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Manual Therapy in Orleans, ON

Manual Therapy in Orleans, Ontario

Chances are when you think of physiotherapy, you think of manual therapy. Manual therapy is an overarching term that includes several hands-on techniques used by physiotherapists to help reduce your pain and get you moving again! The physiotherapists at Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa regularly use manual therapy techniques to help patients get back to living pain-free. You may have heard of myofascial release and the Graston Technique, both of which are different types of manual therapy offered at Orleans Physiotherapy.

Manual Therapy also includes hands-on techniques like mobilizations of individual joints, manipulations, muscle energy techniques, and soft tissue releases. The physiotherapists at Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa, Ontario, have extensive backgrounds in many types of manual therapy. They all use a wide variety of manual therapy techniques and styles carefully adapted to your condition.

What Conditions Does Manual Therapy Help?

Manual Therapy helps many conditions and is often considered the heart of physiotherapy. Chances are your physiotherapist will recommend manual therapy if you have:

  • Osteoarthritis
  • Headaches
  • Tendinitis
  • TMJ pain
  • Shoulder pain
  • Ankle pain
  • Hip pain
  • Knee pain
  • Low back pain
  • Neck pain
  • Ligament sprains and strains

Manual therapy is often very effective in reducing pain and stiffness and getting you moving faster and more efficiently. In general, you will find manual therapy to be of benefit if you are looking to:

  • Reduce pain
  • Increase joint mobility and range of motion
  • Reduce joint stiffness
  • Repair damaged tissues
  • Improve tissue stability and extensibility
  • Reduce inflammation in soft-tissues
  • Lower muscle tension
  • Develop greater muscle relaxation
  • Facilitate movement
  • Support exercise therapy

Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa, Ontario Since 1990

Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa, Ontario, has been providing musculoskeletal physiotherapy since 1990. Our team is expertly trained to provide comprehensive assessments and deliver customized treatment for musculoskeletal conditions, headaches, sports injuries, neck pain, back pain, and more. The power behind manual therapy is that an experienced manual therapist can easily adapt techniques to your presenting complaint, reduce pain, flush swelling, increase joint movement and minimize dysfunction in your whole body.

Myofascial Release

The physiotherapists at Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa frequently use myofascial release techniques, which feel like a pleasant deep tissue massage-type release. This manual therapy technique manipulates the fascia, the structural tissues of your body. The fascia surrounds all of the organs, muscles, and bones and can influence the positioning of your skeleton.

The therapist uses their hands to apply various pressures to the fascia and follow their paths in the body. In response to the pressure, your body releases the pull that the fascia has on surrounding structures. This release helps to relieve your pain and improve postural alignment. Myofascial release is an excellent technique to gain mobility, flexibility, and pain relief combined with strengthening exercises of the opposing muscle groups.

Our registered physiotherapists also use the ancient art of Chinese cupping which is also very effective in releasing tight muscles that might be causing pain and limited range of motion.

The Graston Technique ® / Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Release

Your physiotherapist may recommend some additional manual therapy using the Graston Technique to reduce pain and increase function. The Graston technique®:

  • Breaks down scar tissue and fascia restrictions. These are frequently associated with soft tissue injuries like strained muscles or pulled ligaments, tendons, and repetitive strains of muscles or fascia.
  • Reduce restrictions through stretching of the fascial tissues. This helps rearrange the structure of soft tissues like the muscle, fascia, tendons, and ligaments to increase the range of motion and reduce pain.
  • Promote a better healing environment for injured soft tissues. Tissues are able to heal more rapidly and more completely, with less pain, restriction, and inflammation during the healing process.
  • Neurologic benefits. The neurological response is similar to other manual therapies as treatment activates nerve fibers.

At Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa, our therapist Celine Seguin is trained and certified in the Graston Technique®. This patented type of manual therapy uses soft-tissue instrument-assisted mobilization. The approach specifically uses instruments uniquely designed with curves and edges to help your physiotherapist focus on restricted tissues for more optimal muscle release.

The Graston Technique uses a stainless-steel tool that helps your physiotherapist identify your unique areas of restriction. Then, they use the tool to attempt to break up your scar tissue and fascial adhesions. Celine Seguin is fully trained in this specialized technique, and she may recommend it in combination with other therapies to treat chronic or acute conditions.

What To Expect During a Graston Technique ® Physiotherapy Session

Your physiotherapist may recommend some additional treatment using the Graston Technique, depending on your condition and how you are responding to other treatments. This manual therapy helps speed healing times while promoting complete healing.

In your Graston Technique physiotherapy session with Celine Seguin, you will find some differences as compared to other manual therapy techniques. She will begin by putting a type of massage cream or oil on your skin in the area to be treated. This oil helps decrease friction between the stainless-steel tool and your skin.

Celine will then gently press the tool on your skin and massage over the tissues that require treatment. You will feel pressure over the area, but all treatment is based on your tolerance. Sometimes, the skin starts to turn red, and there might be some bruising, indicating healing and muscle release.

Benefits of Graston Therapy

The Graston Technique offers many advantages as a supplemental treatment or alone when you are recovering from an acute injury or chronic pain. You should see significant results with 6 to 12 treatments for chronic or acute injuries. This specialized manual therapy has been proven to:

  • Decrease overall treatment time
  • Foster faster recovery and rehabilitation
  • Reduce the requirement for anti-inflammatory medications
  • Resolve chronic conditions often thought to be permanent

For these reasons, your physiotherapist at Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa is likely to recommend treatment with the Graston technique to supplement your other therapies.

In Conclusion

Manual therapy is the core of physiotherapy, whether your physiotherapist uses their hands or a stainless-steel tool like in the Graston technique. Often patients experience immediate improvements in range of movement and reduced pain.

Contact us at Orleans Physiotherapy in Orleans and Ottawa to learn more about how manual therapy, and the Graston Technique, could help support your recovery.

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