Neuromuscular therapy in St. Petersburg, FL
Hands-on treatment for trigger points and tight, restricted fascia, the soft tissue problems behind a lot of acute and chronic pain.
Neuromuscular therapy (NMT) is a specialized form of deep tissue work that affects both the muscles and the nervous system, which is what makes it so useful for acute and chronic pain. It works on muscles, tendons, and connective tissue called fascia, which plays a major role when soft tissue stops working the way it should.
Treatment focuses on two things: trigger points and myofascial restrictions.
Trigger points
A trigger point is a hypersensitive spot in a tight band of muscle. You can often feel it as a knot. It can hurt right where it is, or send pain somewhere else entirely, which is called referred pain. Trigger points also cut off blood flow to the muscle. Without enough blood and oxygen, the muscle can't stay nourished, which leads to more imbalance and more pain.
Common causes include repetitive strain, injury, muscles that are shortened or overstretched, myofascial restrictions, poor posture, poor body mechanics, and weak muscles.
Treating the knot isn't enough. You also have to fix why it formed. Many trigger points form in a muscle that's being overstretched, so the muscles pulling against it need treatment too. That's also why stretching a painful spot can backfire: if the muscle is already overstretched, stretching it more only makes things worse.
Fascia and myofascial restrictions
Fascia is a sheet of connective tissue that wraps around muscles and organs, holding them in place and keeping them separate. Healthy fascia is flexible. It can get hard and stiff from injury, repetitive use, poor nourishment, stress, age, posture, and even how you sleep or work.
Like trigger points, tight fascia can cause pain in a completely different part of the body. That's why treating pain well takes knowledge of both.
Why imaging doesn't always find it
MRIs, CT scans, and x-rays don't show trigger points or myofascial restrictions. If imaging is all that's used, these problems get missed. Finding them takes skilled hands, and Dr. Donald Eisenman's approach starts with careful palpation to find the actual source of the pain before treating it.
Neuromuscular therapy and acupuncture together
Acupuncture can treat trigger points, but adding manual release and steady pressure works even better because of how trigger points are structured. Acupuncture also affects fascia directly, since in Chinese medicine fascia is a pathway for the body's energy, or qi. That's why the two together are often the most effective treatment for painful conditions.
Physical therapy can help too, and works best once trigger points, myofascial restrictions, and their causes have been dealt with. Dr. Eisenman usually finds several things feeding into the problem, including lifestyle, diet, how well you absorb nutrients, body mechanics, posture, and activity.
What you'll learn along the way
Patients learn about proper body mechanics and posture, and how to spot and correct what's contributing to their pain. You may get exercises to correct muscle imbalances, and find out whether your current workout is part of the problem.
For example, pain on the left side of your lower back could actually come from a shortened muscle on the right side or the front of your body. That short muscle pulls the left side into an overstretched position, which creates trigger points and restrictions. Releasing the short muscle takes tension off the long one so it can return to normal and start to heal.
When one leg seems shorter
It's common for one leg to seem a little shorter than the other. Usually that's not the bones. It's a functional imbalance in the soft tissue. The longer leg gets tight from carrying more weight, and the muscles on the shorter side are shortened, and both can cause pain. With the right diagnosis, neuromuscular therapy can address this as part of treatment.