Help Reduce Pain And Swelling

Have you ever pulled a muscle playing sport or some other physical activity? It feels as though there's a lump there right?

Part of that 'lump' is not just contracted muscle – there's swelling there too. So the pain you experience is a combination of contracted muscle and swelling. In order for us to ease the pain, we must first ease the pressure of this build up of fluid – or swelling.

Think of the muscles and joints as being surrounded by a clear sheath – kind of like a plastic bag that is semi-permeable. By semi-permeable I mean that only small amounts of fluid can pass through it – the rest is locked in and around the muscle or joint causing swelling.

This 'sheath', or membrane, is very pain sensitive and very sensitive to stretch. So when the swelling stretches the plastic sheath you feel pain.

What we want to do is get rid of the swelling. If you can get just a little of that swelling to 'ooze' through that sheath – then you can flush it away. But first we must bring the swelling to the surface.

To do this we use a technique called 'Active Release Technique' – or ART. This involves rubbing over the affected area about 3-4 times using a wanton soup spoon (I've found this works the best). You'll start to see redness in the skin as the swelling comes to the surface. The affected area will be very specific – depending on the injury usually about the size of a large coin. Care must be taken not to continue rubbing past this point as bruising may occur.

This type of swelling is known as 'Myofacial' swelling. It's fluid that has become trapped between the layers of muscle. Friction on the skin 'unlocks' the swelling in the muscle so it can be then 'flushed' away.

How do we flush it away?

With Ultrasound.

Ultrasound has two uses – Diagnostic and Therapeutic. Diagnostic is where they use high frequency sound waves to take pictures inside your body – say of a baby's head or kidney stones.

With Therapeutic ultrasound we don't make any pictures. Sound waves are sent in, through the skin, to a depth of about two to four centimetres. The actual process involves placing gel on the skin then rubbing over the area with a 'sound head'. This sound head is a man-made crystal that vibrates at a million times a second. The high frequency sound waves go in through the skin and into the muscles.

These sound waves produce a 'stirring' effect that disperses the swelling so the blood vessels can carry it away.

Now if the muscle is too deep for either friction or ultrasound we use what's called Electrical Muscle Stimulation – or EMS, which is an electrical current. Normally EMS will produce a 'tingling' in the muscles, where they 'twitch' at a rate of about a hundred times a second. This twitching massages the muscle and removes the lactic acid and swelling.

If the muscle is very, very deep, often this current won't reach these deeper layers and only the surface swelling will be removed. In order to get to these deeper layers, the muscle stimulator is put to a different setting.

Now, instead of the muscle 'twitching', it is actually made to totally contract for 4 seconds – then totally relax for 4 seconds – then totally contract for 4 seconds – then totally relax for 4 seconds.

This harder contraction vibrates the membrane surrounding the muscle. This action causes the membrane to become MORE permeable – which means more fluid can be released and flushed away through the blood vessels.

While EMS is more commonly used for relieving swelling around joints, it is often used for deep muscle stimulation.

So, friction on the skin unlocks the swelling from the muscle. It oozes through the membrane and is brought to the surface where it can then be flushed away using Ultrasound. If the swelling is deeper – we use EMS.

The same technique is followed when working with the joints. The membrane is vibrated and made permeable to allow the swelling to ooze out and be flushed away through the blood vessels using ultrasound.

If the swelling is not brought to the surface it is very difficult to get rid of – and the pressure and pain will continue. Find out how chiropractic testing and benchmarks can ensure a rapid recovery from injury.

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Patient Reviews:

"Some things take a while to work themselves out. If I go in for a treatment, and it still hurts afterwards, what I KNOW is that the knots have been untied so it can finally heal. In a couple of days it's going to be better.

It's not always an instant cure. But if the problem is unlocked, the inflammation can go down and it gets better.

Of course there's a little bit of pain trying to pinpoint the cause of what's wrong. But I was always encouraged to communicate what was happening for me. There was always a purpose to find out WHY it was hurting – and fix that too."

Rebekah Voege – Stay at home mother with 2 children