Types of Massages for Chronic Pain

Why Massage Therapy for Chronic Pain?

Massage therapy is turning out to be more broadly accepted as a dependable treatment for many types of chronic pain within the medical community. It is also accepted as an adjunct to other medical treatments. In general, massage is rarely given as the primary or sole treatment for pain management. It is often employed as one factor of therapy and to aid in preparing the patient to partake in exercise or other treatment methods. Regardless, massage can be an essential and operative component of your pain management routine.

Massages have been revealed to be especially effective in mitigating back pain. Due to the fact that back pain is a component of a wide array of pain conditions, massage is often considered to be beneficial to the healing process. Moreover, different types of massage will be useful for different segments of the body. Specifically, acupressure and shiatsu are intended to relieve different types of pain in different regions. Neuromuscular treatment is typically beneficial in relieving “referred” pain, which is pain that is activated by one part on the body, but is felt in an entirely different area.

Benefits of Massage Therapy

In general, benefits of massage therapy include: increased blood flow and enhanced circulation; muscle relaxation which subsequently improves range of motion; increased endorphin levels; improved sleep and lessened bouts of insomnia. Enjoy this quick summary on various types of massage that may be appropriate for you.

Swedish Massages

This is the most popular type of massage, therefore, most research regarding the benefits of massage have utilized Swedish massage techniques. It is important to note that Swedish massage is very gentle and does not target precise pain points or apply deep pressure. It is widely recognized as being highly relaxing which is excellent for sufferers of acute or chronic pain. Despite how mild Swedish massage is, it enhances blood flow and thus can aid in the removal of excess lactic acid from muscles, thereby helping alleviate muscle pain.

Neuromuscular Massages

This type of massage therapy is also known as “trigger point” massage due to the fact that it targets regions of tension and muscular spasm in the back. The massage therapist directs pressure to a particular region of interest. Neuromuscular massage can sometimes cause soreness at the outset since the focus of its pressure is directly on tender regions. Be sure to communicate with your therapist to identify the appropriate pressure. Similar to Swedish massage, neuromuscular massage also works to flush lactic acid out of the muscles to alleviate pain.

Acupressure

This type of massage stimulates vital spots on the body to impede pain sensations and stimulate the natural pain relievers of the body. In general, the best approach for pain relief is to apply sustained pressure on vital points for one to three minutes. This pressure is applied by using hands, fingers, or other devices.

Shiatsu

This form of massage is very similar to acupressure, as the word shiatsu literally means “finger pressure”. The primary difference is that practitioners of shiatsu do not use their full hand to apply pressure – only the fingers are used.

Article Provided By: PainScale