Soft Tissue Work
What is Soft Tissue Work?
Soft tissue is used to describe the soft tissue in your body. This includes fascia, muscles, joint capsules, ligaments and tendons. It is used in a broader term to include blood vessels such as your arteries, veins and soft body organs. However, there are other tissues in your body that are soft but not termed as soft tissues. They include hormone-producing cells and nerve tissue.
When do you need Soft Tissue Work?
You mostly need soft tissue work as a treatment for soft tissue injury. These are trauma to any muscle, skin, ligament or tendon in the body. It’s not a fracture, which would make it an injury of the hard bone. Neither is it an injury to an internal organ such as the stomach, brain or intestines. The result of a soft tissue injury could be bruising, pain and swelling.
Types of Soft Tissue Injury Includes
Sprain
This is an acute injury from stretching or tearing a ligament. The movement could be compromised depending on the severity of the sprain. Sprains are common in the knees, wrists and ankles. They are classified as
Grade 1: Some of the ligament fibres are torn but the joint function is unaffected.
Grade 2: Most of the ligament fibres are torn. Swelling and pain are moderate. Joint function is compromised.
Grade 3: Soft tissue is completely torn. Strength and function on the joint are compromised. Surgery is needed to repair the damage.
Sprains
This is an acute traumatic injury to the tendon or muscle. It could happen from a complete tear in the tendon or from stretching of the muscle. Common areas where strains occur include the back of the leg, foot or back.
Contusions
They do not have open wounds. It’s a discolouration of the skin from connective tissue and an underlying muscle fibre being crushed.
Tendonitis
Tendonitis is the inflammation of the tendon. It occurs from overuse of the affected area. Affected parts of the body include the hand, elbow, shoulder, wrist, ankle, hip.
Bursitis
Bursitis is the inflammation of the bursa. It is caused by repetitive motion and direct trauma to the joint. It mostly affects the ankle, elbow, shoulder and foot.
Soft Tissue Work as A Treatment for Soft Tissue Injury
Treatment depends on the severity of your injury. Your physiotherapist is the best expert in the diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injury. They also determine the best soft work technique for your specific injury.
Soft tissue work is used to loosen knots that form and prevent soft tissue from performing efficiently. It also restores blood flow. Your therapist irritates the tissue to stimulate a chemical response. The chemicals begin the healing process. This explains why you might experience pain during soft tissue work.
When done by a professional, soft tissue work improves tissue quality and allows your tissue to lengthen properly.
Types of Soft Tissue Work
Self-Myofascial Release
This is a soft tissue release technique you can perform on your own. It helps to improve mobility, flexibility, function, performance and reduce the occurrence of soft tissue injury. You don’t need expensive gear for SMR. A rolling pin, tennis ball, medicine ball or football should suffice for SMR. The foam roller is the most popular tool for SMR.
Foam rolling
This is a dense, cylindrical object you rest your body on, then set in slight motion. You sit on it, sandwiched between the floor and the affected tissue. You bear your body weight on it and roll slowly in a back and forth motion.
The Stick
This is an SMR tool with a similar technique to foam rolling. You have more control because the stick is in your hands.
Massage Therapies for Soft Tissue Injury
Soft Tissue Mobilisation
This is a form of manual physical therapy performed by a licensed therapist. Your therapist begins with a physical exam to identify problems and determine the range of motion in the affected joints. Therapy is recommended based on the result of the physical exam.
During therapy, your therapist uses a range of techniques to pressure and stretch the affected tissue. They pull, push and knead your muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves to bring you relief and return you to full functionality.
