Date: 11.02.19
Location: Plymouth Marjon University
Total amount of hours: 31
In this session, a female client aged 18 was treated for pain within their calf. The client has previously competed in football and cricket and is also is a football coach.
After completing a consultation form and observing the injury, it was clear that the client had a lot of tightness within the calf’s, with the left being much tighter than the right. The client did feel some pain in palpation (3/10 NRS). Treatment was given using a light effleurage to help warm up the muscle and prepare for further treatments. Petrissage techniques were then applied using techniques such as such as wringing, and kneading were then applied, however this caused the client some pain (7/10 NRS). After treating the calf using massage techniques, Muscular energy techniques (MET’S) were then used. This will help to increase range of motion through lengthening the muscles. This was achieved by positioning the client she was lying face down with her feet off the end of the bed. By applying a small amount of force against the clients foot, forcing it into dorsiflexion, and asking the client to resist against this counter force, the stretch was held for 30 seconds. This helped to contract and stretch the muscle. This technique was repeated three times, each time adding slightly more force to the foot.
After stretching the gastrocnemius, the soleus muscle was then stretched. To do this, the client was still positioned face down on the bed with the knee flexed to a 90 degree angle and the foot relaxed. To stretch the soleus muscle, the forearm over the sole of the clients foot to help force the foot into dorsiflexion whilst asking the client resist against this force for 30 seconds. This stretched and helped to contract the soleus muscle. This was repeated three times on each leg with more force being applied each time to push the muscle to a new barrier. After these techniques had been applied, the client was then able to achieve a better range of movement within the gastrocnemius and soleus.
Testing the client’s ROM both before and after treatment had been applied will help to identify whether the treatment had been effective.