Massage therapy in Ontario is fast becoming the physical therapy of choice for rapid recovery of soft tissue injuries. Massage therapists spend their many hours each day manipulating soft tissue. This gives them with an extensive ability to palpate , locate and treat the specific anatomy involved in a soft tissue injuries.

Massage therapy is a manual therapy that can be remarkably diverse in its approach to treating muscular skeletal conditions. An experienced practitioner develops a nuanced sense of touch and knowledge of the physical landscape they are able quickly able palpate textural differences and compare them with expected norms. They develop an approach to normalize the tissue and reduce tension and pain patterns.

Massage therapy is tremendously useful reducing physical pain. Muscle tension may be the primary or secondary cause of pain or dysfunction when dealing with joint dysfunction and acute soft tissue problems, But muscle tension and spasm can be the primary source of pain. Muscles guard or hold in response to pain. This is the body's way avoiding pain. If movement causes pain then muscles tighten up to avoid pain. Massage therapy is able to reduce muscle tension directly by applying pressure to tight muscles and indirectly though creating a relaxation effect and thereby reducing tension systemically.

Often tension and pain patterns arise due to inefficient movement patterns. Once the tissue is released, pain and dysfunction is reduced it is often useful to strengthen particular muscles in order to improve postural strength. This reduces the load on the muscles that work too hard when posture is unbalanced.

The exercises that I have listed on my exercise page are focused on particular areas to increase strength and/or mobility of the given area and thus increase the ability of the area to work without getting fatigued. Strengthening exercise also acts as a tonic to change the static tension level of muscles that are working all the time when we are sitting and working in stationary positions for long periods of time. Strengthening exercise also increases the capacity of muscles allowing them to be able to do more without getting fatigued.