Soft tissue mobilization is a form of manual physical therapy where your licensed PT uses hands-on techniques on your muscles, ligaments and fascia in order to break adhesions and optimize your muscle function.
Adhesions are your body’s attempt to heal a soft tissue injury with a lengthy inflammation process, resulting in long strands of collagenous scar tissue. These new tissues pull against one another, forming trigger points of pain.
Scar tissue can develop almost anywhere in the body. Some examples of how scar tissue appears include:
After surgery: scar tissue will develop where the surgical incision is. For example, scar tissue may develop after abdominal or pelvic surgeries such as hysterectomy, prostatectomy, hernia repair, or other procedures.
After childbirth: scar tissue may develop following a Cesarean section, perineal tear, or episiotomy. These scars may affect the mobility of the surrounding tissues and may contribute to pelvic pain, tightness, or discomfort.
After muscle injuries: In a hamstring tear or rotator cuff tear, scar tissue will develop in the muscle as it heals.
After a fracture: Bony scar tissue, called a callus, will form on the bone after a fracture.
For patients receiving pelvic floor physical therapy, scar mobilization may be used to address restrictions associated with abdominal, pelvic, or perineal scars. Your physical therapist will evaluate the scar and surrounding tissues to determine whether scar mobilization is appropriate as part of your treatment plan.
Goals of Soft Tissue Mobilization:
- Break down or reduce adhesions
- Improve range of motion
- Lengthen muscles and tendons
- Reduce swelling and edema
- Decrease pain
- Restore functionality
Soft Tissue Mobilization Techniques:
Your licensed PT is specially trained to use his or her hands to push, pull and knead your muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves in precise ways to help bring you pain relief and return you to functionality.
- Sustained pressure – pushing directly on the restricted tissue and holding
- Unlocking spiral – pushing on the restricted tissue in alternating clockwise and counterclockwise rotating motions
- Direct oscillations – rhythmic pushing on the restricted tissue
- Perpendicular mobilization – pushing on the myofascial tissue at right angles
- Parallel mobilization – pushing along the seams of muscles
- Perpendicular strumming – rhythmic pushing along muscle border, followed by rubber of top of muscle
- Friction massage – pushing across the grain of the muscles, tendons and ligaments
Being able to implement soft tissue mobilization techniques requires a significant amount of training in human anatomy and physiology and understand how manipulating the tissues will impact physical function. Physical therapists specialize in evaluation, assessment and treatment of movement function disorders. Soft tissue mobilization is just one of the strategies that we use to help our patients meet their functional goals.
What’s The Next Step?
Scheduling an appointment is the first step to figuring out whether or not soft tissue mobilization is right for you. At Pelvic Health Physical Therapy, our physical therapists will provide you with a thorough evaluation to determine what the best treatment plan will be for you. We understand how inhibiting pain and stiffness can be, and we want to help get you back to comfortably living your life. We’ll help lift all of your physical stresses away!
Please email [email protected] to book an appointment, or call our office at 908-443-9880.
