Although soft tissue damage can go unseen by the naked eye, it can cause much pain and discomfort. It’s important to understand what soft tissue damage is and how it can be treated.
What Is Soft Tissue Damage?
Soft tissue damage is a term used to describe injuries that affect muscles, ligaments, or tendons. A sudden fall, blow, or twist to the part of the body will result in damage to the soft tissue.
These often occur after there is trauma to the body, such as whiplash. These injuries are typically sprains or strains that will result in pain, swelling, and bruising. If left untreated, scar tissue can take over the injured area, resulting in a loss of function and increased pain.
Common Soft Tissue Injuries
Soft tissue injuries are often one of the following:
- Whiplash
- Ankle Sprain
- Contusions (Bruises)
- Strains
- Tendonitis
- Bursitis
These injuries typically occur during sports and other exercise activities. However, they may also occur during what seem to be simple day to day activities.
While many injuries are often treated using the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), certain injuries may require higher levels of care. At this point, patients may decide to look into soft tissue therapy.
What Is Soft Tissue Therapy?
Soft tissue therapy helps to remove stress and pain that you may be feeling from an injury. Before therapy can begin, your specific injury must be diagnosed. Six ranges of motion are used to test muscle activity to determine where there is trauma or restriction in the body. This data is then used to determine the best route to take for therapy.
During soft tissue therapy, a variety of modalities will be used. At Spine Health & Wellness, we use a combination of spinal manipulative therapy, rehabilitation exercise therapy, active resistance technique, and heightened testing.
After an injury of soft tissue, the joints around the area are prone to stiffening up, leading to a decrease in the range of motion. The spinal manipulation therapy works to combat this by increasing the range of motion of the joint space. The goal is to restore the patient to a full range of motion.
The active resistance technique helps to break down scar tissue. It minimizes spasms in the muscle to avoid scar build-up and inflammation at the site of the injury.
Benefits Of Soft Tissue Therapy
Soft tissue therapy is often able to provide patients with decreased levels of pain and stiffness fairly quickly. While each patient is different, patients often report immediately feeling a change in their level of comfort.
Visit Spine Health & Wellness for Soft Tissue Therapy
Spine Health & Wellness offers unique treatment options for soft tissue therapy. We want to help you get back to living a healthy and active lifestyle! To request an appointment, visit our contact us page and give us a call or fill out our online contact form. A member of our staff will be in touch with you to schedule your appointment.