Sports massage is a mixed bag of different techniques, such as effleurage, petrissage, and trigger point therapy, that are very similar to the ones found in Swedish massage. Sports massage doesn’t necessarily involve the therapist applying bone-deep pressure to the muscles that make you hiss in pain. Currently, there’s no
Dynamic stretching definition Dynamic stretching is a type of stretching that involves moving your joints through your normal range of motion repeatedly. Do not confuse this with ballistic stretching because dynamic stretching is done in a controlled manner. The ballistic version is done in a fast and uncontrolled way, which includes
Our experience with chronic pain constantly changes throughout our life, even before birth. Oftentimes, it’s a gradual change that we don’t notice until one day, the pain disrupts our daily routine and we take action to alleviate it. While modern pain scientists recognizes that the nervous system plays an important
When massage therapists explain pain to their patients or clients, they tend to tell their narrative based on the musculoskeletal system—and sometimes— the nervous system. While it is obvious that an ankle sprain or a knife wound is from tissue damage, our immune system are on the fringes of our
A 2020 study of non-surgical treatments for the anterior pelvic tilt reported “no evidence supports excessive anterior pelvic tilt as an isolated clinical disorder or pathology.” and having a cutoff point in determining what an excessive pelvic tilt means can be misleading because “sagittal balance can be individually regulated to
Pelvic tilt ‘corrections’ are still a big hype in manual therapy and fitness professions, yet recent research finds a lack of evidence that it needs correcting for back pain. If a physical therapist or personal trainer had told you that have an anterior pelvic tilt and you need treatments to
Research finds no difference in pain outcomes among Kinesio Taping, McConnell taping, and sham taping, but what does this mean for manual therapists and patients with knee pain?
Going beyond muscles, bones, and joints, Dr. Ronald Melzack paved a path to a more complex yet holistic way of understanding pain, leading to a gentler approach to treating patients. Famed psychologist and pain researcher Ronald Melzack died on Sunday, December 22, 2019, in Montréal. His work had revolutionized how
The 2010s saw a gradual shift in interest in massage and physical therapy education in applying research to practice, particularly in the area of pain. Many research during the 2010s challenged traditional ideas on how pain works and what it is. Since most of these research are built upon previous
Some researchers report relative risk (RR) and odds ratio (OR) when comparing two groups’ outcome after they were exposed to a risk factor. While these concepts can help us make better sense of risk assessment, some people can confuse both terms. First, risk is the probability of someone getting sick
Why is there such a difference in massage therapy culture between Canada and the U.S.? (Originally published in Fall 2016 issue of Massage & Fitness Magazine. Content is based on information up to November 1, 2016.) Before the 1990s, most of massage therapy education in Canada was similar to the
Many people find short-term stress and pain relief from back pain by “popping” their back or have a manual therapist, like a chiropractor, do it for them. Common ways to pop your back include sitting on a chair or standing up and turn your torso to your right or left