What is soft tissue therapy?
Soft tissue therapy is a modern discipline combining traditional massage with other soft tissue techniques to offer better and more tailored treatments. It uses a set of advanced soft tissue techniques originally developed by osteopaths that are now commonly used by soft tissue therapists as integral part of their treatments. These techniques are applied on specific muscles or muscle areas to help release tension in the deepest layers where traditional massage alone would not be very efficient.
Soft tissue therapy is a combination of direct and indirect techniques (muscle energy technique, soft tissue release, positional release, myofascial techniques, friction, etc.) which a therapist selects and applies individually to meet the needs of each particular person. This can depend on age, health condition, pain tolerance, type of injury or the person's specific needs.
While general massage has a rather whole body approach, soft tissue therapy focuses on specific areas, so it can provide more efficient treatments. It's ideal for treatment of chronic injuries caused by poor posture, stress and repetitive movements, overuse injuries or injuries during sport. It speeds up the healing process and recovery after injuries and operations, helps with rehabilitation and offers sports and lifestyle advices.
What is the difference between soft tissue and deep tissue?
Even though it might seem like soft tissue is the opposite of deep tissue, it is not the case. Soft tissue therapy means therapy of the body's "soft tissues", i.e. muscles, ligaments and tendons, used to facilitate body movements, as opposed to "hard tissues" which are bones. While deep tissue treatments are specific treatments of the deepest layers of muscles, soft tissue therapy is more general term, and is used to treat soft tissues anywhere on the body, including deep tissue.
What are the benefits of soft tissue therapy?
Soft tissue therapy is a versatile discipline that can be applied to anyone, regardless of age or physical condition. It combines various techniques that the therapist chooses and applies depending on the person's condition and needs. Some of them are more painful than others, some are less painful, some of them are more suitable for older or frail people, others are better for younger people or sportsmen. It's all very individual and depends on the person's mobility, pain tolerance, age or their specific health condition.
It's especially efficient to treat long-term (chronic) injuries that develop over time through build-up of tension. This is usually due to poor posture, incorrect sports technique, repetitive movements, lack of exercise and weak postural muscles. Through its indirect techniques it can release tension in the deepest layers of muscles where application of traditional massage techniques alone would not be very effective.
Soft tissue therapy works with specific muscles or muscle areas and, especially in combination with general massage, can provide more efficient treatment of the most common minor musculoskeletal problems.
What is the difference between massage and soft tissue therapy?
In short, soft tissue therapy is more complex. It's the most advance form of massage on the market. Both massage and soft tissue therapy are manual therapies used to release tension in muscles and other soft tissues of the body. While traditional massage usually includes only application of direct techniques, such as effleurage (= longitudinal slow strokes), petrissage (= grabbing and lifting of the tissue, a.k.a. "kneading"), tapotement (= quick, energetic but shallow slapping strokes) and friction (= intense and focused pressure), soft tissue therapy is a complex system that uses both traditional direct techniques (= massage) and also advanced indirect soft tissue techniques developed by osteopaths. Soft tissue therapy can be applied either alone or in combination with massage.
Why do you need to know my address, GP and other personal information in the consultation form?
Full name, address and contact details are essential part of any health-related consultation form, so the information can be matched with a specific person. The information provided is only used as reference for the purposes of treatment, and is not shared with anyone without the patient's written consent. Information about the patient's GP practise is needed in case of a referral.
How often should I have a massage?
It's very individual and depends on what you need from the treatments. Active people will probably need a massage more often than others, people working in the office will have different needs than construction workers, older people will probably need more therapeutic treatments, etc. For general maintenance and injury prevention a massage every 2 or 3 weeks should be sufficient. For rehabilitation purposes probably once or twice a week.
Do you massage both men and women of any age?
Yes, I treat both men and women but not of any age. I mainly work with adults, and possibly also teenagers but not younger than 16 years of age. I don't really have an upper age limit, as long as the person's GP has confirmed it's safe for them to have a massage.
Do I have to remove all clothing for the treatment?
Depends what kind of treatment you are having. It's more practical if you keep your clothes on for most of the indirect/advanced techniques I use, as these involve moving arms and legs, twisting, bending, sitting up, etc. For massage I use oils & lotions, so the clothes should be removed from the areas I will work on. If you want me to work in the glute area, it's easier if you remove your underwear as well, but not a problem if you prefer keeping it on as I can work through clothes as well. In most of my treatments I combine direct and indirect techniques, so it's best keep your clothes on for the indirect technique, and remove them for the massage part.
How can I pay?
You can pay either online or in person using your card, via bank transfer, with cash or by PayPal - whatever is easier. I prefer bank transfer but it's up to you. I now have a physical card reader at home, so feel free to pay with your card or smart phone after the session.