BTST Academy

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🏆 Become a qualified Sports Massage Therapist, from beginner to pro!
📚 Enhance your skills with specialised manual therapy CPD Courses.
🌍 Learn from esteemed Osteopath Becky Tyler & her expert team.
✅ All courses accredited by Active IQ.

24/08/2026

When an area feels tight and tender, it’s easy to assume the answer is more pressure.

But if the traps and neck aren’t responding, it might be worth asking a different question:

What else could be contributing?

Sometimes that means looking beyond the muscle and considering the movement of the ribs, clavicle, scapula and surrounding joints.

From there, you can introduce movement, use active techniques, reassess and, where appropriate, consider other tools such as dry needling.

The key is not just doing more.

It’s choosing an approach, checking the response and changing direction when needed.

Save this one for the next time an area just isn’t releasing.

What do you tend to try next when the traps and neck aren’t responding?

23/08/2026

Why would you dry needle the jaw when treating the neck? 👀

Over the last two reels, we’ve looked at why that tension through the traps and neck might need more than simply working harder into the muscle, and how Becky uses articulation to get the area moving.

Now we’re taking the treatment another step further.

Dry needling is another tool Becky regularly uses, particularly around areas such as the TMJ and masseters while continuing to work through the posterior neck.

For Becky, it’s not about using needles for the sake of it.

It’s about looking at the bigger picture, choosing the right technique for the area you’re treating and combining different approaches where appropriate.

And as always, dry needling should only be carried out by therapists who have had the appropriate training and insurance.

Want to add dry needling to your own treatment toolkit?

We’re running a Dry Needling CPD course at BTST Academy and places are limited.

Drop us a message or visit the website to book your place.

20/08/2026

Want more from BTST Academy?

Follow us on Instagram for practical treatment tips, behind the scenes content, course updates and plenty of conversation around manual therapy.

Whether you’re an osteopath, physio, sports therapist or massage therapist, come and join the community over on Instagram.

👉 Follow

19/08/2026

Your patient’s traps might not be the problem.

When an area feels tight and tender, it can be tempting to keep applying more pressure and working deeper into the tissue.

But sometimes the structure underneath deserves some attention too.

In this example, Becky uses the skeleton to explain the relationship between the upper trapezius, scalenes, clavicle and the first and second ribs, and why restriction through those joints may contribute to what you’re feeling under your hands.

The point isn’t to stop treating muscle.

It’s to think beyond the muscle when what you’re doing isn’t changing the area.

Next: how you can get the area moving.

In Part 2, Becky demonstrates a gentle articulation approach through the upper ribs and shoulder girdle before reassessing the area.

How often do you find yourself looking beyond the tissue you can immediately feel?

16/08/2026

Struggling to release the upper ribs?

In Part 1, Becky showed how gentle articulation can help introduce more movement through the rib cage.

This time, she takes it a step further.

For therapists who are appropriately trained in manipulation, one option is to use an HVT technique to work with a stubborn upper rib restriction.

Here Becky shows one of the methods she personally uses:

Find the restricted area.
Position the patient.
Work with their breathing.
Apply the technique.
Then go straight back and reassess.

And that last part matters.

The aim isn’t simply to perform a manipulation and move on. You want to know whether what you’ve done has actually changed what you found in the first place.

There are plenty of different approaches to the upper ribs, so we’d be interested to hear yours.

How do you approach a stubborn upper rib restriction in your treatments?

14/08/2026

Stop rubbing it out 👀

If you keep working into the same tender area and nothing is changing, it might be worth asking whether the muscle is actually the problem.

In this example, the restriction Becky is feeling is coming from the ribs underneath.

Rather than applying more pressure to the soft tissue, she uses gentle articulation to introduce movement through the thoracic spine and rib cage, working with the patient’s breathing and pain threshold.

Then comes the important bit…

Reassess.

Joe reports that it already feels better, and on reassessment those tender areas are much less noticeable.

That doesn’t mean every tight muscle is caused by restricted rib movement. It means that when something isn’t responding, sometimes changing what you’re looking at can change the result.

There are plenty of ways we can articulate and mobilise the rib cage too.

We’ll show you some more in the next reel 👀

Do you already use rib articulation in your treatments? Let us know what works for you.

12/08/2026

Arm pump… so why am I treating Kyle’s neck and jaw? 🤔🏁

In the last reel, we looked at one of the biggest physical challenges facing motorcycle racers: exertional compartment syndrome, more commonly known as arm pump.

But treating the area where an athlete feels the symptoms isn’t always the whole answer.

When I’m working with British Superbike rider Kyle Ryde, I’m looking at the body as a connected system.

That means considering areas away from the forearm, including the neck and jaw, and how they may influence tension, neural function and the way the upper body is working as a whole.

For me, that’s an important part of manual therapy.

Don’t just ask where does it hurt?

Ask why is it happening?

That’s why Kyle’s treatment doesn’t stop at his forearms.

👇 Therapists, I’m interested to hear your approach. Would the neck and jaw form part of your assessment for a rider experiencing arm pump?

10/08/2026

Does the brand of kinesiology tape actually make a difference?

For me, absolutely.

I’ve tried a number of different tapes over the years and I always seem to come back to .

I find it stronger, it adheres better and, importantly, it stays in place for longer. When I compare it side by side with some of the alternatives I’ve used, I can genuinely feel the difference.

Of course, the tape you choose still needs to suit the patient in front of you and what you’re trying to achieve.

And just to be clear, this isn’t sponsored or paid. It’s simply my preference after years of using kinesiology tape in practice.

But I know every therapist has their favourites…

What tape are you using at the moment, and why?

Address

B6030
Edwinstowe
NG219JD

Website

http://www.btstacademy.co.uk/

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