Pain & injury

Structural Bodywork

I use Chinese martial medicine to diagnose inefficient, blocked movement patterns and restore proper function. Treatment addresses the entire tensional pattern, not just where it hurts, finding the source pulling the body out of alignment so we restore genuine movement, not just relieve pain.

Sessions combine hands-on work, needling, cupping, soft tissue mobilisation, myofascial release, and custom herbal preparations, tracking your nervous system throughout to safely and sensitively re-wire the holding patterns your body uses to protect itself. Over time, those same patterns become the very thing keeping you in pain.

Approaches used

Fascia is a continuous three-dimensional web surrounding every muscle, nerve and organ. Injury, sustained posture and old habits cause it to thicken, restrict and pull on structures far from the original site. Sustained, gentle pressure stimulates sensory receptors within the fascia, signalling the nervous system to reduce muscle tone and allow the tissue to reorganise.

Sustained, precise manual pressure at the point where a contraction has locked in and won't let go, often referring pain to a completely different part of the body. The classic example: a trigger point in the gluteals that mimics sciatica perfectly. By deactivating the source rather than chasing the symptom, the referred pattern resolves.

A thin filiform needle is inserted directly into a trigger point, a hyperirritable knot in a taut band of muscle. This mechanically disrupts the contracted fibres, resets abnormal nerve signalling at the motor endplate, and triggers a local twitch response that discharges accumulated electrical activity. Blood flow increases, flushing out the acidic, oxygen-depleted environment sustaining the pain. Studies show immediate gains in pressure pain threshold and range of motion.

This tradition's contribution sits in the sinew channel system, twelve broad fascial-muscular pathways mapping how tension and compensation travel through the body. Where modern anatomy sees individual muscles, sinew channel theory sees lines of force connecting foot to hip to spine to shoulder.

Negative pressure cups create a decompressive force, the opposite of massage, lifting tissue rather than compressing it. This draws blood to the surface, separates adhered fascial layers and promotes lymphatic drainage. Combined with movement, the cups create a shearing force through the fascia that improves tissue elasticity.

An instrument with a smooth bevelled edge is drawn across the skin under controlled pressure. This increases local microcirculation, breaks down fascial adhesions and scar tissue, and initiates a mild inflammatory response that jumpstarts the body's own healing cascade. Particularly effective for chronic tendon injuries and post-surgical scar tissue.

A rarer form of Chinese bodywork engaging the internal organs via the abdomen. Precise, rhythmic pressure at seams between muscle groups influences organ function, blood flow and the connective tissue surrounding the viscera. Useful when chronic complaints have a constitutional dimension.

Conditions treated

Lower back pain

Frequently driven by thickening and reduced elasticity in the thoracolumbar fascia, which compresses the nociceptors embedded within it. Direct work restores elasticity and local blood flow.

Neck and shoulder tension

Active trigger points in the upper trapezius, scalenes and levator scapulae generate referred patterns across the neck and upper back. These points are often the driver, not the area where you feel it.

Rotator cuff and shoulder

Trigger points in the cuff produce patterns closely mimicking subacromial impingement and tendinopathy, making the shoulder feel structurally compromised when the problem is muscular.

Hip and gluteal pain

Trigger points in the piriformis and short external rotators can compress the sciatic nerve directly, producing what feels exactly like disc-related sciatica.

Knee pain and instability

The iliotibial band, quadriceps and vastus medialis form a continuous fascial system controlling patella tracking. Restrictions place abnormal load on the joint itself.

Headaches and migraines

Referred pain from trigger points in the suboccipitals, SCM and splenius capitis reproduces tension-type and cervicogenic headache. Dry needling has strong evidence for reducing frequency and intensity.

Jaw pain and TMJ

The masseter, temporalis and medial pterygoid carry a high density of trigger points referring into the jaw, temple and ear. Work here, plus the cervical muscles influencing jaw mechanics, achieves what splints alone rarely do.

RSI and overuse injury

Repetitive loading creates trigger points through chronic overload. Untreated, these become a source of central sensitisation, where the nervous system amplifies pain beyond the original injury.

Postural pain from desk work

Sustained flexion loads the cervical spine and shortens the anterior chest wall, creating a predictable cascade through the upper back and shoulders. These patterns are myofascial, not skeletal.

Sports injury and recovery

IASTM and cupping accelerate healing through increased microcirculation and a controlled inflammatory response, while movement re-education addresses the compensations that cause the next injury.

Sciatica-type pain

Disc-related sciatica and piriformis syndrome produce nearly identical symptoms. When imaging shows no significant compression, myofascial dysfunction in the hip rotators is the likely driver.

Post-surgical rehabilitation

Scar tissue can adhere to surrounding structures and restrict movement far from the incision. Work on the scar matrix improves collagen organisation and restores tissue glide.

Structural work here is never purely mechanical. A restriction in one place is almost always accompanied by compensation somewhere else, and often by a nervous system that has learned to guard. Treating the tissue while accounting for the whole is what separates temporary relief from lasting change.

$160 · 60 minutes

Sessions begin with a brief conversation: what's brought you here, a little history, and what you're hoping for. From there, we follow what the body is showing us.

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