Liz Zanella

I'm so glad you asked!

Here is the wordy answer:

Myotherapy is an evidence-based approach to treating musculoskeletal conditions that involves thorough subjective history taking, orthopedic testing, manual therapies and movement intervention (exercise prescription) to address pain & mobility issues.

It's based on the biopsychosocial model which considers the social and psychological factors that are involved or affected the individual's condition, rather than a purely biomedical approach, which can be limited to treating symptoms of an injury without seeking to understand the how or why of the matter.

Here's the simple version:

Myotherapy uses techniques that are clinically proven to help with various physical conditions.

Myotherapists work with the patient to understand all of the factors involved in their pain, tests their current abilities and pain levels, and establishes an individualised treatment plan that can involve manual therapies and movements, towards getting the patient to where they want to be.

Every Myotherapist is trained to use a variety of different techniques, and we continue to learn new techniques as part of our professional development. So each Myo will have a different set of treatments that they are qualified to use.

Manual therapies include: Joint Mobilisation, Assisted Stretching/Passive-Assisted movements, Dry Needling, EStim needling / TENS, Resisted Muscle techniques (Muscle Energy Technique or METs, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation or PNFs), Remedial Massage, Fascial release techniques, Myofascial Trigger Point Release, and Thermotherapies.

It sounds scary, I know. Or maybe it's exactly what you're hoping for. Either way, the 'exercises' - let's call them movements - will be demonstrated to you, and you will be guided through them. They might challenge you a little bit, but they will be what you CAN do. Not what you 'should' do.

If you can't do a particular movement, or it causes you pain, then you're not likely to do it, right? So together, we find out what movements (sometimes it's doesn't even involve moving!) can be done and start from there.

Of course there are times when movement isn't possible, for example if you broke a finger yesterday, you'll need to let it rest for time. Movement would need to happen once some healing has occurred.

But the short answer is Yes. It's well documented that we need to change the pressures within tissues (muscle, tendon, ligament, bone, joint, et.) to create cellular change. We've got to move to make it better.

Great to hear you're not in pain. But not being able to move as well as previously can be rough. It can be because of a number of factors; scar tissue, inadequate neuromuscular retraining, strength changes, etc. Myotherapy can help identify what's preventing you from moving (or being stable), treat the tissues affected, and help you work towards getting movement back, or with adapting to permanent change.

Absolutely! There are Myotherapists & Clinical Myotherapists all over Victoria, and I'm happy to help you find someone close-by. Send me an email and I'll see what I can do.

I am also working on starting a regional outreach project. If you're interested in knowing a bit more, or want to nominate your area, scroll down to the Contact section and send a message.

Yes, Remedial Massage is available. You can book in a 30min, 45 min, or 1 hour treatment session, and you'll see it listed in the appointment types when you press the Book Here button in the Services section.

If it's the first time you're making an appointment, consider booking a Clinical Myotherapy Initial Consult first though, as Remedial is likely to make you feel better for a day or so - it's great for 'maintenance', whereas Clinical Myo looks at recovery.

I certainly hope so. If you have a diagnosis already, I would suggest a 1 hour initial consult. If you're unsure why you have pain, please consider booking a longer session.