Neuromuscular Therapy

This technique is a hands-on manual therapy that is used for soft tissue injuries and nerve impingements.  By releasing the spasm in the muscle, pain is reduced and movement is increased.

When a muscle is in spasm, it thickens in the space that it occupies.  There is not any extra space in the body waiting by in case it is needed.  Two things cannot occupy the same space so there is now compression, typically by the muscle on the nerve. It can also push the nerve against a bone causing another type of impingement. This can cause a severe and unrelenting pain.

An example of this type of muscle-nerve-bone combination is thoracic outlet syndrome.  When the scalene muscles in the neck spasm they can impinge the nerves going to the arm.  Directly under the clavicle is the first rib.  One of the scalene muscles attaches to the first rib.  When it stays in a contracted state it pulls the attachment up and forward, reducing the space between the rib and clavicle which the nerves pass through.  There are of course other causes for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, but many times neuromuscular release of the scalene muscles will resolve the problem.

Another type of muscle-nerve problem can occur when the piriformis muscle (a deep lateral hip rotator) spasms and compresses the sciatic nerve.  Release of this spasm will relieve the sciatic nerve pain.  This can be an unrelenting pain and one that we easily resolve.  Also, when this is causing nerve root compression in the spine, the problem can still be resolved by lumbar decompression through soft tissue release. See piriformis syndrome / sciatica.