John Bowman was a family doctor who now specializes in sport medicine. He is the Medical Director of the Collingwood Sport Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre.

SOFT TISSUE RELEASE THERAPY

by Dr. John Bowman, M.D.

I have heard a lot recently about a form of therapy called Soft Tissue Release or STR. STR was developed about fifteen years ago by Stuart Taws, a Sports Rehabilitation Therapist from England, now living in California. To learn more about it, Ron Herman, one of our physiotherapists, and I decided to attend a two-day course taught by Stuart Taws.

Before we discuss the technique, it might be helpful to have some understanding about tissue damage in the body. Repetitive stress on muscles produces microscopic damage, leading to the shortening of the fibrous layer covering the muscle fibres. (This muscle/fibrous tissue combination is called myofascial tissue.) The tendons, which attach myofascial tissue to bones, become inflamed and painful. If the stress is sustained, the nerve and pain receptors in these myofascial tissues become hypersensitive. This prevents the muscles and tendons from relaxing, leading to chronic pain and stiffness. Using Stuart Taw’s analogy, it is kind of like a car engine, which keeps on chugging even after the ignition gets turned off.

The goal of Soft Tissue Release therapy is to interrupt this cycle of self-perpetuating tension in the myofascial tissues and tendons. It appears to work by altering the autonomic nervous system in a way that leads to spontaneous release of muscle spasm. As the injured muscle regains its original resting length, pain and stiffness are relieved. Unlike a lot of other treatment modalities, which try to physically interfere with tissue injury, the goal of STR is to regain original “muscle memory”.

STR is a gentle, minimally painful and surprisingly simple technique. It involves the application of precise pressure on a relaxed muscle following which the muscle is taken into its stretched position. The maneuver takes only a few seconds. The process is repeated a number of times in different areas of the muscle. It is possible to achieve great results even after a couple of sessions, following which the patient is then taught how to maintain the gains through a series of home stretching exercises.

STR is useful for a wide range of physical problems including neck and back pain. It is particularly effective for tennis/golfer’s elbow, strained muscles such as hamstrings, thigh and calf muscles and plantar fasciitis.

Soft Tissue Release is different from Active Release Therapy or ART. ART, used mainly by chiropractors, is a more aggressive treatment based on the same principles as STR.

Since attending Stuart’s course both Ron and I have found STR to be a very useful adjunct to our other range of therapies.