Demonstration

Strain Counterstrain is a manual therapy whereby the clinician uses only his own hands for the treatment of muscle and joint pain. He uses passive body positioning of hypertonic (spasmed) muscles and dysfunctional joints toward positions of comfort or tissue ease that passively shorten and slacken the offending muscles.

The purpose of movement toward shortening is to relax aberrant reflexes that produce the muscle spasm. This forces immediate reduction of muscle tone to normal levels. It allows the joints influenced by the now-relaxed muscle to function optimally, increasing their range of motion and easing muscle and joint pain.

Strain Counterstrain is an effective but extremely gentle technique because its action for treatment moves the patient’s body away from the painful, restricted directions of motion.

Don’t be surprised or disappointed if you cannot understand the nature of the techniques displayed here.

This is not massage, stretching or exercise. With this technique I hold the patient’s body in a specific position in order to slacken a specific muscle. By doing this I will lower the frequency of nerve impulses sent from the muscle to the nervous system. This will, in turn, trigger the nervous system to send the relaxation reflex signals to release the muscle which is in spasm.

This subtle action within the nervous system’s activity cannot be seen.