2011

Taking Care of Running Injuries between Visits with Trigger Point Therapy

Taking Care of Running Injuries between Visits with Trigger Point Therapy
Nothing seems to bring to light, the interconnectedness of different areas of the body like the activity of running. It is a complex, multi-joint, repetitive activity and if there is a breakdown anywhere along the chain, we’ll start the compensation process for as long as we can until we just can’t compensate our way around it any more, and the pain sets in. The more common of these pains are plantar fasciitis, shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, and Iliotibial band syndromes. In our practice in Squamish, BC, there is such an active population that we see a tonne of these types of injuries.

Surprising as it can be, the majority of pains felt at one location are caused by dysfunction at a different location. As a chiropractor and providers of Active Release Techniques, a lot of our job is educating patients as to WHY they are hurting, and not just trying to relieve the hurt. The more tools that a patient has to take care of themselves, the easier it makes our job and the more satisfied and confident patients become, knowing that there are solutions available to them.

The nature of the majority of these injuries is not an overt trauma to the area, but more typically a result of decreased blood flow and oxygen deprivation in tight muscles, this can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely which can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. In our practice, we will use ART (Active Release Techniques), to locate and eliminate the adhesions, and find it to be a very effective way of dealing with these types of problems. One issue that we run into however, is that patients can’t always get in for treatment and the stretching or strengthening advice we provide only has limited effectiveness.

We have also recommended the use of a foam roller in the past for helping break up scar tissue and keep muscles loose, but again we find that because a foam roller is so generic in nature, it ends up being a fairly generic treatment.

We have been using the Trigger Point Performance Foot and Lower Leg Kit with patients over the past 6 months and have found it to be a great solution for patients to maintain lower limb function between treatments.

What impresses me about the Trigger Point Performance Therapy products, is that they are well thought out, specifically designed tools and as a result are much more functional and effective than a foam cylinder could ever dream of being. The biggest complaint about the products that I’ll hear from patients is that the kits are “too expensive”… They definitely do cost more than a foam roller, but once they have used the tools and realize that it will quickly pay for itself in the number of fewer clinic visits that they will require, they are usually convinced. Every kit comes with written instructions as well as a very well put together DVD which takes the user through exactly how and WHY to use the different tools for different areas of the body. Please pay heed to the numerous warnings in the DVD that tell you to take it slow, and increase the pressure gradually, because as anyone who has done any type of rolling in the past knows…it’s a special kind of torture.

So far I have only been using the TP Footballer, TP Baller Block, and TP Massage Ball, for the lower leg. There are other products available, including the TP Quadballer and TP Grid. I hope to try out and review these other products soon. They are available either online or in-store at any Fitness Town's 8 retail locations.
This was originally posted at Chief Chiropractic & Injury Clinic's Blog by chiefchirosportsinj. To find out more about them and their clinic visit here.
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