Neuromuscular Reeducation is a “stand-alone” hands-on technique/approach to the evaluation and functional treatment of 90+% of the soft tissue injuries a professional will see in practice. Every muscle in the body is surrounded by a smooth fascial sheath, every muscular fascicule and fibril are surrounded by fascia that can exert pressures of over 2,000 pound per square inch. When an area is injured, whether it's muscle, connective tissue, fascia, tendon or some combination of these elements (as most injuries are), the body handles this inflammatory response of the tissues to trauma the only way it knows how, through a hyperplasia of the affected tissue followed by a fibrous healing, the laying down of a less elastic, second grade, poorly vascularized scar tissue to protect the involved areas. Adhesions occur wherever damage and inflammation have occurred and they limit both strength and range of motion.
Once there is fibrous healing these adhesions pull us out of a three dimensional orientation with gravity. As a muscle tendon begins to stretch and encounters an adhesion, the muscle contracts to prevent any further stretching and to protect the area involved.
This is accomplished by:
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Working each involved joint through the fullest possible range of motion during each session after the Neuromuscular work and then
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Sending a patient back to the activity that has been causing him or her the problem as soon as possible to demonstrate that the problem has been resolved.
Most bodybuilders and other athletes hope they can free adhesions on their own by forceful contractions and stretching, but this maneuver fails because:
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The inhibitory feedback signals from the affected area prevent sufficient contracting or stretching to accomplish this, and
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The adhesions are not necessarily parallel to the muscle fibers and can lie any direction thereby restricting full range of motion.