What is the power of massage?
What is the power of massage, and why do so many seek a Remedial Massage Therapist?
According to AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 1 in 5 Australians over the age of 45 experience persistent pain most days of the week.
This pain can be disabling and stressful, making it hard for a person to work and do the things they enjoy
It is one of the most common reasons why people visit Remedial Massage Therapists accounting for up to 40% of visits.
Other common reasons include rehabbing sports injuries, relief of pain from accidents or muscle strains, relief of stress and as a form of preventative health care.
What is massage therapy, exactly?
Recognised Remedial massage therapists in Australia will have trained for a minimum of 18 months with over 100 hours of practical training. They will have received skilled instruction in the manual manipulation of the body’s soft tissues, including muscles, connective tissues, tendons, and ligaments.
The underlying idea behind massage therapy is that a relaxed and loose muscular structure promotes the flow of energy through the body, which enables the body to maintain health and heal itself, without resorting to drugs or surgery.
Here are some common massage therapy modalities that you may encounter, ranging from simple relaxation to treatment of complex pain issues and connective tissue realignment.
The Power of Massage with Swedish Massage
This is your standard relaxation massage, harnessing the power of massage to provide deep relaxation. Swedish massage is very popular in spa settings.
As one of the most popular types of bodywork performed today, the overarching goal of Swedish massage is the ultimate relaxation of the entire body. It is often called a Relaxation Massage. It is exceptional at achieving this by easing tension while promoting the release of environmental toxins stored in the body’s fat and epidermis layers, all while simultaneously increasing the oxygen levels in the blood.
Swedish massage has also been shown to produce significant reductions in the stress hormone, cortisol, showcasing the true power of massage in promoting overall well-being.
The Power of Massage with Trigger Point Therapy
What is a trigger point?
A trigger point is a small area of tightly bound and ‘knotted’ muscle that will produce referred pain in another part of the body when pressed upon. For example, a trigger point in the rhomboid muscle in the upper back can produce headache-like pain at the base of the skull.
Trigger points such as these are often misdiagnosed as migraines.
Many people have a sore spot in the upper gluteus maximus, but the pain in this location often spreads either up into the low back and/or down into the rest of the gluteals & hamstrings.
This pattern causes it to be widely misinterpreted as back pain and/or sciatica, when in fact it’s just a sore spot in the butt.
Trigger points range in severity from mildly annoying to completely debilitative. The affected muscle fibres are in a permanently shortened and tense state, and can even pinch nearby nerves. This can produce even more related symptoms, sometimes spiralling into full-blown fibromyalgia, a disorder of the connective tissues.
Treating Trigger points
This is one area where massage therapy has a distinct advantage over every other form of treatment and where the power of massage shines. Conventional medicine’s answer to trigger points is usually an injection of a local anesthetic or a corticosteroid injection. Both of these are temporary, unnatural treatments and in the case of the corticosteroid, actually damaging to the tissues.
Massage therapy treats these by the application of pressure directly to the trigger point. Going from light to very deep, (usually within the same session) at which point the trigger point will begin to release and relax. The application of heat as well as pressure can speed up the release of the trigger point, as it encourages relaxation.
Follow-up treatment is nearly always needed to retrain the muscle fibres to lengthen and “smooth” back out. A good massage therapist can often boast a near 100% success rate with trigger point therapy, even when other treatments have failed.
The Power of Massage with Myofascial Release
Myofascial release is a broader application of this type of therapy that harnesses the power of massage to restore mobility and function to the body’s underlying network of connective tissue present in every muscle. It improves lymph circulation, keeps the blood clean, and enhances the muscle’s natural stretch reflex, thus keeping the body supple and strong.
It should be noted that these types of massage therapy are not the same as a relaxing Swedish massage and can sometimes be quite painful as the body relaxes, releases, and returns to normal homeostasis. However, it’s important to understand that this discomfort is part of the process as the power of massage works to address deeper issues within the body. It’s important to communicate with us during your treatment if you are uncomfortable at any time.
The Power of Massage with Remedial Massage
As defined by Medibank Private: “Remedial massage is the systematic assessment and treatment of the muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissues of the body to assist in rehabilitation, pain and injury management. It’s performed to create favourable conditions for the body to return to normal health after injury and is defined by the premise that the treatment can reasonably reverse certain physical effects a patient may be presenting.”
Remedial massage aims to treat muscles that are damaged, knotted, tense or immobile. It is useful for a number of problems that affect the muscles, tendons and bones and speeds up the body’s own healing processes.
The pressure applied in this healing treatment can either be strong and deep or gentle and shallow, depending on the problem.
A variety of techniques may be deployed during a Remedial Massage treatment, depending on the condition being treated and the toolbox (further studies in other modalities) the practitioner has.
The Power of Massage with Sports Massage
As the name implies, sports massage is focused on the athlete. From the highest level of competition to the casual weekend warrior, sports massage therapists can be found everywhere from weekend 5ks to professional locker rooms and Olympic fields.
Sports massage focuses on both pre-and post-event training and recovery.
Pre-event for example, may involve stimulating a stretch reflex in the quadriceps muscle of a runner to help lengthen her stride, with repeated treatments resulting in a faster runner who is less prone to injury.
Post-event can take the form of a light, relaxing massage to stimulate healing blood flow to an overused muscle group, enabling the athlete to recover safer and faster and enable them to perform at the top of their game sooner than otherwise would be the case.
Rather than a specific technique as in trigger point or myofascial therapies, sports massage focuses on the dual goals of athletic performance and recovery and may borrow heavily from other modalities to achieve these ends.
The tip of the proverbial iceberg to the power of massage…
The above is by no means a comprehensive list of massage therapy modalities. There are dozens of different types of massage, used in everything from lymphatic drainage, body realignment, and even neuromuscular therapy that seeks to balance the nervous system. The many ways massage can help the body recover and heal is the power of massage.
