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SPORTS INJURIES LONGITUDINAL CHUCKING Chucking the structural tissue overlying a limb also resets the nerve propriocepters and engages the nervous system. This technique is for the limbs above and below the injury. TECHNIQUE Grasp the fl esh around the limb. • Chuck the muscular fl esh along the • long bone (the radius and ulna for elbow injury), parallel to the bone, with a quick, snapping motion. • Move along the length of the long bone, repeating the chucking several times along the length. Chuck toward the insertion and toward the origin. • Repeat the chucking on the limb segment on the other end of the injured joint (humerus for elbow injury). COUNTER TORQUE TISSUE TWIST Twisting the soft tissue overlying a limb resets the nerve proprioceptors and helps orient the nervous system to reestablish healing. Use this technique on the limbs above and below the injury. TECHNIQUE Grasp the fl esh around the limb. • Rotate the mass of muscular fl esh • around the long bone (the radius and ulna for elbow injury), while the client rotates the bone in the opposite direction. • Take the rotation to the limit of its comfortable range. • Move along the length of the long bone, repeating the rotation several times along the length. • Repeat the rotation on the limb segment on the other end of the injured joint (humerus for elbow injury). PULSE BALANCE There are a lot of potential energy therapies to be used with injury, and all probably have value. "There are refl ex techniques that stimulate blood and lymph fl ow to isolated muscles," Bowen says. "Function can be restored to the muscles by correcting the fl ow of energy in the meridians." Kinesionics practitioners fi nd this simple method to be powerful and effective. TECHNIQUE Find a consciously tender spot at the injury site. • • Match this with the tender spot in the corresponding matching limb (it will almost always be there). • Balance pulses in the two points by holding with fi ngers (one hand on each limb) until the subtle pulses in each location equalize. TREATMENT FOR THE WHOLE INJURED PERSON Blackmore advocates a team approach for chronic injuries, since massage therapists specialize in soft tissues only. "Add a physical therapist to strengthen surrounding tissues and the antagonistic muscles, a personal trainer or athletic trainer with an injury rehabilitation background, and an orthopedic physician. People should go to the type of therapist they have confi dence in. In the long term, look at what is causing the injuries. Is it lack of fl exibility, lack of strength, or a mechanical issue?" Riehl, Blackmore, and Bowen are unanimous in their suggestion that injuries don't just involve the body. "Bring awareness and consciousness to the injury, and explore the area internally, to restore energy and blood fl ow," Riehl says. "I call it 'feeling into your injury,'" he adds. "Explore the emotional connections with the injured area," Bowen says. "The emotional piece can be identifi ed and diffused by various techniques as well." Traumatic injuries are no fun, but they can usually heal quickly. And they heal a lot quicker with treatment. We especially want them to heal completely and not drag on for decades, as they so often do. Adding a complete toolkit of manual therapies and assorted natural treatments to your repertoire will boost your success, get a lot of athletes back on the fi eld, and help a lot of people live without chronic pain. the Kinesionics Institute, which off ers an extensive schedule of courses throughout North America. He is based in Eugene, Oregon. NOTES 1. Henry O. Kendall and Florence Kendall, Muscles: Testing and Function (Baltimore, Maryland: The Williams & Wilkins Company, 1949). 2. Shahram Lotfi pour, "Muscle Strain," WebMD. www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/muscle- strain (accessed September 2008). 3. Ibid. 4. David Kent, "Keeping It Simple," MassageToday. com. www.massagetoday.com/mpacms/mt/column. php?c_id=2971 (accessed September 2008). Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa is the director of visit massageandbodywork.com to access your digital magazine 51