DEEP & SUPERFICIAL TISSUE MASSAGE

In order to ensure a “clean” adjustment, your muscles need to back off! If the muscles around your spine are tight, they tend to “hang on” to the bones. When this occurs, the Chiropractic adjustments that we perform may not be as successful as they could be. Because of this, Dr. Bigenho will usually perform some deep/superficial tissue massage work prior to adjusting to help get the muscles/fascia to back off. Below, you can read about the different massage techniques he performs.

Trigger Point Therapy

Trigger points are little balls inside your muscles that essentially won’t “turn off”. They cause a lot of issues, including referred pain, muscle spasms, local sharp pain, among others. The only way to get rid of them is to block their blood supply and break them. This is done by applying hard pressure right on the belly of the Trigger Point, and not releasing the pressure until it vanishes. Basically, we push on it really hard until it melts.

Myofascial Release

This is a technique which consists of elongating (stretching) the muscle while simultaneously putting pressure on certain “tight” areas of the muscle. It works very well for general stiffness, tightness, less range of motion, and adhesions. We basically feel for the tight area of the muscle, pin it down, and stretch the muscle to clear up all the junk that has been built up.

Fascial Manipulation

Fascia is basically a sheet of tissue that lies under the skin and above your muscles. It can harden/stiffen based on factors like stress, injury, diet, water intake, and others. Since fascia is connected, if one area hardens, it can cause multiple areas of fascia in your body to do the same. Dr. Bigenho is trained in understanding different “fascial points” which need to be released in order to loosen up your body. He will use his knuckles to apply pressure along with quick, circular movements to loosen up the fascia. This part doesn’t feel good!

Transverse Cross Friction

This is a technique used primarily for scar tissue, chronic tendon issues, and adhesions. It consists of applying pressure to the area of concern, and rubbing it perpendicular to the fibers until the patient feels a “numbing” effect. This helps bring new blood into the area as well as align any tissue that has been twisted or torn.

Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Therapy

Also known as “Graston”, this technique uses stainless steel tools to break up scar tissue, adhesions, and chronic inflammation. The stainless steel allows deeper penetration without needing to apply similar pressure. The goal of this therapy is to promote healing by instigating the “Inflammatory Process”

All of these therapies are designed to loosen up tight areas before our adjustments to ensure maximum effectiveness.