Anyone who has ever indulged in a massage understands the feeling of lingering relaxation that can last for hours or days afterward. But massage has the potential to provide even deeper, richer benefits than just relaxation. When combined with chiropractic techniques and/or physical therapy, massage therapy can help reduce pain, improve mobility, and better help your body heal. Do you struggle with ongoing back pain? Headaches? Massage therapy can be a great way to relieve sciatic nerve pain, especially when done in conjunction with other treatments for sciatica. Both alone and combined with other treatments, massage therapy has the potential to provide a wide range of health benefits.
Massage Therapy As Treatment
Therapeutic massage offers plenty of benefits, even before being combined with other treatments. At its core, therapeutic massage uses many of the same techniques as the sorts of massages you can get for relaxation purposes. However, what sets massage therapy apart is the intent and the education behind it. Massage therapy is massage used to provide health benefits that can relieve pain, restore balance, improve joint mobility, and otherwise soothe and correct dysfunctions in muscle and deep tissue.
Most commonly, massage therapy will be prescribed by a chiropractor or physical therapist as a supplemental treatment to chiropractic or physical therapy sessions. Combined treatments can provide a multi-layered benefit and help your injuries heal better and, often, heal more quickly. Massage therapy is particularly beneficial when supplementing chiropractic treatments as it can help reduce dysfunction of muscles to support adjustments made during a chiropractic session. However, massage therapy doesn’t have to be used in combination with chiropractic or physical therapy sessions; it can also provide healing and health benefits on its own. Some benefits include:
Neck, Shoulder, and Back Pain Treatment
Sitting at a desk all day, especially if you’re constantly hunched over a computer, can lead to all sorts of back problems over time. Hunching or other poor posture can cause muscles to tighten in ways that can ultimately impact the range of motion of many of your joints. It can also impact your balance by causing tight muscles in your back and abdomen, affecting how well your leg and gluteal muscles support you, and how well they hold your torso upright. If you’ve noticed an increase in neck and/or shoulder pain, your posture may be at fault. Likewise, pain in your low back and hips could be from months or years of bad sitting habits. Massage therapy can help loosen those tight muscles, relieving your pain and helping improve your posture and balance.
Headache Relief
Muscle tension in your neck, shoulders, and upper back is one of the more common causes of headaches, especially recurring migraines. If you suffer from regular and/or debilitating headaches, massage therapy may be able to provide the relief you need to minimize pain and help those headaches stop happening altogether. A licensed massage therapist can target the muscle groups that most often cause migraines to provide immediate relief. Then, our licensed massage therapist can also provide you with stretches to do at home. Over time, getting regular massages and keeping up with the stretches will help keep muscle tension at bay to diminish or entirely relieve your tension headaches in a more lasting way.
Benefits for Athletes
As we mentioned above, tight muscles can affect a joint’s range of motion, cause pain, and affect balance. It is particularly important for athletes to take care of muscles and joints to protect against injury. Muscle damage can occur from pushing too hard, but it can also happen when the muscles are too tight and unable to expand to their fullest extent. In addition, too-tight muscles can impact tendons and ligaments, so it’s important to protect your muscles to help prevent things like a torn ACL. Massage therapy, especially when used in conjunction with chiropractic and physical therapy treatments, can ease tense muscles. Ultimately, it can help lower risk of muscle injury and help you improve performance.
Want to learn more about how massage therapy may be able to help you personally? Contact the Senara Health and Healing Center & Spa in Peoria to schedule your first appointment. Be prepared to discuss concerns as well as your health history so our licensed massage therapists can work with our chiropractor and physical therapy team to create the right care services for your individual needs. Get started today!