At Alignment Lab we feature a massage technique known as The Hendrickson Method of Massage and Manual Therapy. This technique was developed by Dr. Tom Hendrickson, D.C. and has its roots in physical therapy and osteopathy. When Tiffany and I originally received our training from Dr. Hendrickson he called his method “Orthopedic Massage,” and we have continued to use that moniker since its rebranding.

Orthopedic Massage (OM) is outstanding for breaking up tissue adhesions, increasing blood flow, reducing pain, and improving range of motion and functionality in muscles and joints. OM does all of these wonderful things for our bodies by employing 3 key components in its methodology. These components are wave mobilization, joint mobilization and the application of MET’s or muscle energy techniques.

Wave mobilization refers to the way that the massage strokes are given in OM. Specifically, the practitioner applies the strokes with a wave like motion in a direction that is perpendicular to the muscle fibers. This cross-friction movement, modeled after waves in the ocean, is relaxing to receive and to give. By staying more relaxed ourselves as we give the massage, our clients enjoy more of the benefits of wave mobilization. These include greater fluid uptake in muscles and tissues, improved blood flow and a calming effect on the nervous system.

While wave mobilization targets the muscles are nervous system, low speed joint mobilization, a second key component to OM, helps to reduce stiffness and swelling in joints by gently moving them during the massage. Joint mobilization also helps improve the muscle firing patterns that actively move a given joint and help with the client’s neurological awareness of his/her joint and it’s function. And joint mobilization, like wave mobilization, feels good to give and to receive!

Despite the many benefits of wave and joint mobilization, sometimes the neurological patterns in a person’s body are resistant to change. MET’s, a third key component of OM, are a safe, comfortable and relatively easy way of affecting these patterns by helping a clients muscles, nervous system and brain recognize and release dysfunctional muscle tensions that are persisting unnecessarily and contributing to pain and discomfort. MET’s can also help restore more functional muscle firing patterns and remove or reduce chronic stress on the joints.

Because OM can be done without the use of oils or lotion, it can be easily incorporated into a Personal Alignment Training session. As I’ve begun to include OM as a complement to the active training, I’ve seen pain reduction and improved function accelerate. This has reinforced for me why we’ve called our work Personal Alignment Training for Health (P.A.T.H.). While Personal Alignment Training can be applied for any purpose, including performance training, our ultimate goal with every client is a positive health related outcome.