FAQs About Myotherapy And Remedial Massage
With two types of treatment available to help reduce the nagging pain and impaired mobility of the many who suffer the consequences of muscular or soft tissue dysfunction, a number of questions remain unanswered when it comes to remedial massage therapy and myotherapy. The major ones involve how they differ, and what each can do to help end the pain and restore functionality and mobility.
What is the Difference Between Remedial Massage and Myotherapy?
The answer is that both myotherapists and remedial massage therapists deal with the same problem, and that’s non-specific soft tissue and musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction, and in some cases they will work together on solving it. And sometimes both will treat the existing symptoms together. But remedial massage therapists will usually stop at relieving that pain and restoring function as far as they can using tools limited to the various types of massage available.
Myotherapists, on the other hand, treating the symptoms is not enough, they want to know why the symptoms are there, and will dig as deep as they need to go, using multiple therapy modalities if necessary, in order to find what’s causing the problem and whether the cause is behavioural, structural, postural or a result of muscular imbalance.
How Many Treatments are involved?
As the degree of soft tissue damage to the musculoskeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems can’t be determined immediately in most cases, the necessary number of treatments is based on pre-treatment assessments made by the myotherapist or remedial massage therapist, and the individual treatment programs drawn up as a result of these assessments.
The number of treatments involved may also differ between the two therapies, as myotherapists may find themselves facing the scientific version of “if one door closes, another opens” when another factor arises that could lead them closer to the cause just when they thought they were already there. The treatment period may have to be extended as a result.
What Disorders can Myotherapy and Remedial Massage treat?
Myotherapy aims at treating physical problems such as the constant pain, stiffness, and restricted joint movement caused by dysfunction in the muscles or the soft fibrous tissue that surrounds and separates them. This dysfunction can manifest itself in the form of overuse injuries like tennis elbow and sport injuries, as well as in chronic back pain, joint pain, muscle sprains, and even tension headaches and myotherapists focus is generally on these areas. A wide range of modalities, including remedial massage therapy, are often included in the program.
Remedial Massage therapists also focus on muscle and soft tissue dysfunction, and aim at finding and repairing those that are tense, knotted or non-functional in order to speed up the healing process. But they do so from a different perspective.
This leads to their focus including issues like emotional and physical stress, sleep deprivation and reduced ability to concentrate, poor circulation, immunity, and postural problems, with the aim of removing pain and restoring function. Treatment involved incorporates a variety of massage types, and stretching and mobilizing techniques aimed at reducing body stress brought about by muscle dysfunction.
