Part 3: How to diagnose and treat adhesion?

Part 3 of 3: Click here for part 1 and part 2

After understanding how adhesion forms and what it can lead to, we can now focus on how to treat and reduce adhesion.  Adhesions are diagnosed and treated by a skilled certified provider.  Adhesions can’t be broken down by foam rolling or massage. There are two main methods of achieving this goal:

  1. Manually (Dr. uses hands) – MAR (Manual Adhesion Release)
  2. Instruments – The newest instrument/technique on the market today is Instrument Adhesion Release (IAR).

The key to breaking down adhesion in a muscle is finding it. This may seem very obvious but adhesion is very common and finding the relevant adhesion takes years of training. Once the proper diagnosis is made, treatment can begin.  MAR take advantage of the different attachment points of muscles to achieve maximum tension on the adhesion. These techniques are non-invasive and done exclusively through a skilled doctor’s hands.  Once the adhesions are broken down over a series of visits, the muscles can function normally again.  They can lengthen and contract with the appropriate force to allow for normal joint motion resulting in less pain for you.

If you have pain or stiffness, get the proper diagnosis first by clicking the button below.

*Please note that every patient is different. The content and tips displayed on this page are for educational purposes only, and do not substitute for medical advice. Please consult with a medical or healthcare provider, such as Dr. Phipps, for specific diagnosis and treatment advice. Williamsville, NY 14221 Chiropractor

Part 2: How can adhesion lead to pain?

Part 2 of 3: click here for part 1

In part one, we covered how adhesions form, but how can adhesion lead to all of the following problems?

  • Neck pain
  • Low back pain
  • Disc injuries
  • Carpal tunnel
  • Tennis elbow
  • Golfers elbow
  • Headaches
  • Plantar Fasciitis

Adhesions can create abnormal movement of a joint resulting in pain. The easiest way to visualize this is to look at the shoulder joint. To simplify things, we will discuss the rotator cuff muscles, as they play the largest role in maintaining proper positioning of the shoulder joint. The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles that surround your shoulder.

If you were to lift your arms overhead, with or without weight, the rotator cuff muscles keep the joint in proper position.

Muscles adhesions will act like glue and limit the strength and flexibility of the muscles. Adhesions will limit the muscles ability to maintain proper joint position resulting in shoulder impingement. This can set the stage for bursitis, rotator cuff tear, and shoulder pain, especially in the front and outside of your shoulder.

We could break down every joint in the body the same way and the root cause would likely be altered joint movement from muscle adhesions.

Next time, we will explain what to do if you have pain.

Part 3: How to diagnose and treat adhesion?

*Please note that every patient is different. The content and tips displayed on this page are for educational purposes only, and do not substitute for medical advice. Please consult with a medical or healthcare provider, such as Dr. Phipps, for specific diagnosis and treatment advice. Williamsville, NY 14221 Chiropractor

What are adhesions and how are they limiting you?

This will be a three part series that will explain everything you need to know about adhesion.

Part 1: How does adhesion form?

Part 2: How can adhesion lead to the pain that I have?

Part 3: How does Manual Adhesion Release break down adhesion?

So let’s start off with:

Part 1: How does adhesion form?

There are two main pathways for adhesion formation:

  1. Acute conditions, such as pulls and tears.  This requires actual trauma and the body repairs the damaged tissue with adhesions. This is more commonly called scar tissue.
  2. Hypoxia (low oxygen) pathway is the most common generator of adhesion in muscle.  This will occur without you knowing it and can occur from repetitive motions or from standing or sitting in sustained postures. If a muscle doesn’t get adequate oxygen it will trigger adhesion formation.

An example of the hypoxic pathway occurs while you work at your computer. Typing results in continuous contraction of the forearm muscles (controlling your fingers) and can cause a low oxygen environment in those muscles. This will trigger fibroblasts to form muscle adhesions.  Muscle adhesions can overload the the attachment point of the muscles on the outside of the elbow and causes elbow pain (this will make more sense after reading part 2).  This is commonly called lateral epicondylitis or tennis elbow.  Tennis players abuse the forearm muscles as well, especially during backhand movements and can trigger adhesion formation as well.

Who would have thought that these two activities could lead to the same problem?

Part 2: How can adhesion lead to pain?

Part 3: How to diagnose and treat adhesion?

*Please note that every patient is different. The content and tips displayed on this page are for educational purposes only, and do not substitute for medical advice. Please consult with a medical or healthcare provider, such as Dr. Phipps, for specific diagnosis and treatment advice. Williamsville, NY 14221 Chiropractor