Kinesio Taping is a rehabilitative taping technique that is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process, providing long term support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s natural range of movement, prolonging the benefits of manual therapy treatments. Kinesio Tape has been proven to have positive physiological effects on the skin, lymphatic and circulatory system, fascia, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints.

Kinesio Taping has been shown to increase the strength and improve the timing of under active muscles, reduce the tension of over active muscles, and take the stress off over loaded muscles. It can be used in conjunction with a multitude of other treatments and modalities and is effective during the rehabilitative and chronic phases of an injury as well as being used as a preventative measure. Latex-free and wearable for days at a time, Kinesio® Tex Tape is safe & effective for everybody and can contribute to the successful treatment of a variety of conditions including sports injuries and pain from occupational & postural problems.

Active Soft Tissue Release (ASTR) is a soft tissue therapy technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves, by combining precisely directed pressure & tension with very specific patient movements. This combination applies a very strong and localised stretch to the affected area, reducing the excessive muscular tension and freeing up any scar tissue. Headaches, back pain, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ASTR. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.

Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:

• acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc)
• accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
• not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia).

Each of these factors can cause the muscles to be in a state of constant contraction, which creates tension on adjacent pain-sensitive structures further from the affected area resulting in restricted movement or pain, other structures such as bones & joints become pulled out of alignment, and abnormal pressure is exerted on nerves, blood and lymphatic vessels. Eventually your body will produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This excessive tension & scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendinopathy (tendonitis), and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.

Every ASTR session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ASTR therapist uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by the therapist with the application of precisely directed pressure and tension in the affected area, while the patient is directed to perform an equally precise movement. This combination applies a very strong and localised stretch to the affected area, reducing the excessive muscular tension and freeing up the scar tissue. The end result is restored and unlimited movement and a reduction of the pain.

Fascial Manipulation is a manual therapy method that has been developed over the last 40 years in collaboration with the Anatomy Faculties of the René Descartes University, Paris, France and the University of Padova in Italy.

This manual therapy technique identifies a limited or painful movement with a specific localised area of the fascia. Once a limited or painful movement is identified, then a specific point on the fascia is implicated and, through the appropriate manipulation of this precise part of the fascia, pain can be reduced and movement can be restored.

Fascia is richly innervated by nerve endings and is maintained in an optimum resting state of tension. Due to this optimal resting state, the free nerve endings and receptors within the fascial tissue are primed to perceive any variation in tension and, therefore, any movement of the body. Any change in the tension or the gliding of the fascia creates tension on adjacent pain-sensitive structures further along the fascial line resulting in restricted movement or pain, other structures such as bones & joints become pulled out of alignment, and abnormal pressure is exerted on nerves, blood and lymphatic vessels.

The fascia is very extensive and so it would be difficult and time consuming to work over the entire area, and it is important to focus our attention on the cause of pain, tracing back to the origin of the changes in tension. The localisation of precise points or key areas can make treatment much more effective, and this method allows therapists to work at a distance from the actual site of pain, which is often inflamed and painful.

Myofascial Release is a specialised physical and manual therapy used for the effective treatment and rehabilitation of soft tissue and fascial tension and restrictions. Fascia surrounds, infuses and protects every other tissue, tendon, muscle, bone, ligament and organ of the body. In healthy conditions the fascial system is relaxed and wavy in configuration. This provides a cushioning and supportive mechanism allowing us to move safely without restriction or pain. Following all physical and emotional trauma and through poor posture & repetitive movements, fascia scars and hardens at the affected site and along multiple lines of tension away from the affected site. This creates tension on adjacent pain-sensitive structures further along the fascial line, other structures such as bones & joints become pulled out of alignment, and abnormal pressure is exerted on nerves, blood and lymphatic vessels.

Fascial restrictions do not show up on CAT scans, MRI’s or X Rays therefore many patients are suffering from unresolved physical and emotional pain due to undiagnosed fascial trauma. Traditional healthcare treats the symptom, MFR with its whole body approach treats the cause at the deepest level.

The MFR technique is very different to that of massaging muscles, tendons and the ligaments of the body. The MFR therapist not only takes in to consideration what they see in the assessment but works directly with what they feel and sense from palpating and treating the body. Therapists are taught to feel and stretch slowly into the fascial network. The fascia cannot be forced as it will naturally resist that force in return. Therefore the MFR therapist provides a sustained, gentle, pressure for several minutes allowing the fascia to elongate naturally and return to its normal resting length, restoring health and providing results that are functional and long lasting. Even though the patient may not feel much happening the experienced therapist can actually feel the fascial restrictions, where they go to and subsequently feels the release of those restrictions during the session.