Here are more details about some of the other techniques we use as part of a therapy session:

Medical Acupuncture

Medical acupuncture, or dry needling, is an effective treatment for acute and chronic pain, rehabilitation from injury, and even pain and injury prevention, with very few side effects. It is not the same as acupuncture based on traditional Chinese medicine, as the decisions on where to insert the needles are based on the understanding of western anatomy rather than Chinese medicine.  A fine filament needle is inserted into a painful and dysfunctional muscle.  Most patients will not even feel the needle penetrate the skin. However, if the muscle has active trigger points within it, there may be a sensation much like a muscle cramp.

Tight and restricted muscles will reduce the blood supply to an area, limiting both the nutrition to these tissues and the removal of waste products, leading to the irritation of nerve endings and pain. When a sterile acupuncture needle is placed in such a muscle it interrupts the neurological signal that is causing the muscle to remain tight and contracted and so causes relaxation, increased blood flow and reduced pain. It is particularly helpful when muscles are either too painful to treat manually, or are hard to reach other than with a needle.

At Backs Etc. it is used as an adjunct to enhance the effect of the manual therapy.

If a patient does not want needles, they will NOT be used in treatment.

Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilisation (‘DNS’)

The nervous system controls human posture, movement and gait. This basic patterns of how we use our bodies are developed during the first crucial years of life. A baby must learn to stabilise its core using abdominal breathing building intra-abdominal pressure (‘IAP’)  before it is able to roll, sit, crawl and walk. The baby does this in a specific sequence of increasing complexity of patterns.  DNS looks at these ‘Global Motor Patterns’ to see if adults can still perform these skills (building IAP by proper breathing, rolling and crawling) and restore or improve them if necessary.  The idea being that the loss of the ability to control movement and function at this very basic level is behind much adult pain and dysfunction.  

At Backs Etc. we use DNS-based breathing and movement protocols to enable our clients to regain good and functional core stabilisation.

Strapping and Taping

Where appropriate we use a variety of taping techniques, including Kinesio-tape, to complement the hands-on therapy and enhance the healing of injuries.

Strapping and taping of injured joints can be very helpful for the active patient, allowing them to continue with a higher level of activity while their injury is healing, knowing that it is well supported and protected.

Where an injury is chronic, colourful Kinesio-tape can be helpful, it provides a lower level of support, but with without the restriction of range of motion given by conventional taping.  It also increases neurological input into the area and improves blood flow and lymphatic drainage, so reducing pain, encouraging better motor control patterns and speeding healing.