About My Practice
My main interest is helping people with chronic (long term) back and neck pain.
I also provide massage therapy to help with
• Upper & lower limb pain
• Jaw & facial pain
• Tension headaches and migraine
• Functional digestive problems: acid reflux & irritable bowel syndrome
• Functional respiratory problems: COPD and asthma
About Neuromuscular Massage Therapy (NMT)
NMT was developed by British osteopath Stanley Leif D.O., who later went on to found the British College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Leif was dissatisfied with the forceful "bone cracking" techniques used by osteopaths, and also with the somewhat ineffectual general techniques used by massage therapists. His search for a more effective therapy resulted in the creation of NMT.
NMT is a specialized form of muscle and connective-tissue massage, applied by the practitioner's fingertips and thumbs. It is a non-forceful therapy; there is no "joint cracking" or "spine twisting" involved, and the treatment is precise but gentle.
NMT addresses chronic (long-term) pain in two ways:
1) By finding and treating "trigger points" (TPs) - small epicentres of spasm and irritation within muscles and connective tissues.
TPs can cause persistent pain which can last for months or years; the pain is often felt in a location some distance away from the trigger point.
Some researchers claim that up to 85% of all chronic pain conditions have muscle trigger points as either a primary or a secondary cause.
2) By calming a revved-up, hypersensitive nervous system.
Recent research suggests that a great deal of long-term pain is rather like a "bad habit" involving the brain, central nervous system, and autonomic nervous system - a sort of persistent memory in which the sensation of pain is still being produced by an over-reactive nervous system, even though the original injury has completely healed.
These two factors can produce a vicious circle - irritable muscular trigger points cause pain; chronic pain eventually results in an oversensitive nervous system; the hyped-up nerves perpetuate the trigger points!
Neuromuscular Massage addresses both factors and gradually breaks the cycle, relieving the pain.
Examples of muscle trigger points:
The black and white crosses show the location of some common muscle "trigger points" (epicentres of muscle spasm), while the red areas are where the pain from these points is perceived. Note that the pain is often felt a long way from the trigger point!
EXAMPLES OF MUSCLE "TRIGGER POINTS"
The diagrams below show the location of some common muscle "trigger points" (epicentres of muscle spasm), while the red areas are where the pain from these points is perceived. Note that the pain is often felt a long way from the trigger point!
