New Treatment for Muscle Pain

Olympian Jeff Pain swears by active release therapy to get sore or injured muscles moving again, and to generally improve his athletic performance.

“There’s no better therapy out there,” says Pain, as chiropractor Conrad Tang uses his thumbs to work the quadriceps muscle of the 2006 silver medallist in skeleton.

So-called “manual release therapies” such as active release therapy, Graston technique and Kinesio Taping are all the rage -Jon Montgomery reportedly used active release therapy prior to his gold-medal win at the 2010 Olympics.

But there’s little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of the therapies, says Tang, also a kinesiology researcher with the University of Calgary who is embarking on a study to determine if manual release therapies, at the cutting edge of injury treatment and performance enhancement for elite athletes, can help regular folks with kneecap pain.

He’s looking for 20 active people between the ages of 18 and 45 with patella pain femoral syndrome, a common problem that affects about 30 per cent of the population, to participate in a free, eight-week treatment program.

Pain and injuries often lead to muscles that shut down and become dormant, explains Tang. Weakness and pain further hampers a person’s ability to move. By manipulating and applying pressure, manual therapy techniques are said to “wake up” these muscles and improve mobility and range of motion.

“When a muscle is damaged, scar tissue forms and groups of muscles get stuck together. They’re supposed to freely move against one another. But when they get stuck, the muscles shorten and get stiff. This can produce weakness in and shrinking of the muscle,” he says of the downward spiral of injury.

“Patented techniques like Graston and active release are supposed to release the stickiness so that you have more movement and less stiffness and pain.”

Study participants will be treated with one of three therapies.

Graston is a technique where the therapist rubs a spoon-like stainless steel instrument over a patient’s muscles. With ART, the therapist uses his thumbs to stretch and apply pressure to muscles, tendons and ligaments while the patient moves the area being treated. Kinesio Taping involves using a new, flexible kind of therapeutic tape that can be worn for up to four days. It’s thought to work by lifting the skin and activating the muscles beneath.

As an athlete, Pain is curious about the study outcome. Because elite athletes train constantly at intense levels, they’re more prone to repetitive injuries, he says. He currently sees a therapist who uses all three techniques. “It keeps me pain-free, limber and performing well.”

Source: Calgary Herald

What is Active Release Techniques (ART)?  Watch Dr. Micheal Leahy explaining what ART is and what condition respond to this treatment.

Cold Laser Therapy for arthritis Pain

We have been using cold laser therapy at our clinic for several years now with great success…especially with arthritis patients. 

The cold laser therapy is a fantastic tool for not only arthritis, but other musculoskeletal conditions such as sports injuries, back and neck pain, Tennis elbow, plantar fascitis, and TMJ. Laser therapy is a great adjunct to chiropractic care and non-surgical spinal decompression therapy. In fact…we include cold laser therapy for patients with herniated discs.

I came across an excellent article entitled How does cold laser work for arthritis? that does a great job of explaining how and why cold laser works. Here is an excerpt:

Arthritis affects almost 70 million Americans. The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease in which the cartilage wears away, and rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune inflammatory condition. Also, there are other conditions that fall under the “umbrella” of arthritis including bursitis, tendonitis, low back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and so on.

The common symptom of most forms of arthritis is pain. Pain develops as a result of multiple factors including inflammation with stimulation of neural peripheral pain sensors due to either biochemical factors such as cytokines or to mechanical factors- joint deformity. Arthritis pain may be accompanied by other problems including loss of range of motion and disability.

While medicines, injections, and surgery all have their place and are valuable, there is still a need for potentially useful adjunctive modalities that might speed up recovery and reduce pain faster.

Low level therapeutic laser, better known as phototherapy, is a relatively new form of treatment. Its premise is that certain wavelengths of light have effects on living tissue. This effect is termed “photobiomodulation.”

My Take: Cold laser therapy is a must have for any chiropractor, physical therapist, or sports medicine doctor that wants to offer the most advanced forms of treatment to their patients. Most professional sports teams use Cold laser therapy to speed up the healing process for musculoskeletal injuries, as do elite pain centers around the world. So do yourself a favor and find out if laser therapy makes sense for you.

For more information on Laser therapy, click here. To find out if you are a candidate for Laser Therpay or nonsurgical spinal decompression, please call 604-984-4601 or 604-990-6676.