Glossary

Joint mobilization: A type of passive movement by the therapist of a joint in the spine, arm or leg. It is usually performed on a joint that has become restricted or “tight” and its purpose is to help the joint to move correctly again. When it is applied to the spine, it is known as spinal mobilization.

Myofascial release: A form of soft tissue work which focuses on the connective tissue called fascia. It uses a manual massage technique for releasing / stretching the fascia and releasing bonds between fascia, skin, muscles, and bones. The goal of this is to eliminate pain, increase range of motion and decrease tension in the body. Fascia is located between the skin and the underlying structure of muscle and bone. It is a seamless web of connective tissue that covers and connects the muscles, organs, and skeletal structures in our body. Muscle and fascia are united forming the myofascia system. The fascia is manipulated, directly or indirectly, allowing the connective tissue fibers to reorganize themselves in a more flexible, functional fashion. Injuries, stress, inflammation, trauma, and poor posture can cause restriction to fascia. Since fascia is an interconnected web, the restriction or tightness to fascia at one place, with time, can spread to other places in the body like a pull in a sweater. The goal of myofascial release is to release fascia restriction and restore its tissue health.

Soft tissue mobilization: A form of massage also referred to as STM that aims to alleviate aches, pains and/or injuries that are attributable to the soft tissues of the body. This can be done through direct pressure to a spasm in a muscle (an ischemic release) which causes decreased blood flow to that localized portion of the muscle and subsequent decreased oxygen supply. When the muscle has decreased oxygen, it will fatigue and relax. There can also be techniques such as swedish massage, accupressure, etc used to release muscle spasms / dysfunction.

Movement retraining: A form of therapy that focuses on correcting the improper movement patterns that people perform after having an injury or pain. The body will compensate after having pain, restricted movement or weakness. Once the problem or dysfunction has been corrected, there is often a need to correct the improper movement patterns that developed from the original problem. Movement retraining is also used specifically in sports where we will retrain an athlete to perform a given movement, whether it is throwing a ball more powerfully or efficiently, performing a swim stroke in a way that doesn’t cause injury, or working with a runner to retrain their gait so they don’t develop pain.