What is Neuromuscular Therapy?

For my first few blog posts, I’m going to discuss the basics of our therapies in an effort to educate those who may not be familiar with our work and why it’s different than regular, deep tissue massage. Being we are The Neuromuscular Studio, and Neuromuscular Therapy is our primary service, I will start there!

Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) is a highly specialized form of medical massage therapy that utilizes treatment protocols to find and release trigger points in muscle and tendon that are causing pain and dysfunction in the body. Neuromuscular Therapy is a highly effective and efficient modality for pain relief, and is based on treatment specificity NOT depth of pressure. While the majority of sessions use firm pressure to release the trigger points, we always make sure we are working within your appropriate pain threshold – on the infamous “1 out of 10 pain scale”, we ask that if you experience anything above a 7, you let us know and we will decrease our pressure. If your pain reaches the 8,9, or 10 mark, your tissue will tighten up in response to the pain, and it is counterproductive to the treatment. The first session will always be the most intense, as we are directly treating these areas for the first time, but extreme pain during your session is not our goal! We ask that you speak up and not grit your teeth and bear it – No pain, No gain is NOT our philosophy!

Neuromuscular Therapy treatments work to re-educate contracted muscle tissue, deactivate trigger points, correct myofascial holding patterns, and decrease pain. Most of these patterns have either developed steadily over time, or are a direct result of trauma and injury to the body (Whiplash Syndrome in an MVA, for example).  Because of this, a series of sessions once per week is advised so the tissue learns to “remember” the new way of functional movement – one with decreased pain and improved mobility. We generally ask that clients receive a 60 minute session once per week for 3-4 sessions, the re-evaluate the progress. If the client and the therapist feel that changes are happening,  we continue treatment and schedule accordingly. If not, we refer the client back to their doctor or physical therapist for additional avenues of treatment.

At The Neuromuscular Studio, we practice NMT American Version, the version of NMT created by Judith DeLany, one of the original founders of NMT in the United States. We work closely in conjunction with her training program – Holly, one of our Certified NMT’s, is the teaching assistant for Judi’s classes here in Phoenix. Judi continues to be an inspiration to us, and empowers our work in helping to make life better for as many people as possible!

Please check back often, as I will be posting information about other treatments as well as articles that we find interesting, and announcements about events and community involvement. Until then… Be well!