PASSIVACTIVE TECHNIQUE IN MYOFASCIAL DETACHMENT: LOWER LIMBS - 8TH PART - - MASSAGE-TECHNIQUES

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Passivactive technique in myofascial detachment: lower limbs

The passive technique

The first step of the passive technique is to warm up the area to be treated, or to get a good one warm-up myofascial, thus exploiting its thixotropic property - decrease in viscosity induced by a "mechanical action - with the aim of obtaining the first degree of release before deep work. We therefore begin with" performing manual skills on the affected area stroke, light touches with the palm of the hand or forearm. This manual skill, working in the direction of developing muscle strength, is not of detachment, but of preparation for it as it stretches, flattens the wrinkles formed on the fascial sheets and longitudinally arranges the collagen fibers that are tangled during the shortening. in the adaptation phase following a situation of mechanical or nervous stress.

This initial phase of myofascial dissolution, is characterized by the slowness and the little pressure applied during manuality, it is useful to the operator to test the affected area of the athlete's body with the aim of obtaining the greatest number of information for define the approach and which manual skills are most suitable / targeted for the continuation of the treatment.

As Erik Dalton, one of the most respected, says well bodyworkers "... palpation is the" art of obtaining information. "In the face of this, the stroke superficial ones that at the beginning of the treatment are performed to warm, soften and relax the muscles, become the first source of direct information on the field. This slowness and accuracy in manual skills allows our digital and skin sensors - tactile mechanoreceptors - to be in the best condition of sensitivity to let us detect and know the myofascial condition of the athlete; this would be nullified if the technique were applied with a fast and abrupt action. By doing so the operator will get most of the info useful for developing the most effective strategy to be performed on the athlete.

To complete the information picture, it should be borne in mind that each muscle is part of an articular compartment, and therefore it is useful to test the ROM, both passive and active, to highlight any impediments, pain or anything else that is not very physiological in the joint movement, caused by adhesions and tensions induced by the muscle itself or by the adjacent muscles. stroke the most incisive one is performed on the muscle stripping, with the aim of starting to break / release superficial fascial adhesions. This technique is more a true rubbing deep than a touch, a sort of intense and short-lived passive stretching. From this moment on, given that the manual skills will be applied with important pressures, it is essential that all deep myofascial detachment techniques are performed with tension or tension - stretch - or in torsion - spin stretch - or through a variable contraction of the muscles to be treated. This condition is applied both passively by the operator and by the athlete who activates the muscle by contracting it isometrically (fig.9).

This way of proceeding is essential for two reasons: the first is to lengthen the fibers and the muscle-fascial bundles in the physiological direction towards the development of the workforce; the second is for prevention, given the use of decisive pressures on the muscle belly or on the myotendinous insertion in unloading-relaxation conditions, they can be harmful as well as very painful for the athlete. Therefore, as already described for a greater effectiveness of the passive technique, based on the structure and anatomical position of the muscle to be treated, do not limit the work of detachment to a specific fixed position, but apply manual skills while the muscle is in motion activated by a gradual contraction or by the action of stretching. that for various reasons it is not possible to apply the technique dynamically, due to biomechanical impediment or pain, to treat the muscle by varying the angle of the associated joint as much as possible (fig. 10).
It seems even clearer now the reason why we must maintain a certainty slowness during the execution of such deep manual skills. The speed reduces our tactile sensitivity, moreover it is then difficult to be able to immediately stop the execution in case of problems and, somewhat unpleasant, can highlight a certain do hasty towards the athlete. To detach the adhesions between muscle / muscle and muscle / fascia, there are several personal tool - tools - according to the type of work more or less deep to be performed or according to the anatomical structure of the muscles to be treated. Here are some examples of the most used ones. Note once again how for greater effectiveness of the passive technique always start with the manual skills of stroke for heating and tactile perception / detection of the area to be treated which gradually becomes deeper (fig. 11 stroke with the palm of the hand and forearm).