Cross Frictional Massage

[powerplant42]

So I was doing some browsing on the web the other day looking for a possible way to remedy my ever-persistent hamstring soreness issues... Rest does me no good, stretching sometimes makes things WORSE, and ice just dulls pain for a little while. Excercise makes my hammies WAYYYY sorer than they should be. I found something that I thought might work... It's called cross frictional massage.

The technique is very different from other massage techniques... There is no oil, and the direction is across the grain of the muscle rather than with it... You pull the skin along with the fingers as opposed to sliding over it. It is supposed to be a bit painful, and, according to one article I found, "if done properly it should almost bring tears to your eyes"... But another one or two contradicted that.

The idea behind it is this: break apart old scar tissue so that it can heal properly.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Has anyone tried it with success? I have already done it to myself a few times... I feel as if this may be exactly what I've been waiting for. I'm almost pain free!!!

Anyone?

[KirkB]

... It's called cross frictional massage.

The technique is very different from other massage techniques... There is no oil, and the direction is across the grain of the muscle rather than with it... You pull the skin along with the fingers as opposed to sliding over it. It is supposed to be a bit painful, and, according to one article I found, "if done properly it should almost bring tears to your eyes"... But another one or two contradicted that.

The idea behind it is this: break apart old scar tissue so that it can heal properly.

Has anyone ever heard of this?

PP, I have never heard of that, but it sounds like it's similar to Graston Technique, which my chiro did on me last year. Same idea, but he uses small stainless steel tools of different shapes ... it breaks apart old scar tissue so that it can heal properly. At least that's what he told me. I actually hated it ... but only becuz I'm a wuss ... it really was painful. I much prefer his manual manipulations ... without instruments. At least then, if something's going to hurt, he's going to feel it in his hands too. But pain aside, he's probably right ... there's probably some science behind this ... and you just have to put up with the pain.

Here's his web page about it. http://www.nvchiro.com/gt I don't go to him anymore, but only becuz I moved a half hour away ... and I found another good one a block away. If he was close by, I'd still go to him.

If I was you, I would seriously go to a chiro that does GT and see if he recommends it for your situation ... or go to a clinic with both a chiro and a massage therapist and see which one they think is best. My Dr. Barone also does Active Release Technique ... which is another GOOD chiro technique ... one that I like. Generally, I'd trust the work of a chiro over a massage therapist ... they're just better trained in the details of athletic ailments ... and yours is a strange one, so a MT might (MIGHT) do more harm than good ... if he doesn't really understand your details.

Kirk

[Cooleo111]

I learned about TFM this past semester in one of my physical therapy classes. In theory, it is pretty much as you described, sort of rubbing across the muscle fibers in order to separate adhesions (scar tissue), while not damaging/tearing the muscle tissue itself. I was recovering from a hamstring injury myself while we were practicing this technique, but I did not have the benefit of an experienced therapist working on me, so I can't tell you whether it worked for me personally or not. I will say, however, that if done correctly it will be painful as it is a deep technique. My recommendation would be to try it as long as it isn't overly expensive and fits into your schedule. Hamstring injuries are a pretty common indication for this type of massage, so it should not cause any harm. However, I would also keep resting and icing appropriately, since it seems you are overly anxious to train at a high level. I was driving myself crazy a few months ago after hurting my hamstring by not training the way I wanted to, but if you want to prevent further injury you have got to let your body heal.

Good luck!

[bel142]

There are many things that are interesting about this post that we can talk about, I am just going to talk about one. The Golgi tendon organ helps facilitate contraction when dealing with stretch and tendons (This is the mechanism that helps the quadriceps fire when the patella knee kick reflex is done in a doctors office). So keep in mind when using massages, although it's going to feel really good and help facilitate recovery, it can have a detrimental affect on performance even a couple of days after on the neurological side of performance because that mechanism can be messed up. SO I'm just going to say don't go over board with massages, certainly in or around competitions.

Allot of this has to be done with personal preference, as for me, I'm a hairy guy so pulling the skin is just going to be painful in general without lubrication, so... take that for whats its worth...

can you post a link to the journal article so we can read it?

cheers,
bel

[rainbowgirl28]

It's definitely something that takes time to recover from, so don't do it within a few days of a meet, and make sure to drink lots of water.

[powerplant42]

http://www.syracusechargers.org/therapy/chapt14.htm
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Article ... assage.htm
http://www.ombregt.be/engels/friction.htm

I'm going to do some more now...

[vault3rb0y]

I try to only get massages about 2-3 hours after i compete on Saturdays. No other time of the week am i well equiped to rest from them. But yes, in an arsenal of techniques, they generally flush my calves and shins, as well as do a cross fictional massage. To me, this is less painful than going straight up the shin muscle, but whatever works, use it! You could also work in some "active release" that i know nothing about other than what i see our trainers doing.... it involves flexing the muscle that hurts and a trainer pushes on the point in the muscle that might be kinked or have a knot, then when you release, it usually breaks the knot to make a massage easier. Not sure if that applicable to you, but its another idea.

[bel142]

"the shin muscle"?? ...come on... your better than that...

[golfdane]

"the shin muscle"?? ...come on... your better than that...

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