A “crick in the neck” is a common complaint among clients seeking manual therapy. This informal umbrella term can refer to symptoms that range from general cervical stiffness to complete immobility and unrelenting pain. When assessing cricks…
Pelvic floor muscles such as levator ani, coccygeus and obturator internus attach to the front, back and sides of the pelvis and sacrum and form the bottom of the core. These muscles must be able to contract to maintain continence, and to relax allowing for urination and bowel movements, and in women, sexual intercourse.
Manual therapists routinely use bones as levers to reduce tension and protective spasm in hypertonic muscles. For example, the femur and humerus are excellent tools for stretching tight hip and shoulder girdle muscles, and we commonly rotate and sidebend a client’s head to relieve neck tension.
Clients with nonspecific low back pain may be experiencing mechanical wear and tear of the zygapophyseal joints, located in the posterior…
The miracle of motherhood is eloquently expressed when observing how perfectly the female body is designed to conceive, birth, and nurture a child. Following conception, a woman and her unborn baby unite in an oceanic blend of energy and identity. Where one ends and the other begins no one knows.
The plantar fascia is more than just a passive band of connective tissue originating at the calcaneal lip and attaching distally to the toes…
Any time an internal body part pushes into an area where it doesn’t belong, it’s called a hernia. When we eat, food travels down the…
The term frozen shoulder has been around since the early 1930s, but research by Drs. Andrew and Robert Neviaser found that a stiff, painful glenohumeral joint doesn’t necessarily mean the shoulder is “frozen.”1 According to these authors, frozen shoulder and adhesive capsulitis are
Coccyx pain was first documented in 1588, and Simpson coined the term coccydynia in 1859. The word coccyx comes from the Greek word for “cuckoo” due to its resemblance of a cuckoo bird’s beak…
Femoral nerve entrapment can trigger thigh pain, tingling, and even knee buckling. Learn how this condition develops and how massage therapy techniques like soft-tissue release and neural glides can relieve pain and restore function.
Free subscription to the Technique Tuesday newsletter. Sign up to receive an in-depth article and technique video in your inbox every Tuesday.
