AboutJulie Donnelly, LMT Expertise I can accept questions that relate to chronic or acute pain caused by muscle spasms and contractions. Repetitive Strain Injury is actually Cumulative Trauma to muscles. Releasing the spasm &/or contraction will relieve the strain that is felt at the insertion point on the bone.
Experience
Past/Present clients Privacy prevents me from filling in this section without prior consent from my clients.
Life Experience: I began to get interested in the treatment of muscle spasms and contractions while I lived in Honolulu, HI. A sailing friend had severe pain following raceing each week. He would lie on the grass, bearly able to breathe from the pain in his back. I would rub his back, feeling "bumps" that I would "smooth out", and his pain would completely go away. This intrigued me, until I eventually went to school to learn how to be a Massage Therapist. I went to work on a cruise ship and had the experience of working on approximately 3000 people in one year - a great opportunity to really feel muscle spasms and contractions! I concentrated on thoroughtly learning one muscle every day, locating it on each client, and feeling "what hurts & what doesn't hurt". A six month stay in St. Thomas, USVI, was beneficial because I worked with an Osteopath who taught me excellent release techniques that I still use. Next I moved to Hawaii and worked in a clinic that only treated chronic pain patients. It was in Hawaii that I wrote my first book "Massage Therapy Healing Techniques Workbook". It was written for massage therapists and was a compilation of treatments for very specific painful conditions. The book was revised in 1996 and a companion video was added at that time. In 1995 I suffered with Frozen Shoulder - an incredibly painful condition. I was told I'd never be able to regain full range-of-motion in my shoulder. I did deep muscle therapy on myself, while a friend work where I couldn't reach. The condition healed 100%. In 1997 I developed carpal tunnel syndrome that put me out of business. Surgery was recommended, I refused because of my awareness that scar tissue from the surgery could be more detrimental than carpal tunnel syndrome. Using the knowledge I had gained through the years, especially what I had learned through the Frozen Shoulder episode, enabled me to work out what was REALLY causing the carpal tunnel condition. I worked each affected muscle, and eventually regained 100% use of my hand, completely pain free. I quickly began to treat my clients using this new knowledge, and soon afterward began teaching them how to do the self-treatment techniques. It worked everytime, except a person had already had surgery! I began clinical trials at a medical facility, where I still teach the techniques with incredible success. In 1999 Zev Cohen, MD, who was working with me developing the carpal tunnel treatment, joined me in the business. We wanted to bring this effective technique to the world, not limited to only our town.
In 2000 I published my second book "How To Be Pain-less...A Beginner's Guide To The Self Treatment of Muscle Spasms". In this book, using 114 photographs, I show how to self-treat muscles throughout the body. In the summer of 2000, Dr. Cohen and I produced an instructional video teaching the carpal tunnel self treatment, and in March 2001 we opened a web site (www.aboutcts.com) to teach people about the muscular component of carpal tunnel syndrome, and to share the self-treatment system with the public.
Question I, too, recently had a deep calf muscle pain while running which left me limping the next day. Massaged with a Chinese soothing oil and wrapped it over night. I stopped running for a week, felt better, and went out yesterday but it again occurred. This time when I began running I felt the tightness but continued anyway because it felt as if it was going to work itself out. I ran for 50 minutes about 7 miles did not resist the tightness. Today I faced some limping although not as bad as the first occurrence. It's my left inside calf. I rarely run on concrete mostly on asphalt and dirt. Running uphill is the most uncomfortable. What is the recovery time? What stretches could I perform to accelerate the recovery? Does wrapping and massage aid in the recovery? Is so, how long? Thank you.
Answer Hi SPH,
One thing you need to be careful about with deep calf pain is to make sure there isn't a clot. It may be wise to check with your physician because massaging a clot could be serious.
After you are sure that your leg is free of clots, then you can safely treat the muscles. I suggest you go to http://www.julstro.com to read about why muscles cause pain, it will help you understand what is happening.
Most massages don't get to the soleus muscle or the tibialis posterior muscle, both of which are under the thick gastrocnemius muscle that forms the calf. You can treat them with your opposite knee, which is most effective at reaching this spot. The problem with stretching when there is a knot in the muscle is that stretching won't release the knot, and it will actually make the spasm more complicated while overstretching the fibers on either side of the spasm. You really need to release that spasm first. The most effective way is direct pressure onto the spasm, and hold it for 60 seconds.
You'll understand more after you've read the information on the website. I don't think that wrapping it will help much, the cause of the problem is too deep to have wrapping be effective. The athletes I've worked with have mostly found relief very quickly, after they've found the spasm. That's the key, but with the calf the spasm is either directly in the middle, or it's like a long carrot is stuck into the muscle along the inside of your lower leg.
The bottom line is that I believe that you can treat it properly yourself, it will just take you some time and concentrated effort.
