Helpful Facts

A: Good communication between yourself and the therapist is vital before and during each treatment. Let the therapist know exactly what you expect from the treatment and ensure you give accurate health information. During the session, give your therapist any feedback about the treatment, including the amount of applied pressure, room temperature, lighting, or music.

A: Trigger points or trigger sites are described as hyperirritable spots in skeletal muscle that are associated with palpable nodules in taut bands of muscle fibers. Trigger point researchers believe that palpable nodules are small contraction knots and a common cause of pain. Compression of a trigger point may elicit local tenderness, referred pain, or local twitch response.

But what does all this mean? Basically, A trigger point is a toxic patch of spasming muscle that is in poor health. It is having a metabolic bad day, and is experiencing a severe energy crisis. Whilst choking off its own blood supply, it consumes lots of fuel and excretes lots of junk particles. There is a buildup of waste products and this in turn irritates nerve endings. Everything goes downhill! It’s a vicious cycle.

A: If you're spending hours at the office desk stuck in front of a computer, then there is pretty good chance that you too have developed less than perfect posture.

While we know that poor sitting posture is bad for us, we usually tend to ignore it because it’s what we need to do in order to complete the job.

We spend close to 97% of our time on our bums. We sit to eat, to work, and to relax. This is not what we were design for. As a result, posture is compomised. There is a shortening of the calves and hamstrings and we are supported by weak hips. We develop poor core stability increasing the strain on the lower back, and our shoulders begin to round off.

In a perfect world you would be able to get up out of your chair and go for a walk every hour. That's not always possible for many people, but getting in a little movement during the workday could help save you from strain or pain. Every hour you’re working get up for a few minutes and stretch. Take a few deep breaths and if you can, take a short walk (or at least a few steps). Gently roll your head around and then stretch your legs. It doesn't replace a fitness program, but it will definately help towards relieving pain or discomfort.

A: It is best described by viewing this short video with excerpts from the full 48 minute video. Click here to view the video.

Ron Alexander is a Remedial Musculoskeletal Therapist who founded the FFT® method in 1994 during his eight year appointment to the Australian Ballet. FFT® was developed to immediately address musculoskeletal symptoms presented to therapists.

FFT® is a simple drug free alternative that can be effective in modifing pain and increasing range of movement. The multi-dimensional effects to the body encourage normal movement patterns for rehabilitation in a pain free environment. The technique offers constant proprioceptive feedback and sustained load to tissues. The immediate response to pain and the tension/load created provides an innovative analgesic for a prolonged period, thereby creating a window of opportunity where the patient is better placed to listen to advice and encourage patient compliance. The method allows the previously painful movement or activity to become a crucial part of the treatment, as the tissues are continually stretched where and when it is most needed in a much more functional way than other forms of taping.