Podiatry Massage Therapy

​​What Is Massage Therapy?

Massage therapy is a manual therapy, mainly consisting of effleurage, petrissage and trigger point therapy. Effleurage is used in Swedish massage and consists of light pressure in circular motions to warm muscle tissue and encourage blood flow into the muscle tissue.

This is an important part of the massage treatment, as it prepares the muscle for petrissage (deep tissue) work.

Effleurage is mainly used at the beginning and end of your massage treatment, and is generally a quite soothing and relaxing experience.

Once the muscle tissue has been warmed and prepared using effleurage techniques, petrissage massage is used to begin to work more deeply into the muscle tissue.

This involves a firmer pressure, with kneading, squeezing and deep strokes used to release muscular tension.

The amount of pressure that is used varies from person to person, and will be adapted to your specific needs and pain threshold.

During petrissage, trigger points may be discovered within the muscle/s being treated. Trigger points are areas of irritation and tenderness and are often referred to as “knots”.

 Trigger points are generally found in specific regions in the muscle belly and when targeted, often produce a referral sensation which can be experienced in another part of the muscle and/or body. 

Trigger point therapy is where a direct, firm pressure is used and released, which can be repeated if necessary. Once a trigger point has been effectively released a feeling of muscle relaxation is often followed.

Dry needling can also be utilised as a form of trigger point therapy. Acupuncture needles are used to target these same areas and have shown to be effective at relieving muscle tension and strain.

If you are comfortable with dry needling,  your treating practitioner may use dry needling as an extra technique which can be used to release trigger points.