What Can Massage Help With?

Conditions Therapeutic Massage May Help Improve

Humans in the modern world usually suffer from one of the following conditions during their lifetime. These conditions can lead to serious pain, stiffness and reduced mobility. If unaddressed, the associated pain can lead people to seek extreme measures such as surgery to resolve their pain.

Below is a list of common conditions that modern people face.

Sciatica

This term most often refers to pain in the low back or gluteal muscles that radiates down the leg. The term itself actually means “inflamed sciatic nerve”. However, the muscles surrounding the sciatic nerve are often involved to a great degree.

Massage therapists know that when a client states that they have sciatic pain, massage can be part if not the entire solution to the problem.

Trigger points in the gluteal muscles and lower back are almost always involved. If you have ever visited a massage therapist for sciatica pain relief, they may have worked on your gluteal medius and minimus. These small muscles are located on the side of your hips, at exactly the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions. They often have trigger points that radiate a sensation all the way down to the feet. This sensation can feel shocking similar to nerve pain.

If you have pain like this, a therapeutic massage may help reduce the discomfort associated with sciatic pain. 

Low Back Pain

Lower back pain is extremely common in the United States. With so many people working from a desk, the problem is only getting worse.

Regardless of the cause of a clients lower back pain, the muscles in this area are always contributing factor. Which means that therapeutic massage helps!

The reason for this is simple. If the origin of the pain is a herniated disk in your lower back, your body will tighten up to limit movements that make the pain worse. When the muscles begin to tighten they can become permanently short, tight and painful, thus contributing to the pain.

When a skilled massage therapist works on these muscles, it almost always helps improve lower back pain.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis is also a very common ailment affecting a large portion of the population. This condition is described as moderate to severe pain in the sole of one or both feet. Sometimes it can be so severe that it can affect your ability to walk normally or squat down.

Fortunately, therapeutic massage can help. Being that the bottom of the foot is composed mainly of muscles and fascia. A skilled massage therapist can help to loosen up the area and restore blood flow, thereby reducing the pain and tension in the area. 

Headaches

Headaches and migraines are super common conditions that affect millions of people world wide. Massage therapists can help identify the origin of your headache by referring to trigger point charts.

To accomplish this, your therapist may ask questions such as “does it feel like the pain is the shape of a question mark on the side of your head?” or “does it feel like stabbing behind your eye?”. These questions help the therapist identify the exact trigger point that may be responsible for a specific headache.

Sometimes trigger points can cause strange recurring headaches for years.Therapeutic massage with a therapist who is knows the trigger points of the head and neck can help resolve persistent headaches or migraines.

Common Causes of Tight Muscles 

There are several circumstances that can align to create conditions for pain to thrive in. Chronic dehydration is probably the most common, making it critical for everyone to ensure they consume the proper amount of fluids each day. Knowing what to watch out for can help you maintain a pain free body.

The following is a list of common factors that contribute to pain.

Being Sedentary

The human body is designed to move! Moving muscles have a “pumping action” on the fluids of the body. By keeping moving, we help the body get nutrients and oxygen to the cells. When we don’t move enough, the body may struggle to get oxygen to every cell. This can cause them to stop functioning properly and that contributes to pain. 

Repetitive motion

Repetitive motion such as typing or lifting can cause a certain muscle group to become short and tight. While the opposing muscle groups become weak. This can cause a serious imbalance that affects posture and causes pain and muscle tension.

Poor Posture

Sitting at a desk, among other things in the modern world is not conducive to maintaining good posture. When your posture is compromised, your bone structure no longer bears the load of your body properly. This causes the muscle to take on some of the load, tighten up and cause pain.

Over Training

When an athlete pushes their body to the limit, it can cause micro injuries to the soft tissues. When the body detects a small injury, the surrounding tissues will tighten up to protect the damaged muscle fibers and help them heal. If this area is not properly cared for while it heals, it can lead to pain in the future.

Massage Techniques We Use

Massage therapists vary widely in their level of skill and knowledge of pain. Many therapists practice a wide variety of effective therapeutic pain relief techniques and some may only know how to perform a relaxation massage. Knowing what skills you need in a massage therapist can save you the hassle of visiting many different massage practices and not finding the relief you need.

Below is a list of the most common and effective techniques we use to relieve muscle tension. 

Trigger Point Therapy

“Trigger point” is the technical term used to refer to knots in the muscles. They are sometimes called knots, tender points or adhesions. Trigger point therapy is the technique used to locate, identify and release trigger points that are often the source of muscular pain.

In short, Trigger Point Therapy or (TPT) it is the technical practice of getting the knots out and is one of the fundamental techniques used by a massage therapist to soothe muscular tension. Often you can feel trigger points in the muscle tissue. The trigger point may feel like a rock solid marble inside of the muscle that is surrounded by more loose muscle tissue that is more pliable.

Trigger points are so well documented that charts showing their exact locations are commonly used by massage therapists. These trigger point charts not only show where the trigger point is, they also show exactly where they refer pain pattern in the body. For example, a trigger point in the trapezius muscle on the shoulder can refer pain into the head, causing a headache.

The more knowledgable your massage therapist is in TPT, the better chance of the treatment makinga huge impact in your muscles.

Myofascial Therapy

Muscle and fascia, the two terms that make up the word myofascial, are so closely related that they are practically inseparable. Together, muscles and fascia work to make bodily movements possible and without both of them working together, your body would not be able to move at all.

Fascia wraps everything in your body. Muscles, nerves, it even covers your eye ball! Yes, you are looking through a layer a fascia right now… If you have ever noticed the thin, film-like white layer covering a piece of meat, that is fascia! It helps keep everything in your body connected and protected. 

If for any reason your fascia is shorter and tighter than it should be, it can restrict blood flow to the area, limit your flexibility and cause pain. Myofascial massage techniques are commonly used by skilled therapists during a therapeutic massage to help alleviate pain caused by fascial restrictions. 

Shiatsu

This modality of massage uses pressure on certain points of the body to help ease pain. The locations to which the pressure is applied mostly coincide with the common locations of trigger points of the body. Releasing the tension in these points is part of most pain-focused massages.

Neuromuscular Therapy

Neuromuscular therapy is a systematic approach to addressing areas of pain in the body.

The Neuromuscular therapy protocol includes focusing on specific muscles as a whole to release trigger points, elongate the muscle and reduce the tension.

NMT is the designation given to a Neuromuscular therapist and is something you should look for if you are searching for a massage therapist who can help with your pain. Neuromuscular therapy techniques are often used during a therapeutic deep tissue massage.

Therapeutic Massage at the Alternative Therapy Center

People from all walks of life suffer from pain. If you are experiencing any kind of pain or muscle tension in your body, contact the massage therapists at Alternative Therapy Center today! You can book online or by calling 727-822-9220. A consultation with a member of our team is always free and confidential. We’re here to help in any way we can!