these are made to obstruct the production of prostaglandins in your body. Prostaglandins are the source of pain in the body. They are a made up of a substance much like hormones. Prostaglandins play very important roles in the body and most people are not aware of exactly what those roles are. By blocking the production of prostaglandins, you can effect other parts of your body’s regular functions.

Prostaglandins help to keep your blood pressure regulated as well as helping your kidneys functions properly and the also with the gastric acid secretions. By using over the counter medications to treat your headaches, you are really in a no win situation. On one hand your headache is gone but on the other hand you can be risking complications with your blood pressure as well as your kidneys or possibly even your liver.

With repeated use of such over the counter medications you can run the risk of even greater problems including such side effects as: nervous behavior, breathing problems, high blood pressure, cramping, nausea, diarrhea and indigestion, tension, constipation and even more headaches. Many people overlook such side effects as they are only focused on getting rid of the pain.

Before choosing an over the counter pain management for your headache, be sure you know the side effects of the medications. You want to make an educated choice and weigh your options carefully. If you are looking for short term relief, such medications as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen can be a good choice. If you suffer with headaches on a regular basis then you will want to talk with your doctor to find a better pain management plan.

It is better to find the cause of the headache and treat it rather then to just treat the headache symptoms. Once you and your doctor know why you are getting the headaches, you can begin to fix the real problem not just the symptoms. Perhaps it is stress that is causing the headaches, therefore if you help to alleviate the stress the headaches won’t be a problem. Some people can even suffer headaches from certain foods, so avoidance of those foods that trigger the headaches will keep the pains at bay.

Don’t live with frequent headaches any longer! Learn about more treatment options for curing frequent headaches at http://www.frequent-headaches.com .