Soft Tissue Lesions
Soft tissue lesions refers to damage inflicted on the soft muscular and connective tissue of the body. In particular it concerns any overstretch or tears to the muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and connective joint tissues. Some of the soft tissue injuries commonly treated include;
- Sprains – which are partial micro tears or complete ruptures in the ligament tissue.
- Strains – partial or complete tears in the muscle tissue.
- Bruise / contusion – Tenderness and discolouration at site of injury due to capillary rupture and soft tissue damage.
In the early stages, the treatment of soft tissue injuries focuses on the management of inflammation. Your therapist will use techniques to alleviate your pain and reduce swelling and stiffness. It is important to seek advice soon after injury to help gently maintain mobility whilst the tissues initially heal. This phase lasts only 3-5 days.
After the inflammation settles the soft tissues lay down new fibres to repair itself in a process that will last several weeks. To ensure the tissues remain flexible and functionally strong your therapist can apply stretch and strengthening exercises. A poorly healed injury is at greater risk of re-injury and will feel stiff and weak.
In the later stages of healing it is important to progressively strengthen the injured soft tissues with functional exercises to facilitate a confident return to normal daily activities or sports participation. Your therapist can tailor an exercise rehabilitation plan that can help you achieve those goals.
Our experienced therapists can assess your level of injury and target the specific structures that have been affected. A comprehensive assessment of the client, the circumstances surrounding the cause of injury and a physical examination, may lead to treatments including –
- Heat treatments, including Ice, to reduce swelling and relieve pain.
- Elevation of injury, helps to passively drain any swelling from the tissues
- Soft tissue massage, to alleviate stiffness and pain whilst improving circulation and dispersing swelling.
- Electrotherapy to promote soft tissue healing.
- Stretching exercises to loosen tight muscles.
- Advice on activity modification during recovery to reduce risk of re-injury.
- Advice on the use of splints to maintain flexibility and stability during recovery.
- Progressive strengthening exercises, to regain functional strength and improve joint stability.
- Mobilisation exercises to regain range of movement.
Based on the symptoms you present with and the results of the assessment the therapist will develop a personalised treatment plan to address your injury and recovery goals you wish to achieve.
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I didn't actually choose to see Nick - I was sent to him by my exasperated personal trainer, and now I can't thank her enough! Five weeks before the London Marathon I developed a pain in one of my glutes and did what any self-respecting idiot would do - ran on it until it was so bad it hurt just to walk, and the months of training seemed like they'd been for nothing.
Nick is wonderful. He's very professional and thorough and he has a naturally calming manner that will put you at ease. He also clearly knows his stuff - in our first session he quickly identified my problem (piriformis) explained it in terms I could understand (!) and gave me exercises to speed up recovery.
I had three more sessions and they were well worth it. As well as treating the injury he also assessed my running style for any underlying issues and correctly identified previous injury sites. With his help I was able to quickly get back into training and, by some miracle, a week before the marathon I was pain free.
I joked that, as well as fixing my injury, I expected Nick to make me run faster. Well, maybe... Just maybe... The man's a magician! I'm delighted to say I ran a pb, clocked my first sub-3 hour marathon and came 46th out of all the ladies. Thank you Nick! I cannot recommend him enough.
- Ros P
A big thank you to Elaine (osteopath) at Nick Castle Osteopathy & Sports Medicine Clinics - after just 2 sessions she managed to work out some major aches and pains I'd been having daily, for over 6 months. I plan on seeing her on a regular basis to prevent any future problems. Thanks again!
- Priti S
I have had 2 sports massages with Nick, one in Kensington and one in Amersham. Nick is a very approachable therapist, who spends time building a picture of the type of sports you do and the injuries you have. I have found Nick's techniques to really help improve my performance.
- Jane B
