In our hectic daily life, those nagging aches and pains—from tense shoulders to migraine headaches—often feel inevitable. However, with simple explanations of their root causes and the transformative touch of proper massage, reclaiming your comfort has never been easier.
1. My shoulders or chest feel tight.
Do you notice by the end of the day you are slumping at the desk? This very typical work posture leads to the tightening of chest muscles – the ones responsible for pulling the shoulders forward. This subsequently weakens the opposite muscles (behind the shoulder) that pull the shoulder blades back and down. This leads to tight, clunky shoulders and PAIN.
How can massage help?
By facilitating release of the chest using breathing and gentle yet powerful movements, shoulders can be worked on, tight tissues made to melt away, and very easy-to-follow exercises given to strengthen posture.
2. It isn’t easy to move my neck.
Can’t turn your head around? Feel like you’ve ‘wrenched’ your neck? Often a gradual tightening of the muscles precedes a muscle tear, which in turn leads to a ‘spasm’ – where the muscles ‘lock’, and seem reluctant to let go.
How can massage help?
By focusing on releasing the muscles slowly, the spasm can be eased, and the muscles restored to a healthier range of motion. With a competent therapist, you should feel a noticeable improvement quite quickly.
3. After I run/exercise, I get a pain in my muscles.
Hamstrings feel tight or restrictive? Are the glutes (buttocks) painful? A knee feels like it’s being pulled off-centre? Often when we train hard, the body responds the only way it knows – by yelping in pain! Good, hard training inevitably leads to an accumulation of natural toxic waste – the by-products of muscle activity. Whilst warm-downs, hot showers and stretching after activity can help shift these troublesome particles, sometimes the build-up becomes too much, and intervention is needed.
How can massage help?
Massage ‘flushes’ out the muscles, and overworked, torn and knotted muscles can be ‘persuaded’ to go back to their original, healthy, functioning pain–free state!
4. I feel very stiff in the mornings, but it gets better throughout the day.
This is possibly because your body has been inactive for several hours. Our bodies are made for movement, and will ‘grumble’ at us if we hold them in static positions for too long.
How can massage help?
When investigating the source of discomfort, we often find that it is within tissues that are already tight due to our daily routines. The long periods of static sleep are usually ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’. A good massage therapist can help review your daily routines and identify possible causes. This is in addition to manual deep-tissue or sports massage, which will unlock tight tissues and should provide a rapid and measurable amount of pain relief.
5. I can’t sleep at night, and it’s getting worse.
Thoughts rushing through your head? About today? About tomorrow? Chances are, you’re breathing is shallow, and you’re exhibiting all the signs of the ‘fight or flight’ stress response.
How can massage help?
Breathing is the key in this scenario. A well-trained, advanced massage therapist should be able to help you in this regard. It’s a pretty specialised subject, so be sure to ask your therapist if they have experience in this area. The idea is, by teaching our muscles when they are ‘on’ and when they are ‘off’, even the most stressed-out of us can learn to take back control of our sleep patterns. This is ironically achieved by initially relinquishing control of our muscles and allowing ourselves to gain an understanding of what soft, relaxed, and loose muscles actually feel like.
