The Importance of Soft Tissue

You may have heard your chiropractor refer to your “soft tissue”.  It’s an important part of your body, but what is it and how does it impact your muscles, pain, soreness or any restricted flexibility you may be having? Here’s some information to help you understand soft tissue and why it’s so important.

What Is Soft Tissue?

Basically, it’s the connective tissue just under your skin that connects the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels of the body.  It is also referred to as “fascia”.  Think of an orange.  You know the white stuff right under the rind?  That is just like your connective tissue.

Why Is It Important?

If your muscles and soft tissue are not stretched enough it can cause problems.  The soft tissue may tear or become stuck which results in injuries or adhesions.  That can limit your mobility and flexibility as well as cause pain and discomfort.

How Do You Get A Soft Tissue Injury?

Most of the time, a soft tissue injury is cause by overuse.  Repetitive motions such as running or swinging a tennis racket can cause a soft tissue injury. Repetitive injuries can also happen when your body is overcompensating, like when you have poor posture.  When muscles do what they weren’t intended to do that can lead to injury.  You can also experience an acute injury such as a sprained ankle.

Prevention

A healthy lifestyle can help to ward off injury, but there’s no way to rule it out completely.  Your chiropractor can, however, help you to reduce the chances that you’ll experience a soft tissue injury. Chiropractors can give nutritional advice as well as help with exercise plans that can help reduce injury.

Treatment

If you suspect a soft tissue injury, make an appointment with your chiropractor.  They will perform an evaluation to help them determine what muscles groups may be impacted by the injury and what kind of soft tissue injury you have.  Then, they’ll discuss a treatment plan with you that may include stretching, exercises and specialized techniques to help your muscles release.

It’s important to get treatment for soft tissue injuries.  If you think about the body as a system, when one part isn’t working right then it can have a serious impact on other parts of the system.  If you have an injury it could cause problems beyond where the injury originated.  So make sure to consult your chiropractor today and get on the road recovery.

Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of michael warren

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