Interdisciplinary treatment options

• Most factors that cause pain and dysfunction can be easily grouped under three general headings of biomechanical, biochemical, and psychosocial factors.

• Ischemia (tight tissue with reduced blood flow)

• Myofascial trigger points (hypersensitive points within muscles that give rise to referred phenomena, including pain)

• Neural entrapment  (pressure on nerves by muscles and other soft tissues), and nerve compression (pressure on nerves by osseous and other bonelike tissues, such as cartilage or  discs).

• Postural assessment  (assessment of the position of the body as a whole)

• Dysfunctional gait patterns (manner of movement when walking) with constant consideration for many other perpetuating factors, such as hydration, nutrition, breathing patterns, and psychological stress.

Muscular trigger points are an extremely common cause of pain. Trigger points are painful when pressed on, cause a shortening of the muscle fibers, and have a special property called referred pain. Referred pain means that a trigger point in one muscle can create pain in another area. 
For instance, when the muscle at the top of your shoulder (trapezius) has a trigger point it will refer pain up the side of your neck and head causing a headache. Active trigger points in the muscles of the shoulder neck and face are a common source of headaches.  In many instances the headache has the features of so-called tension headache, but there is increasing acceptance that  trigger points may initiate classical migraine headaches or be part of a mixed tension/migraine headache complex.  My trigger point sessions and massage I rarely use my elbows and never use tools, I use my hands and fingers, giving the most precise treatment possible. 

Myo-Fascial Release and Massage Cupping

Myofascial Release is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. Trauma, inflammatory responses, and/or surgical procedures create Myofascial restrictions that can produce tensile pressures of approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures that do not show up in many of the standard tests (x-rays, myelograms, CAT scans, electromyography, etc.)

Massage cupping is another way to access the fascial system. I use a cupping machine as well as hand held cups, or manual cups. 

Deep tissue massage uses firm pressure and slow strokes to reach deeper layers of muscle and fascia (the connective tissue surrounding muscles). It's used for chronic aches and pain and contracted areas such as a stiff neck and upper back, low back pain, leg muscle tightness, and sore shoulders.