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Soft Tissue Mobilization

Soft tissue mobilization is a form of manual physical therapy where your licensed PT uses hands-on techniques on your muscles, ligaments and fascia in order to break adhesions and optimize your muscle function.

Adhesions are your body’s attempt to heal a soft tissue injury with a lengthy inflammation process, resulting in long strands of collagenous scar tissue. These new tissues pull against one another, forming trigger points of pain.

Goals of Soft Tissue Mobilization:

  • Break down or reduce adhesions
  • Improve range of motion
  • Lengthen muscles and tendons
  • Reduce swelling and edema
  • Decrease pain
  • Restore functionality

Soft Tissue Mobilization Techniques

Your licensed PT is specially trained to use his or her hands to push, pull and knead your muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves in precise ways to help bring you pain relief and return you to functionality.

Specific techniques for soft tissue mobilization include:

Sustained pressure – pushing directly on the restricted tissue and holding

Unlocking spiral – pushing on the restricted tissue in alternating clockwise and counterclockwise rotating motions

Direct oscillations – rhythmic pushing on the restricted tissue

Perpendicular mobilization – pushing on the myofascial tissue at right angles

Parallel mobilization – pushing along the seams of muscles

Perpendicular strumming – rhythmic pushing along muscle border, followed by rubber of top of muscle

Friction massage – pushing across the grain of the muscles, tendons and ligaments

Being able to implement soft tissue mobilization techniques requires a significant amount of training in human anatomy and physiology and understand how manipulating the tissues will impact physical function. Physical therapists specialize in evaluation, assessment and treatment of movement function disorders. Soft tissue mobilization is just one of the strategies that we use to help our patients meet their functional goals.

If you have any strains, sprains, or questions about the techniques used in soft tissue mobilization, give us a call!

Soft tissue mobilization can help relieve pain and improve function.

To help achieve optimal results with soft tissue mobilization, we encourage you to:

  • Do your home exercises faithfully
  • Maintain a normal body weight
  • Get regular aerobic exercise
  • Engage in weight training, as directed by your physician

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Soft Tissue Mobilization Locations

Ada – Physical Therapy Central

1188 North Hills Centre
Ada, OK 74820
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Ardmore – Physical Therapy Central

2015 W Broadway St
Unit 3A
Ardmore, OK 73401
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Bethany – Physical Therapy Central

8006 Northwest 39th Expressway
Bethany, OK 73008
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Blanchard – Physical Therapy Central

845 E. Veterans Memorial Hwy
Blanchard, OK 73010
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Chickasha – Physical Therapy Central

304 South 29th Street
Chickasha, OK 73018
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Choctaw – Physical Therapy Central

14890 SE 29th Street
Suite 101
Choctaw, OK 73020
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Davis – Physical Therapy Central

201 W. Main St.
Davis, OK 73030
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Deer Creek – Physical Therapy Central

7115 NW 150th
Suite 4
Oklahoma City, OK 73142
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Edmond East – Physical Therapy Central

3633 E 2nd St
Edmond, OK 73034
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Edmond North – Physical Therapy Central

1260 West Covell Road
Ste 100
Edmond, OK 73003
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Edmond West – Physical Therapy Central

15101 Lleytons Ct
Edmond, OK 73013
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Elk City – Physical Therapy Central

1007 N. Main
Suite 102
Elk City, OK 73644
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Guthrie – Physical Therapy Central

108 West Harrison Avenue
Guthrie, OK 73044
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Kingfisher – Physical Therapy Central

105 North Main Street
Kingfisher, OK 73750
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Lawton – Physical Therapy Central

910 SW 38th St
Lawton, OK 73505
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Lindsay – Physical Therapy Central

301 East Cherokee Street
Lindsay, OK 73052
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Midwest City – Physical Therapy Central

1124 South Douglas Blvd
Midwest City, OK 73130
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Moore West – Physical Therapy Central

11521 S Western Avenue
Suite A
Oklahoma City, OK 73179
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Mustang – Physical Therapy Central

433 E Hwy 152
Suite 101
Mustang, OK 73064
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Newcastle – Physical Therapy Central

3699 Northwest 32nd Street
Newcastle, OK 73065
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Nichols Hills – Physical Therapy Central

6600 N. Olie Avenue
Suite B
Oklahoma City, OK 73116
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Noble – Physical Therapy Central

307 North Main Street
Noble, OK 73068
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Norman – Physical Therapy Central

440 Merchant Drive
Norman, OK 73069
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Norman West – Physical Therapy Central

2821 36th Avenue Northwest
Suite 130
Norman, OK 73072
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Oklahoma City Midtown – Physical Therapy Central

815 NW 12th St
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
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Oklahoma City South – Physical Therapy Central

8200 S Walker Ave
Suite 103
Oklahoma City, OK 73139
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Oklahoma City Southeast – Physical Therapy Central

6001 South Sooner Road
Suite D
Oklahoma City, OK 73135
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Oklahoma City Southwest – Physical Therapy Central

10740 South May Avenue
Suite 111
Oklahoma City, OK 73170
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Pauls Valley – Physical Therapy Central

34637 Airline Road
Pauls Valley, OK 73075
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Shawnee – Physical Therapy Central

3930 North Kickapoo Street
Shawnee, OK 74804
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St. Anthony North – Physical Therapy Central

6201 North Santa Fe Avenue
Suite 1000
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
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Stillwater – Physical Therapy Central

1405 South Western Road
Stillwater, OK 74074
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Oklahoma City Village – Physical Therapy Central

10908-C N May Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73120
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Yukon – Physical Therapy Central

800 Garth Brooks Boulevard
Suite 115
Yukon, OK 73099
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Frequently Asked Questions

  • A physical therapy visit lasts about 40-60 minutes. The actual contents of the visit vary based on your diagnosis/need, but typically what happens is:

    1. You check in with the receptionist, make any appointments necessary, and we discuss your health insurance benefits with you.
    2. You go into the gym. You can change clothes if you need to, then begin therapy.
    3. You perform 6-8 various exercises and stretches. These can include therapeutic band exercises, light body weight exercises, or minimal weights. The stretches will promote strength, stability, improved range of motion, and pain relief.
    4. We can initiate other techniques to include manual work, taping, cupping, and dry needling as needed.
    5. The therapist makes recommendations based on your progress. These can include altering the frequency of visits, making additions/alterations to your home exercise plan, or things to do before your next visit.
  • We recommend budgeting 40-60 minutes for a typical therapy session. The only exception to this will be your first visit, which can take about 20 minutes longer due to the physical therapy evaluation your therapist will provide. We also recommend showing up about 10-15 minutes early to your first visit. This way, you can complete the paperwork before your visit time and streamline the process.

  • If we are asking you to do something that is hurting too much, let us know! Physical therapy should not be severely painful. It is not common to be so sore that patients are in pain or it affects their daily life. If this ever happens during or after an appointment, let us know and we will adapt your program.

  • During your initial evaluation, your therapist may ask you a number of questions to determine what the cause of your pain is. This can include questions about your sleep habits, activity level, and work environment. They will also ask for a medical history, and then typically ask direct questions about where and when you experience pain.

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