Injury Recovery in Ozark, MO with Ashford Neuromuscular

In 2014, before I had even graduated massage school, a friend called me up. “You’ve got to come over and look at my knee” he told me. He was obviously in a lot of pain. He’d been doing jiu jitsu when a sweep that put lateral pressure on his knee resulted in a loud “POP” heard from across the gym. When I arrived I was concerned there would be nothing I could do to help him, in massage school we are taught that we are not to work on injuries within 48 hours of their occurrence, but I asked him to walk me through what had happened once more. He was hurting at the site of the distal attachment of the IT band, and I reasoned from his explanation that the loud “POP” must have been the IT band straitening out suddenly, like how you can make a leather belt create a loud snapping sound.

The IT band is a long and dense tendon, traveling up the side of leg from the knee it is branched off of into two muscles, the gluteus maximus going to the rear, and tensor fasciae latae (TFL) to the front of the hip. Too cautious to work near his knee at this time I chose to focus my effort on TFL. To my amazement and his, coaxing this muscle into relaxation took a ton of pressure off of his injury. His demeanor changed entirely. His injury wasn’t through healing, but he’d gone from a state of crisis to that of relief, and began to carry himself as if life had returned to normal.

When something traumatic happens to the body, muscles contract to protect other structures, when they fail, tendons and ligaments are there to take the next measure of force, then to the bones and lastly to the organs. For this reason the muscles are often the first to become dysfunctional. Martial artist refer to them as your armor. Over time dysfunctional muscles can result in accumulative wear and tear in the joints they work to articulate. Taking care of your muscles can help you avoid serious intervention such as surgery later in life.

Whether you need soft-tissue-911, have a nagging injury from years ago, or have already done the surgery and need help with recovering, neuromuscular therapy can facilitate healing. You can expect me to think through your injury and take measured action to safely help you – just like I would for a friend. If you have any doubts feel free to reach out via call or text, I’d be happy to talk through whether your condition is a good fit for this treatment. Book Ashford Neuromuscular and take the first step to feeling and functioning better today!