I have been a Licensed Massage Therapist in Portland, Oregon for 30 years. I have trained and used many techniques along the way. One of my favorites is the tried and true technique of Friction.
The tissues that we mostly address as massage therapists are muscle and connective tissues, such as fascia. Muscle tissue is considered contractile tissue meaning it can shorten, tighten or lengthen as you move. Connective tissue, such as fascia, is considered extensile tissue, meaning that it should stretch as you move. Fascia surrounds every fiber of every muscle, as well as every organ, blood vessel and nerve fiber in the body. When you use friction as a technique, you create heat in the tissue. Heat helps increase the extensibility of the connective tissue. This helps to create space in the tissue allowing your muscles and you to move with greater ease. There is less restraint and more fluidity. The IT band is a great example. It is a long band that runs from the hip to below the kneecap on the outside of the leg. It connects with several muscles including the tensor fascia latae, the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius. A tight band can cause hip and knee pain and dysfunction. A massage therapist can use various friction techniques to help bring heat and movement to the area and allow both the tendon and the surrounding muscles to relax, bringing relief to the client.
There are many great techniques that we use as LMT’s. Friction is often forgotten, but I wanted to give it a shout out. I believe it is a very useful technique and I use it in almost every treatment.
