Myotherapy – Experience the difference.

Article co-authored by Polly in Musculoskeletal Australia 2020:

Have you heard of someone proclaiming the amazing benefits of myotherapy or have you seen it listed on your private health fact sheet, but don’t actually know what it is? You’re not alone. Myotherapy is a significantly smaller and newer allied health profession than many others. Yet despite its lower profile, Myotherapy has become an effective treatment for pain since its conception in the 1980s, rapidly growing in popularity in recent years. From its humble beginnings at RMIT in Melbourne, myotherapy has branched out across Australia.

What is myotherapy?

Myotherapy is a health care profession that focuses on the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of pain associated with musculoskeletal conditions. As the myotherapy profession has grown, so too has its scope of practice, moving beyond just treating muscles to include many other techniques and options for the treatment of pain. Myotherapists are known for being hands on with their treatments, and one of their great strengths is their soft tissue skills. This is a short-term intervention to calm down an edgy or protective nervous system that allows your myotherapist to explore longer-term solutions.

The treatment skills of a myotherapist can be classified broadly as either active or passive. Passive treatments are those that are ‘done to you’, providing short-term relief of pain to restore preferred movements. These can be incredibly helpful when working to change protective muscle spasms, movement patterns, fears and stress. Active treatments are longer lasting, and involve you taking action to change behaviors that will lead to long-term changes in your health problems and lifestyle. These include exercise, education, lifestyle modifications and exploring the many different contributors to your pain. In essence, myotherapy helps people in pain to move better and live their best life.

A myotherapist will foster a relationship of respect, care and trust with you, to form a unique plan to get you back to doing what you love.

So, what sets myotherapy apart from the rest?

Myotherapy treatment sessions are often longer than those of other allied health providers, to plan and implement a comprehensive foundation for care and recovery. As well as giving ample time for strong hands-on therapy and exercise rehabilitation, this allows the myotherapist to nurture the relationship with you, and to develop and communicate an individualised plan for your future.

Myotherapists are uniquely placed to offer a wide range of personalised treatments that can help to reduce pain, get you moving again and find ways to get you back to doing what you love. Coming from small beginnings as a profession, myotherapists have had to fight hard to be respected among other health professions. Consequently they have developed incredible problem-solving skills, which set them apart from their peers, and are passionate in advocacy for their patients. Myotherapists will see people who have fallen between the cracks of the allied health care system, who have had little success with other treatment providers, and hence myotherapists have become excellent at thinking outside the box in treating people living with pain. No two people are the same, and thus no two people should be treated the same when it comes to pain.

What does a typical session with a myotherapist look like?

A myotherapist will spend time with you. One of the greatest benefits of a myotherapy session is longer treatment time, which allows them to get your full story, develop an authentic relationship with you and tailor the treatment and outcomes to your expectations and goals. The therapeutic relationship is one of the strongest determinants of a successful outcome for any pain treatment. A myotherapist will listen to your story to understand the nature of your problem and its impact on your life. This will include any aspects of your life that are affected by your pain. These can be physical – e.g., work, exercise, lifestyle; psychological – e.g., anxiety, stress, beliefs; or social – e.g., access to health care, support system, family relationships.

A myotherapist will identify your reasons for coming to see them and what you hope to get out of the treatment. A myotherapist will assess your body and movements – muscles, tendons, nerves, ligaments, joints, and rule out serious conditions that may require referral, before moving ahead with treatment.

A myotherapist will treat you with a range of interventions, tailored to you and your goals. This plan may include soft tissue therapy to calm an over-protective nervous system, as well as exploring lifestyle and stress reduction strategies, exercise and movement interventions. They will help you find ways to include your valued activities back in your life, as this can be one of the most powerful ways to influence your body’s protective systems.

A myotherapist will explain and educate you as to what to expect on your journey of recovery, helping you make sense of why you hurt. Education can be a powerful pain reliever as you understand why this is happening to you.

How is myotherapy different from physio or osteo?

By definition there isn’t a lot of difference between musculoskeletal health professionals. Myotherapists use many of the same orthopedic assessment techniques as physios and osteopaths, as well as many of the same treatment techniques. Apart from minor differences in approach, the differences mainly lie in the scope of practice, rather than the quality of treatment. For example, myotherapists commonly treat general musculoskeletal pain and movement dysfunction, whereas physiotherapists also extend their treatment to cardiovascular and serious neurological pathologies. A smaller scope of practice means that myotherapists achieve excellence in the conditions that they treat.

Myotherapists typically work in many settings such as private clinics, hospitals, sporting clubs or community health services. As myotherapists are first contact practitioners, you don’t need a referral to see one and you can claim through your private health fund. Myotherapists may work closely with allied health professionals, general practitioners and specialists to establish optimal outcomes for patients living with pain, regardless of the complexity of their problems.

In summary Myotherapy treatment aims to help you become confident that you can return to moving your body in ways that best support your lifestyle and what you value. It is all about you.

Consider myotherapy the next time you’re in pain. Myotherapists are health professionals with an innate understanding of and comprehensive education in the human body, to help you on your journey to wellness and vitality. If you are in pain and in need of help contact the team at The State Of Mind to experience the difference.

Written by Polly Bongiorno & Mathew Richardson, 2020