Skip to main content

How to Relieve Pain & Restore Movement with Massage

Repetitive strain injuries are what I see most in my practice. Clients come to me experiencing pain and due to poor posture and frequently used movements, also known as repetitive strain injuries (RSI’s). RSI’s can affect anyone from athletes to desk jockeys and can present itself as tendinitis, frozen shoulder, tennis or golfer’s elbow, plantar fasciitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome and temporal mandibular joint disorder (TMJ).

Chances are, if you have chronic muscle spasms in the upper back and neck, stiff and painful shoulders, or tingling in your arms or hands, you may have an RSI. If you experience pain, tightness, or weakness in these areas, and “push through the pain” ignoring what your body is trying to tell you, your risk the chance of causing serious injury and increasing your recovery time to boot.

Even if you are just beginning to notice tingling, numbness or weakness in these areas, it is essential to get treatment early and maintain treatment through self-care therapy.

How Massage Helps

The process of healing an RSI can take time and requires rest. However, massage can be especially helpful in speeding recovery. A skilled Massage Therapist is trained in bodywork techniques that manipulate the release of knots and painful trigger points in muscles and tendons. As a result, increased blood flow to the muscles and greater pliability to the damages tissue will help you heal faster while decreasing the pain RSI can cause.

Using adjunct therapies such as cold, moist heat, or the application of topical analgesics, your Massage Therapist can further help reduce swelling, release and stretch tight tissues and reintroduce you to your easy moving, pain-free self.

You can further maintain these results through self-care instructions that your therapist may give you at the end of your session. These may include ice therapy, Epsom salt soaks, the addition of specific stretches to your daily routine and a program of regular massage therapy sessions to help reverse the problem.

You don’t have to live with pain. There are ways to treat and maintain your wellness and keep you feeling young. Choose to listen to your body, and when the need should arise, treat it with the proper attention it deserves.

As Always - Enjoy Your Life!

John Aaron Villarreal


The Legal Stuff: The content and information on this site is not intended to diagnose,
cure, treat or prevent disease. Please consult your physician
prior to starting any exercise or diet program.
Labels:

Comments

  1. TinaAugust 15, 2012 at 11:38 AM

    Thanks for the comment on my blog. I had thought about acupuncture but not massage therapy. I'm going to look into it. Let me know if you know any massage therapists in Altanta!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John Aaron VillarrealAugust 16, 2012 at 6:26 AM

      Unfortunately, I don't currently know any in Atlanta but try checking with your local gym, personal trainer/ running coach, or chiropractor first. Since they primarily deal with these types of issues - chances are they have someone skilled and experienced (very important). Try not to rely on the massage franchises (won't mention names) because they are all about volume of massages they can sell in a day and not necessarily about personal care.

      You want to trust that your therapist understands your needs and knows what they are doing... Best of luck to you! I look forward to reading more about your successes! :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Should I Get a Massage and How Often?

This is a question I get often… Let’s face it, if it were up to massage therapists we’d say that you should get a massage every day, but in reality – very few people ever have the means or time to make this scenario play out in their lives. So technically speaking, your frequency should depend on how much you like massage, how often you experience chronic pain, and your budget. If you’re able to afford it, getting a monthly or weekly massage works best at helping prevent injuries by catching tight areas before they become problematic. With my more athletic clients (runners, weightlifters, gymnasts), I usually recommend timing their massage to coincide with the times they are training their hardest. For example, runners can develop tight hamstrings and hips, gymnasts and weight-lifters can get tight shoulders. These tight muscle groups can elicit injuries over time if they aren't treated by massage. If you are physically active, I recommend getting a massage within 24 hours ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Coffee Has Health Benefits

Anyone who knows me knows I love my Joe…. err, “cup of joe” that is. In fact, I’m enjoying a cup as I write this post. However, as a wellness professional that little admission of guilt has gotten me a few sneers and looks of condescension. Caffeine is BAD for you, they say! Well, perhaps abusing caffeine may be “bad” for you, but ‘caffeine’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘coffee.’ Despite this fact, coffee has gotten a bad rep over the years after a few health experts linked it (or rather, linked caffeine abuse) to several diseases. But is coffee actually that bad? Probably not; new research shows that drinking coffee in moderation provides numerous health benefits. Antidepressant It might seem a little odd to find that coffee could help with depression, but new research has shown that it does just that. Now, don’t go throwing out your prescriptions or quit counseling just yet though, coffee is not a cure for depression. Rather, the caffeine in coffee helps regulate your mood trans...
2 comments
Read more

What To Do When You’re Chronically Stressed

Of all the modern-day ailments that seem to affect us, none is more pervasive than stress. Everywhere you turn, there are factors lurking to redirect you from your peaceful pursuit of happiness and lock you in the clutches of “stress.” What exactly is stress—and what more insidious effects does it cause? The dictionary defines stress as “great pressure or force; strain.” In today’s world, we think of stress as the result of too much pressure laid upon us by life, causing mental worry or anguish. This, in turn, manifests itself in tight neck and shoulders, headaches, nervous stomach, etc. But these physical and mental conditions are really only the beginning. Studies show that stressful situations can develop into more threatening health conditions. For instance: A sudden or unexpected stressor can activate your adrenal glands, which sends adrenaline and other hormones into your bloodstream. This brings about an increase in your breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and blood f...
Post a Comment
Read more