Susan Martin Soft Tissue Therapy

04/04/2026

Today is National Walk to Work Day so, even if you're not going to work, I encourage you all to get out and about for a stroll.
Walking is a natural movement that can be undertaken by almost everyone, relatively easily and cheaply. You just need a bit of time and some supportive shoes. I like to walk with friends but others prefer to go alone or with family. The benefits of walking the dog every day should not be underestimated. Regular walking has been shown to help maintain a healthy weight, reduce stress and improve Cardiovascular health.

01/04/2026

April is C-section awareness month.
When we see how many layers of the abdomen are cut or disturbed during a caesarean section operation in order to get to the baby, we can realise what major surgery it is. Often this form of child birth is dismissed or even considered to be easier!
No wonder that sometimes the resulting scarring causes tightness, pain and discomfort.
If you want to discuss how Scarwork™ may be able to help you, please get in touch.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/246200439668411

30/03/2026

Travelling, either for business or pleasure, can play havoc with your training programme if you let it. So if you have a holiday planned over the Easter break, here are some tips that may be useful :

1. Plan ahead. If you know when and where you are going you can research facilities that may be useful.

2. Be adaptable. Some training is better than none so do what you can. Use the hotel gym or pool, run around the local park or do some body weight exercises in your hotel room.

3. Use local knowledge. The hotel concierge or your work colleagues should be able to advise you about decent training facilities in the area. If you travel to the same place frequently why not join a local sports team or running group to train with?

4. Try not to stress about the change in routine. Doing something different every now and then with enhance your regular training, not hinder it so enjoy the challenge.

28/03/2026

Five painful conditions that Massage can help with:

Low back pain – Often caused by lack of movement or a simple muscle strain. Massage can help to loosen stiff muscles and reduce painful spasms, enabling you to move more easily.

Fibromyalgia – Regular, gentle massage can reduce a range of symptoms including the all over pain, muscle cramps and sleep difficulties.

Post - Operative pain – Massage can ease pain during your recovery and reduce your anxiety levels. Specialist Scarwork™ therapy can help to lessen the impact of your scarring.

Tension Headaches – Often caused by Stress and long hours at the desk or driving. Massage can help with these by releasing tension in the neck and shoulder muscles, improving blood flow and helping you to relax.

Arthritis – Regular massage can reduce pain and help to improve the range of movement in your affected joints. This will enable you to take regular exercise and improve your overall health.

If you have any questions or need some advice, please get in touch.

25/03/2026

Early in 2024, I attended a three day course to improve my skills in treating scarring that has been caused by surgery for Cancer. This Oncology Scar Specialist training from Restore Scar Therapy was attended by therapists of all types who wanted to increase their knowledge in this area. We all learned the skills needed to help our clients to move better and experience less pain after treatment for this (increasingly) common disease. The techniques that I learned are complimenting those that I learned in 2019 when I first studied Scarwork™ and I now feel more confident to help clients at home and during my volunteer clinics at My Cancer My Choices.
If you have any questions about managing the effects of scarring after any surgery, please get in touch.

23/03/2026

This week is National Complementary Therapies week.
All of the manual therapies that I have trained in fall into this category as they complement any medical treatment that my client is receiving.

Remedial massage helps those with daily aches and pains or minor injuries. The client may also get help from their G.P. or a Physiotherapist.

Sports massage complements the work done by the athlete during their training and racing. It's a team effort along with their coach.

Oncology massage can help clients to deal with the anxiety, nausea, pain and fatigue they may feel during and after cancer treatments.

Scarwork™ treatment can result in improved functionality and feeling around scarring from both surgery and accidents.

Pregnancy massage will help the mum-to-be to manage any symptoms of low back pain, nausea and stress. Medical advice will come from the midwife.

If you would like to know more about any of these "Complementary" therapies, please feel free to get in touch and find out if I can help you.

21/03/2026

Best of luck to everyone who is running the Reading Half marathon tomorrow.
If you need any help with your recovery next week, please get in touch for a 10% discount.

The Green ParkReading Half Marathon takes in the highlights of the centre of Reading and the beautiful grounds of the University campus where you will experience huge crowd support. The race culminates in a finish rarely found outside an Olympic stadium with over 15,000 people cheering you on.

18/03/2026

How you care for a wound immediately after it occurs and over the next few days can make a significant difference in how well it heals. Proper wound care can help prevent both scarring and infection.
Immediate attention to a wound is important, as even a minor one can become infected if bacteria are allowed to accumulate. If the accident happens outside of the home, try to deal with it as soon as you can. You should gently rinse the site with warm water to get all the dirt and grit out. If you are unable to wash out all debris, try sterilized tweezers to get the rest. Seek medical attention if you still can’t clear everything out. When it is clean, cover with a sterile bandage or plaster until the scab forms.
Deep wounds and those with jagged edges are more prone to result in scars. Having these wounds stitched may lessen the amount of scarring that occurs. A visit to A&E or a doctor is advised if the wound is deep or wide.
Change bandages or plasters regularly. Remove them for baths and showers, then re-apply antiseptic ointment and use a fresh covering.
Check the wound when changing dressings. Any redness, inflammation or pus may be signs of infection. Seek medical attention in these cases.
Avoid putting the scab and newly forming repair under too much stretch stress as this may break open the scab and force the healing process to re-start.

16/03/2026

What you feed yourself should fuel your body. Particularly if you want it to work for you. Inadequate nutrition can increase the risk of sports injuries by causing loss of muscle mass and bone density. It can also increase fatigue. Our bodies need carbohydrate and fats to provide energy and protein to rebuild muscle as well as vitamins and minerals to boost immunity and strengthen our bones.

All three macronutrients (Carbohydrates, Protein, Fats) are essential in our diet for exercise and recovery as well as everyday health. Carbohydrates break down into Glycogen which provides energy to our muscles. More complex carbohydrates such as pasta and cereals take longer to break down and maintain more stable energy levels. Fats can be used for energy if Glycogen levels are low but these take a long time to break down and be available for the muscles to use. Fats, however, do contain vital vitamins and fatty acids that the body uses to repair cells and reduce inflammation. Protein is used for muscle maintenance, growth and repair. Muscles are constantly being damaged and repaired through training as well as everyday life and injuries.

Getting adequate amounts of Calcium and Vitamin D helps to build and maintain strong bones and reduces the risk of stress fractures that can occur in high impact sports such as running, jumping and dance.
Pre-exercise fuelling can help during long or intense training sessions. These drain the body’s Glycogen supplies which can lead to loss of focus, poor decision making and fatigue. These factors increase the risk of injury and a longer recovery from training. A snack combining Protein and Carbohydrates before exercise will top up your Glycogen stores and reduce these risks.

Post-exercise fuelling should be done 30-60 minutes after activity for maximum benefit. This period is when muscle recovery happens most quickly. Again, eating both Protein and Carbohydrates will promote muscle repair and restock your Glycogen reserves.

13/03/2026

Today is World Sleep Day. What a lovely thought? A whole day of sleep!

If you are training for a long race or for a whole season of activity, sleep is a vital part of your training programme.
While we sleep our immune system repairs the body from the day’s work. As you train for a long race, therefore, sleep time is even more important than normal. It is commonly thought that a healthy adult should aim for 6-8 hours of sleep per night but that increases to 8-10 hours for an endurance athlete due to the increased work-load.
As it’s so easy for sleep to slip down the list of essential activities if we are trying to balance work, life and training then you need to think of it as part of your training programme. You can even log it along with your other sessions.
Having a night-time routine will help you to get to sleep. The NHS website advises the following steps:
Sleep at regular times, every day, even the weekends,
Wind down before bed but avoid screens,
Reduce caffeine intake after lunch,
Your bedroom should be dark, quiet and tidy with a steady temperature.
A large chunk of endurance training and racing is mental but when you are tired you lack concentration. This will make it more difficult to dig deep and focus on your race plan.
Sleep more, train less sounds good to me!!

11/03/2026

The Healing Process:
When your body recovers from injury or surgery it has a specific process that it follows to achieve a satisfactory outcome. This takes time, how long depends on the extent of the injury. During this time, your actions can either help or hinder the process.
The first stage of injury usually includes bleeding and inflammation. This could be internal or at the skin surface. The body forms clots to stem the flow of blood. On the skin surface, these clots become hard and form scabs. The inflammation is caused by the body sending fluid to the area. This fluid contains the nutrients and specialist cells required to start the healing process. Ice is often used to reduce swelling (inflammation) but should be used sparingly so as not to impede this process. This stage usually takes a few days.
Try not to pick at scabs or soak them so they fall off. A scab is nature’s plaster and keeps out infection. If the scab falls off, healing will slow while it is re-formed.
The second stage is where the repair and remodelling starts. This is when hands on therapy may be helpful. The length of time this stage takes depends on the location and severity of the injury. It is likely to be a number of weeks. Areas with a reduced blood flow often take longer to heal. This reduction could be due to location of the injury or the overall health of the client. Scar tissue will start to form during this stage. Gentle massage and stretching can help the body to heal in a more effective way.
Stage three involves remodelling and rehabilitation of the injured area. Scar tissue is great at plugging gaps and stopping us bleed to death, but it is invariably weaker and inferior to the tissue it has replaced. Scars on the skin are thinner and dry out easier. They have no sweat glands or hair follicles. Internal scars can cause layers of the body to stick together and will disrupt the usual gliding process of connective tissues. This all has to be taken into account when rehabilitating after an injury or surgery. Your body will not perform the same as it did before.
However, bodies are amazing. They adapt to perform the tasks that you want them to. They may do it in a slightly different way, but they will still do it. The remodelling process will be lifelong. This is because your body is always adapting to the stresses and strains put upon it by your life actions.
Rehabilitation after an injury or surgery should be slow and steady. A properly managed plan will enable you to return to full fitness without re-injury. Harnessing the body’s ability to adapt means that we can recover and carry on with our activities.
If you need any help or advice about caring for your scarring or about managing yourself back to fitness after an injury, please get in touch.

09/03/2026

Stiff lower back?
Many of us suffer from stiffness and aching in the lower back. This could be caused by too much sitting or some unexpected manual labour around the home and garden. Sometimes we just need some gentle exercises to wake the muscles up in the morning or stretch them out after a hard day.
These four can do both of those things:
1. Lie on a comfortable surface and pull your knees towards your chest. You should feel a stretch from mid to low part of your back. If you roll around a bit, top to bottom and side to side, you are also massaging the muscles that run up either side of your spine.
2. Still laying down, release your knees so that you can put your feet on the ground. Roll your knees from side to side, as far as is possible. Everyone will be able to twist different amounts. You will get your knees closer to the ground the more practice you have. This will mobilize your lower back and stretch your side muscles.
3. This is called the Cat stretch in Yoga. On all fours, tuck your tail bone in and arch your spine up like a frightened cat. Slow and steady on this one, please. Try to feel each vertebrae moving.
4. The Cow stretch is the opposite of the Cat. Slowly untuck your tail bone and drop your lower back towards the floor, You will get this dip in your back. Again, try to feel each of the bones in your back moving.
Imagine a Mexican Wave up and down your spine. That is the effect we are aiming for.
I hope this all makes sense and gives you some ideas of what you can do to keep your lower back flexible and strong. Any questions or comments, please get in touch.