Sports massage and myofascial release for cluster headaches
Our word of mouth referrals are quite high, especial for problems where the pain is bad and traditional medication or treatment struggle to resolve the pain. After watching Doctor in the House on the BBC a few years back, where a woman suffering from cluster headaches, brought on by a whiplash injury, was helped by some manual hands on therapy, I started looking into this area as I see good results using myofascial release for headaches. I'm not sure if it's weather related, but the colder weather brings in more sufferers with neck and shoulder pain, among these headache sufferers we saw 3 clients with cluster headaches. I've heard the quickest way to resolve a cluster headache is to bang your head against a wall to divert the attention away from the cluster headache.
Applying some general sports massage techniques to ease up surface level tension followed by a more targeted and deeper myofascial treatment into the neck fascia, saw all 3 clients report a reduction in headache intensity after the initial session and a complete resolution to the cluster headaches with further treatment. To treat these types of headaches takes a skilled hand and good understanding of dysfunctional fascia and where to treat, this can be the difference when seeing a therapist with 2 years experience as opposed to one with 15 years experience. Myofascial therapy is becoming a buzz work and however it takes years and years of training and experience to gain a detailed understanding of problems in the fascia, which techniques work best and for the therapist to identify where the dysfunction lies. There is a caveat here, if the headaches are caused by the fascia and the adverse loads it places on the neck area, then it is something we can treat, but headaches can have many causes and in cases of sever pain, it's always best to seek medical help first. If you suffer problems that linger or return, or worse that manual therapies are struggling to resolve, please get in touch with Peta, with over 15 years experience and a good structural understanding of the fascial system and it's dysfunctional issue, she will work to get you back to good working order.
Sports massage for lower back pain
Moving home and autumn gardening brought in a few clients with lower back pain, the others came from doing weight training in the gym. Most of these back issues are from doing too much at once, causing the back to seize up. One of the problems in the City is the extended periods of time people sit and when they go to the gym they miss out on fundamental core work and stretching and reach for the heavy weights, trying to lift as much as possible. I'm a stickler for technique, so part of my treatment strategy is to look at were improvements can be made, giving advice on small changes that prevent back problems coming back. One of the most common comments I get is "no one has ever worked that area" - this comes down to a knowledge in the structure side of the body, how it works and what causes the dysfunction leading to pain. This knowledge is not taught in standard sports massage courses, it requires further training and thinking a little like Sherlock Holmes.
Myofascial release or fascial therapy for double mastectomy
Again, through word of mouth, I've seen an increase in people coming to see me for scar treatment and lymphatic drainage for mastectomies. I first heard of the improvements in lymphatic drainage for cancer patients after treating a client with melanoma who had the lymph nodes removed from his neck. At the time I was treating him for fascial pain caused by muscles switched off by nerves being severed during his surgery and fascia around the face and neck being very tight and dysfunctional. At the time he was receiving lymphatic drainage treatment on the NHS. The nurse treating him noted how the fascial work I did cleared the lymph in the neck area, it was not what I was treating, but it shows how retiring the fascia back to a more normal state can have a positive effect on other areas. This is also a problem with a mastectomy, the lymph nodes are removed in the area causing a build up of fluid in the area or down the arm. Scar tissue is part of the fascial system, it's a large part of the work I do, looking at how I can get areas working better so movement is not hindered. Treating mastectomy scar tissue and lymph build up can be very sensitive, not just in the fascia where scar tissue doesn't tolerate much pressure, but also the physiological impact of this surgery. Part of the work I do includes teaching my clients how to work the scar tissue themselves and I'll only work on the areas my clients are comfortable to share. If you don't want to reveal anything, I'd be more than happy to teach you some simple self-treatments you can apply yourself, I'd be getting you to do this as part of my treatment strategy anyway, so I am happy to work on other areas and help you get started with your own self-treatment. The physio post-surgery will get you started on basic work and I can help you to work a little more detailed and more targeted.
If you are a therapist reading this to try and learn from my posts - I will be starting a training clinic - you can register here to be kept up-to-date.
If you have undergone surgery of any kind and would like to get the scar working better, please get in touch. You can start treating a scar quiet soon after surgery and again it's something I can teach you. If you suffer from cluster headaches please get in touch to book in - I’d be delighted to help you.
On top of our usual back and shoulder pain, we welcomed back some of our summertime athletes started to do core and remedial muscle training in the off season to build core and strength for when the milage ramps us. This month our sports massage clinic saw clients from Bank, Moorgate, Spitalfields, Barbican, Old Street, Bank, London Bridge, Maine Vale, Highgate and Waltamstow.
