STI is an umbrella term for any type of injury to connective tissue.

Common types of injury are:

• sprains
• strains
• contusions
• tendonitis
• burstitis
• stress injuries

These injuries usually affect your muscles, tendons, and fascia. Fascia are the connective tissues that surround, connect, or support your muscles, organs, bones, blood vessels, and nerves.

STIs occur when your muscles are abnormally tense. This can happen a number of ways, including during physical activity or a high stress time in your life. Your muscles work by tensing up and contracting, then relaxing. They get shorter when they contract. This causes movement in the part of the skeletal system they’re attached to and if strained too far, can result in injury.

Pain, muscle weakness, a restricted range of motion, and a misalignment of the skeletal system can result if the muscle doesn’t relax completely. Other soft tissue injuries can happen acutely. For example, when you twist your ankle or pull a tendon in your groin.

At Manhattan Wellness Group, Dr. Rashad Trabulsi and his team are experts in treating soft tissue injuries in patients of all ages.

One technique used is mobilization therapy. This method relaxes tense muscles, breaks up scar tissue, and reduces fluid build up in the tissue. Soft-tissue mobilization is a manual therapy that can also lead to added benefits of reducing scar tissue, and stretching or lengthening your fascia. It does this via a number of techniques, including applying gentle pressure and stretching the affected tissue.

Other times health professionals use ergonomically designed tools. This is called instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization. STI treatment begins with a physical examination to assess your overall condition. This can identify hot spots and determine the range of motion in your affected joints. From there, you’ll be advised on a course of action. This may include a number of therapy sessions.