What is Strain / Counter Strain?

Strain and Counter strain, originally called "positional release technique" was developed in 1955 by an osteopathic physician named Lawrence Jones. In observing a skilled Strain and Counter Strain practitioner you will immediately be impressed with how gentle and non-traumatic this technique is for treating the painful patient. A clinician is quickly able to assess the entire body for areas of pain and dysfunction and the involvement of the patient in assisting to guide the clinicians movement of their body enhances the therapeutic benefit of the treatment.

How does Strain /Counter Strain Work?

Strain and Counter Strain is a manual therapy technique, meaning the clinician uses only their hands, to treat muscle and joint pain and dysfunction. It uses passive body positioning of spastic muscles and dysfunctional joints towards positions of comfort or tissue ease that compress or shorten the offending structure. The purpose of movement toward shortening is to relax aberrant reflexes that produce the muscle spasm forcing immediate reduction of tone to normal levels. This allows the joints influenced by the now relaxed muscle to function optimally increasing its range of motion and easing muscle pain. Strain and Counterstrain is an effective but extremely gentle technique because its action for treatment moves the patient's body away from the painful, restricted direction of motion.

Who Can Benefit From Strain and Counter Strain?

Strain and Counter Strain has an extremely broad application for physical ailments and can be used for the very acute traumas (i.e., sports injuries, motor vehicle accidents, ankle sprains, post-surgical, etc) to the more chronic (i.e., osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, TMJ pain, headaches, etc.) Its value with acute pain patients is unmatched because it is so gentle and non-traumatic. The clinician is guided by what feels good to the patient and often traumatic changes are made in decreased pain, muscle guarding and swelling. These changes facilitate the patients healing process for a faster more complete recovery.