Connective Tissue Therapy
A slow and deep massage technique that opens the tissue that glues muscle fibers together, allowing muscles that are tight to release into length. More…
Based on the work of Ida Rolf, connective tissue therapy is in the same family as Rolfing, Structural Integration, and Myofascial Release. Each of these styles works on the underlying principle that every muscle fiber that you have in your body is glued together with connective tissue, or fascia. Fascia is a gel, and gets softer or harder depending on the temperature and pressure applied to it.
When you contract a muscle through exercise or repetitive motion, the connective tissue heats and melts. After you finish working, the connective tissue cools into a more contracted shape. This is why you feel tight after a workout. An overuse shoulder injury can be caused by something as simple as using a computer mouse daily. The injury starts as pain in the shoulder, neck, upper or lower back, and forces other muscles to tighten to keep you stable. Over the long term, pain can travel to the hips, knees, ankles, and/or feet. Or it can travel out the arm towards the elbow, wrist, and/or fingers.
Connective tissue therapy takes advantage of the fact that fascia melts with slow sustained pressure, allowing the therapist to lengthen and reshape a muscle. Clients generally report feeling some intensity of sensation with the work, but also an immediate sense of relief and ease in the area after a stroke is completed. When a therapist is good at reading the body for imbalances, the work can be focused exactly where it is needed.
