Myofaction

Myofaction - Myofascial Manipulation is concerned with the treatment of muscles, tendons and ligaments. The book covers four main types of massage technique: cross-fibre kneading, muscle inhibition, transverse friction and passive stretching and introduces myofaction, a new technique which combines kneading, stretching, breathing and isometric muscle contraction.

Myofaction explains massage scientifically and comprehensively. There are four fundamental elements in the myofaction massage technique - the primary force of compression or transverse pressure, the secondary force of torsion, the longitudinal or stretch force and the patients synchronised breathing. These are combined with a fifth element - isometric muscle contraction, to generate internal tension within the muscle, to produce a highly effective clinical intervention. The name myofaction is a derivative of muscle (myo) and fascia (fa) and isometric muscle contraction (action).

The book is divided into an introduction and a technique section. The introduction looks at the philosophy of health, concepts around massage, anatomy, the importance of movement and the causes of restricted movement. It explains how to assess a patient by taking a case history and doing a physical examination. It defines key terms used in the book, provides a list of all the muscles and their actions and explains the myofaction and kneading cycles.

The bullet points take you through each technique step-by-step. They explain the starting position of the patient and therapist, which soft tissues are being massaged, where they are located, which part of the therapists hand or forearm is used and how to do the technique. The whole book is clear, easy to read and extremely user friendly.

The anatomy of each region is explained with handy anatomical diagrams. There are hundreds of photographs, and line drawn images showing the therapist performing the technique on the patient, with arrows showing the direction of the muscle fibres, the direction of massage pressure and the direction of the muscle contraction, to help the user better understand the written description. A small mini-key for the arrows is placed below each illustration to remind the reader of the meaning of the different arrows.

The book contains one hundred and forty two different techniques, one hundred and ninety photographs, two hundred illustrations and eighty six anatomical diagrams. There are massage techniques for every part of the body starting with the head, jaw, suboccipital, cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacroiliac spine, ribs, shoulders, arms, elbows, forearms, hands, hips, thighs, knees, legs, and feet. Finally, the book looks at the lymphatics system, which is responsible for the drainage of the muscles and techniques to help retrain the habitual overuse of muscles.

Myofaction is an instruction manual and a reference book on anatomy and massage technique. It can be used to fix problems or help prevent health problems developing. The book is useful for anyone who works on other people's bodies including masseurs, osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors, manual therapists, naturopaths and medical doctors. It is a highly effective hands-on intervention that can reduce treatment time and improve the health and efficiency of muscles, tendons and ligaments.