SOFT TISSUE THERAPY
At Bloch Wellness, we are proud to be among the best chiropractors in Southern California. We have over 30 years’ combined experience using chiropractic treatments to heal patients suffering from pain. Nearly every major nerve passes through the spinal cord. These nerves send signals to your brain that affect organ function. If your spine is damaged or misaligned, those nerves can become pinched and constricted and will not be able to send signals or receive signals as effectively.
Among our specialties is the ability to heal damaged or inflamed tissue with our soft tissue therapy. Soft tissue includes things like muscle, fat, nerves, tendons, blood vessels, and other structures that connect, support, and surround your organs and bones. When your soft tissue is damaged, through an injury, the body naturally begins to heal it, creating scar tissue. Scar tissue is the fibrous matter that replaces damaged skin and muscles. It is weaker than your normal skin and tissue and more prone to future injury. While scar tissue is meant to reinforce a wounded or damaged area, in some cases it can actually restrict movement and cause considerable pain.
Our doctors are trained to deal with soft tissue damage and scar tissue. Using a form of deep muscle massage, we can alleviate the pain and tension in your muscles and diminish any scar tissue that is present. Soft tissue therapy will also make it much easier for us to perform a chiropractic adjustment. When your muscles are relaxed, there is less pressure on your joints and bones, which means we can successfully manipulate them.
Soft Tissue Therapy is a technique that helps improve soft tissue function. It is an essential part of our Chiropractic care. We use soft tissue therapy techniques together with Chiropractic adjustment, according to the needs of the patient.
HOW IT HELPS
Muscle, bone, fascia, skin and other connective tissue, are all interdependent. Soft tissue therapy reduces internal scar tissue, improves blood flow and reduces tension in muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia, allowing for improved functional movement.
We use multiple techniques, including Myofascial Release, Graston (instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization), Trigger Point Therapy, and Active Release Technique, to treat areas that are restricted, under firing, or compensating for injury or misalignment elsewhere in the body.
WHO IT HELPS?
∙ Head Pain or Injuries: Headaches, Concussion, Whiplash
∙ Spine pain: Neck, Mid Back, Low back
∙ Pain and tissue inflammation associated with Arthritis
∙ Tendonopathy: Tendonitis and Tendonosis
∙ Extermity Joint Pain: Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist, Hip, Knee, Ankle
∙ Myofascial dysfunction
∙ Chronic trigger point pain
∙ Sprains and strains
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM), is a soft tissue technique that uses a tool, usually made of steel, with a beveled edge. The user applies some type of emollient to protect the skin and applies pressure in a scraping fashion to change the fluid dynamics of the fascia. This treatment helps to increase mobility and decrease restrictions, as well as stimulate the cascade of healing and remodeling of the soft tissue structures. The most common tools and techniques include Graston, Rockblades, Smart Tools, and many others.
At Bloch we utilize this technique in functional positions and thru Range of motion and in conjunction with our other modalities.
Nerve Tracing Techniques: The creation of this technique started in 2012 by Dr. Bloch while working with shared patients of Dr. Shawn Tierney, to identify nerve entrapments under diagnostic ultrasound. Dr. Bloch always addressed nerve tracts and fascial sling restrictions in segments of the body, but never addressed the nerves in its entirety.
Prior to 2012 Dr. Bloch was able to treat patients without seeing a full body connection of nerve pathways. Then began creating her own technique to address nerve entrapments. What helped her solidify this technique is seeing the nerve entrapments on the diagnostic ultrasound. The nerve tracing technique addresses those entrapments, which in turn decreases pain, increases range of motion and improves performance.
The muscles and organs are innervated by our nerves, if there is an interference (such as a traffic jam on the freeway) the signals are not passed along the nerve tracks. Patient symptoms vary due to the area of the entrapment and the patient. Examples of patient symptoms are: tingling and/ or numbness, decreased range of motion, and some may have pain in areas where the entrapment is and some in a different area.
With this technique you need to have extensive knowledge of the human anatomy, specifically the muscles, nerves, fascial planes and common entrapment sites. This hands on skin technique is typically a full body treatment, there are specific hand positions for scanning/finding where the entrapments are located, as well as in relation to the patient’s symptoms. To identify fascial restrictions we are able to use our hands to palpate along with other tools to help identify sling restrictions based on functional movement assessments of Kinetisense, force place and observing functional testing along the sagittal, transverse and rotational planes. Once the entrapment is found, there are specific doctor-patient positions to release the areas.
Once restrictions have been reduced, we use modalities for healing and “flushing out” the are, some examples are Shockwave (If no access to Shockwave, instrument assisted tissue manipulation (IASTM)), Cupping along the fascial planes, Mulligan mobilizations, Hyperbaric oxygen chamber, Kinesiotaping and/or IntelliSkin-performance posture apparel. Lastly, the treatment is completed with rehab exercises and/or stretching.