| |
Reduce Spasms And Improve Flexibility With Reciprocal Inhibition
By NCBTMB CE Approved Provider
If you find yourself primarily performing sports massage techniques on your clients due to sustained athletic injuries, you should be familiar with reciprocal inhibition stretching principles. Reciprocal inhibition is basically a technique used by massage therapists to treat muscle cramps. Our bodies are extremely smart, and react to certain situations to preserve our health. Each muscle has an opposing muscle that reacts accordingly to the action of the other; when a muscle contracts, its pair will relax to accommodate the contraction. This automatic muscular response happens instantaneously to prevent injury to the contracting muscle, and help it relax quickly.
Anyone who’s ever participated in an organized sport knows the extreme importance of stretching before beginning any event or activity. If the muscles aren’t stretched properly, they will likely tense up and begin to spasm, consequently causing some degree of pain. When this muscle cramping occurs, massage therapists can use reciprocal inhibition stretching techniques on the “partner” muscle to aid relaxation, which will allow the
contracted muscle to relax and the cramp to dissolve. For instance, if the hamstring is cramping, reciprocal inhibition calls for the massage therapist to apply resistance to the quadriceps as the client attempts to press against the resistance. This allows the hamstring cramp to slowly relax.
There are many reasons your clients may experience muscle cramps or spasms, however the primary reason among athletes is due to improper stretching, or not stretching at all. As a massage therapist, performing reciprocal inhibition techniques on the contracted muscle’s pair will allow the cramped muscle to relax and will offer almost immediate relief to your client. For those therapists who work with athletes, or clients with prior sports injuries, reciprocal inhibition is simple enough for you to teach your clients to perform on themselves whenever they may feel a muscle spasm approaching.
To learn more about reciprocal inhibition, and the most common muscle pairs this stretch is performed on, click here.
|
|
