Week 3:
Twin Cities Orthopedics

June 16, 2013

Week three at Twin Cities Orthopedics consisted of many private sessions with a patient and physical therapist. Up until this point, I have spent most of my time in the general gym area where multiple physical therapists lead their patient through the rehab exercises. However this week I sat in on several longer sessions of deep tissue massage in which I learned a lot about scar tissue and the purpose of a massage. I sat in on several patients who had knee replacement surgeries and complained of knee joint pain and stiffness even 5-8 weeks out of surgery. Scar tissue is a result of a healing process that replaces damaged tissue with very fibrous, grainy tissue. This scar tissue greatly restricts motion and can cause pain. Deep tissue massage can help break up abnormal tissue and loosen up a joint and increase motion of the joint.

After the physical therapists massaged specific tight and tender regions of the joint and surrounding muscles, the patient continued to finish their rehab exercises. For the most part, the patients reported a reduction in pain after the massage even though they were in pain during the massage. Some patients require deep tissue massage while others do not, depending on the type of injury and symptoms after surgery.

It was interesting to learn about scar tissue and how deep tissue massage works, while also hearing the patient’s input. As always I look forward to continue to follow patients through their rehab and watch as they improve and eventually graduate from physical therapy.