Covid-19 Return to Work

Here is how things will be now be running:

• Treatment's by appointment only.

• Pre appointment I will be e-mailing out an online consultation form and a Covid screening form that must be completed before you attend your appointment (I am using sports injury fix, please check your junk mail, sometimes they end up in there).

• Please wear a face mask / covering, I will have disposable masks if you need one.  I will also be wearing a mask and a visor during your treatment.

• When you arrive I will greet you at the front desk of the gym, where I will do a final Covid screening check and ask you to sanitise your hands before we enter the treatment room.

• Please arrive on time, treatments can’t be extended due to time needed between appointments to carry out cleaning and room ventilation.

• If you or anyone in your household are unwell or are displaying symptoms of Covid-19, please stay at home and let me know so we can reschedule your appointment.

• Card payment available.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch and ask away.

ROCKPODS - CUPPING THERAPY

I've recently been back to The Massage Training School in Exmouth for another day of learning with RockTape, and I'm really pleased to now be able to offer RockPods as part of my soft tissue treatments.

What are RockPods?

RockPods are a medical grade silicone cup, a tool designed by RockTape that can be used to manipulate fascia when applied to the body. When applied the suction creates a decompression that loosens and lifts the connective tissue and stimulates the body's natural healing process to help treat pain, relieve tension and calm the nervous system.

Cupping has been around for thousands of years, it leaves painless red/brown circles on the body, they fade but can last for up to 2 weeks. These circles are often mistaken for bruises, they are not bruises, a bruise is a result of an acute trauma to the soft tissue, the circle from cupping is the result of blood vessels releasing blood under the skin as a result of the suction. There may also be a redness around the cupped area this is a histamine response and is the bodies natural healing response, this redness around the cupped area usually disappears within minutes to hours after the treatment, some peoples histamine response is stronger than others.

Possible effects of cupping:

Mechanical effects - cupping decompresses the tissues creating space allowing the tissues to glide with more ease.

Fluid dynamics - the space created from the decompression of the tissues allows for fluid content in the tissue to be effected, which could also help improve blood and lymph flow.

Chemical effects - the cupped tissues bleed just below the surface of the skin due to the negative pressure created, this bleeding is a release of hemoproteins which contain heme. Heme is important for healing, the release of heme triggers hemeoxygenase to digest excessive amounts of heme, as this reaction takes place, carbon monoxide, biliverdin, bilirubin and iron are released, these molecules have been found to have a positive effect on pain and inflammation, and also could explain the difference in colour in the cupped area of the skin. The redness around the cup is the histamine response from the body, again this is a natural healing process from the body.

Neural effects - sensory stimulation when decompressing the tissues can have a positive response with pain in an area being eased, which can also allow a window of opportunity for the tissues to function as they should helping to rewire the motor pattern for that particular area of the body encouraging more efficient movement patterns and improving awareness to the particular area of the body.

Hopefully this has helped you understand a little more about the potential benefits of cupping, if you'd like to give them a try in your next soft tissue treatment don't delay contact me here to get yourself booked in.

ROCKTAPE

Always keen to broaden my knowledge and skills, yesterday I was back in Exmouth at The Massage Training School getting my CPD hours in on a RockTape Functional Movement Taping course.

I spent the day learning the theories and concepts behind RockTape and practiced application skills so I can effectively offer and use kinesiology taping as part of my soft tissue treatments.

Kinesiology is the study of mechanics of body movements, so kinesiology tape is designed to move with the body to help aid better movement and promote recovery.

RockTape works through neurosensory stimulation and the decompression of the tissues which allows for a change in movement and helps to reduce pain:

Decompression - when RockTape is applied to the skin it's elastic properties create a bio mechanical lifting mechanism on the tissues just below the skin which means the tissues can glide more freely.

Neurosensory stimulation - within our skin we have nerve receptors which when stimulated send information to the brain. When we feel pain from movement or muscle contraction it can be caused by the nerve endings between the skin and muscle, because taping will decompress this area there will be less pressure on the nerve endings in this tissue, so pain messages may be reduced. Tape also allows for proprioceptive feedback as we have mechanoreceptors in the skin which are receptors that help with our movement awareness.

RockTape can be used to:

· Reduce pain.

· Improve proprioception.

· Increase pain free range of movement.

· Reduce swelling.

· Improve postural awareness.

· Alter static and dynamic posture.

· Alter movement patterns.

· Improve flexibility.

· Enhance performance.

· Speed up recovery.

It's great that I can now offer RockTape as part of my soft tissue therapy treatments,

contact me here to get yourself booked in.