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The clinical definition of osteoarthritis according to Taber’s
Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary is: "a
chronic disease involving the joints,
especially those bearing weight.
Characterized by destruction of
articular cartilage, overgrowth of bone
with lipping and spur formation, and
impaired function." Now, I find that the
effected joints of just about any client
I have ever seen with osteoarthritis are
stressed due to one or more of the
following conditions: structural
misalignment, tension in the soft tissue
associated with the joints and muscles
for movement, damage due to old injuries
or surgeries, or strain patterns in soft
tissue that weaken the strength of the
joint. Each of these conditions involves
irritation of the tissues and an
imbalance within the joint capsule that
leads to a degeneration of the joint
itself, and ultimately arthritis.
Once we understand the conditions that weaken joints, we can
then consider how to apply massage
techniques that will strengthen the
weakened arthritic joints, and prevent
non-arthritic joints from developing
arthritis.
Structural imbalances cause uneven stresses on the joints both
internally (between cartilage and
ligaments) and externally (within the
supporting tissues around the joints).
Therefore, the ability of massage
therapists to rebalance the soft tissue
responsible for the weight bearing and
movement of a joint becomes very
important in the rehabilitation of the
joint, whether it is to prevent
arthritis or to stop further
degeneration associated with arthritis
that is already present. Many times when
the joint is realigned structurally, the
pain and degeneration found with
osteoarthritis disappears.
Tension in the soft tissue, whether it is in the connective
tissue or the muscle tissue that effects
joint movement, often causes binding and
undue pressure within the joint itself.
It also limits the overall range of
motion of the joint allowing
degeneration to occur and a build up of
calcium deposits. Either one of these
directly feeds already existing
arthritic degeneration or, over a period
of time, leads to arthritic degeneration
within the joint. Releasing the
restrictions in the soft tissue that
bind the joint or limit its range of
motion allows a healthy joint to remain
healthy, and stops the arthritic
degeneration allowing an arthritic joint
to return to full range of motion and
become healthy once again.
In the process of life many people injure their joints or have
damaging surgeries, and will later
develop arthritis due to the damage
within the joint. Often these injuries
and surgeries leave the joints
imbalanced and bound with tightened
tissue that includes scar tissue and
splinting. If the injured joint had been
treated to release the scar tissue in
the soft tissue and to restore balance
and range of motion, the long-term
effects of the injury would have been
minimized. Unfortunately, many have not
had the benefit of treatment in the
initial stages of rehabilitation from
their injuries and surgeries. Once
arthritis has developed within the
injured joint, the joint will degenerate
rapidly due to the aforementioned
untreated conditions. To eliminate the
further development of arthritis, and to
successfully rehabilitate the joint,
proper soft tissue releases must be
applied which will reduce scar tissue
and splinting and restore full range of
motion within the proper balance.
When the body is out of alignment, strain patterns result in
the muscles and soft tissue. These
strain patterns reduce the strength of
the muscle function by at least 50%, and
oftentimes 75%. When these strain
patterns exist around joints, the
muscles have to tighten, bind, and
compensate for the resulting weakness of
the joints. The result is a build up of
fibrous connective tissue that directly
restricts range of motion and the
strength of the joint. This often
results in injury to the joint capsule
itself, or to an ongoing irritation that
can lead to arthritis. Since these
strain patterns are in the soft tissue,
proper therapeutic releases by a massage
therapist can prevent arthritis, or
rehabilitate an arthritic joint.
When a client comes to my office with concerns about arthritis
in their joints, these concerns are
usually accompanied by pain in the
joint, inflammation, and swelling.
Therefore, it is necessary for initial
soft tissue treatment to reduce the
swelling and inflammation as these are a
direct cause of pain as well as
restriction and tension in the joint.
Therefore, using strokes that will
release the fluids and toxins with the
venous flow is an important first step.
After the inflammation and pain has been reduced, it is now
time to address the tension, adhesions,
and restrictions found in the myofascial
holding patterns that can both bind and
cause misalignment to the affected
joint. All of the musculature and soft
tissue that has any affect on the
movement of the joint needs to be
treated with strokes that will release
the myofascial holding pattern, the
adhesions, and restrictions so the joint
can return to balance and full range of
motion. Special attention needs to be
paid to the speed of these strokes to
allow the myofascial holding pattern to
unwind and release the restrictions.
When the myofascial holding patterns have been released, very
specific individual fiber strokes can be
applied to soften the resistant fibrous
adhesions and scar tissue. This allows
the joint to return a healthier state,
usually with pain greatly diminished or
gone.
The wonderful secondary gain with these releases is that they
tend to structurally realign the joints
since soft tissue controls the
alignment, range of motion and movement
patterns much more so than the cartilage
and the effects of the arthritis inside
the joint.
I have used these techniques over the years with great success
treating clients who come in with
osteoarthritis. Many times I have not
been sure that a proper diagnosis has
been made, and have been concerned that
only a cursory examination was done in
the physician’s office. Still, the
majority of my clients improve, and many
become pain free with full range of
motion and return of strength to joints
that were diagnosed as being arthritic.
One thing I can be sure of is that they
are happy to have received effective
treatment and to be rid of their pain.
They also refer their friends and loved
ones, which is a sign of their
confidence in this therapy. Obviously,
there are extremely acute cases of
arthritis that involve severe joint
degeneration. However, even the clients
who could not become totally pain free
continue to come periodically because
proper treatment does minimize the
amount of pain and slows down further
arthritic degeneration to their joints.
Don
McCann, founder Structural Energetic
Therapy |
