When your body suffers an injury to soft tissue, the tissue can become inflamed and swollen, creating pressure on the different layers of muscle and other surrounding tissues. This type of injury may cause contact between muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues where there should be none and may cause heat and stress on the tissues. Unfortunately, these conditions can slow the healing process and cause the body to form scar tissue instead of replacing the cells properly. Scar tissue can manifest as adhesions in the muscle layers, which restrict motion and result in pain and stiffness. To counteract this, medical experts may recommend a specific type of physical therapy known as soft-tissue mobilization therapy to help the patient’s tissues recover more easily.
What Soft-Tissue Mobilization Does
Soft-tissue mobilization involves a healthcare provider, usually a physical therapist, manually moving the patient’s muscles by squeezing, flexing, or massaging them in a manner that simulates normal movement and stimulates the regrowth of ordinary muscles and ligaments. Specific pressure may be applied to adhesions to break apart the unwanted connections between layers of muscle and push them back into their proper place. Soft-tissue mobilization therapy moves cramped muscles and tendons back into their normal positions, executing motions that the patient cannot manage themselves. This may help prevent any damage to the muscle from healing in the wrong position.
To make sure that the treatment is properly applied, a series of therapy sessions may be required, as well as a preliminary consultation to determine whether or not the injury or condition in question will be helped by tissue mobilization. Your doctor will likely prescribe this as only one part of a more comprehensive treatment plan.
Kinds of Mobilization
Soft-tissue mobilization therapy is a relatively new practice, and there is currently little research into the field. Although there have been some promising studies into the practice, it has not yet been documented well enough to make it the only form of treatment for soft-tissue injuries. One should take care to ascertain that their chosen physical therapist is properly trained in this type of therapy and is not simply giving a massage–though massage therapy may help this type of injury, soft-tissue mobilization therapy is an entirely different type of therapy.
There are several different exercises you might experience in soft-tissue mobilization therapy:
- Direct pressure mobilization will push on the site of the tension itself to force the adhered tissues apart.
- Friction massage pushes across the grain of muscles and tendons to stretch the entire muscle group evenly.
- Spiral treatments combine the two above treatments by using clockwise and counterclockwise rotary motions over the affected tissue.
- Strumming is used across the grain of stiff tendons to stretch them out evenly between two anchor points on the bone.
Self Care
In between soft-tissue mobilization therapy appointments, or before you have even been recommended for one, you can try to minimize damage to soft tissues with warmth, elevation, an elastic wrap or compression dressing that will keep pressure on the area, and some mild-strength, over-the-counter painkillers to help you continue an ordinary routine until you can see a doctor for a more thorough examination and treatment plan.
Conclusion
Soft-tissue mobilization therapy may help keep your tissues from healing stiffly or in an unnatural position. The therapy is still being studied, but it shows promise as a helpful part of treating soft-tissue injuries.
Written by Shlomo Witty