Tranverse frictions

What is the rationale behind tranverse friction for conditions such as tennis elbow?

yo

Transverse fricitions is a tretament used by physios to henerally aid and accelerate the inflammatory process, thus enebaling the area to return to a normal state asap, reaching the remodeling phases as fast as possible.

It helps in realigning the lines of stress, and also provides a good scar tissue integrity within the damaged tendon.

Furthermore, trans frictions have been shown to increase the blood supply to the area, which will remove any excess harmful products from the area, aiding in reducing pain sensations.

Hope this info is enough.
take care

Hi,

It functions but affects need to be studied
bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/...t/38/6/675

the second is more objective?
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entr...s=12519601

Thanks for the replies. Should transverse frictions induce treatment soreness? Also, if the friction is applied perpendicular to the line of the fibre, how does that help realign the fibres?

As the name suggests, the friction is done transversely on the affected tissue so that thr fibrous tissues are released

Hey guys,

Yup... it hurts. What you are basically doing is removing (rubbing off) tissue very similar to wet scabs. Is it effective? That depends on your patient. If they do their self care then yes it is very effective. If they dont do self care then all you are doing is causing excessive scaring in the area. Also, if you deal with athletes, then you have to time it so they can recover fully before returning to sports. Since it can take a week to three weeks to recover fully, I usually wait until the off season to do it. Unathletic patients still have to be assessed to see if their busy schedules will allow healing to be completed without further injury.

Adamo

The logic and rationale behind transverse frictions, or "deep frictions", as Cyriax calls them, is outlined in the "textbook of Orthopaedic Medicine" volume one by James Cyriax, in chapter 2: Trauma to Soft Tissue, and the technique is described in "Cyriax's Textbook of Orthopaedic Medicine", volume 2, chapter 3.
the short term explanation is that due to the inflammation occuring post trauma a network of fibrils forms, which then starts to create adhesions, which later create problems. Transverse frictions break these adhesions, and "each fiber is drawn away from its fellow", and "the surface of a tendon may be smoothed off". Other considerations are: the right spot must be found, the therapist's fingers and the patient's skin must move as one, sufficient sweep is required, the friction must reach deep enough,muscles must be kept relaxed while being frictioned, tendons with a sheath must be kept taut.
Volume 2 then also deels with "Indication for and against Deep Friction" as well as technique in general, and in part 2, "The Plates" shows a number of specific techniques. Even if you are not a Cyriax fan, this part is really very useful, have a look at it.
neving