Could You Do With a Therapeutic Massage?

Dorthe Nielsen has recently joined us, offering Therapeutic Massage and here she explains more…. 

I often get asked “what is therapeutic massage?”, so here’s is my usual description:

It’s mid way between sports massage and relaxing massage. It’s like sports massage as it’s there to relieve muscular pain or tension, but like relaxing massage, there’s not the associated pain. Therapeutic massage is done in a very slow motion, which fools the muscles to relax and let go of tensions. The slow speed also allows the therapist and client to pick up any particular painful spots, which may indicate Trigger Points. Trigger Points are well researched tender spots within muscles or tissues, which have predictable pain referral patterns. There are charts which can help the client and therapist to locate where the likely spots can be found, however, these are only a guide, and hands on approach is still required to locate and reduce or release them.

Neck And Shoulders

Common issues for office workers who sit a lot and work on computers are sore shoulders and headaches. This can be particular worsened if holding a phone up to your ear rather than using a headset. Poor posture at your desk and not having regular breaks from screen work will only increase your likelihood of getting tense muscles. Therapeutic massage for the upper body and neck can help to release the tension in the muscles, making you aware of the tension you carry, which can help you in the future to ensure that you have breaks and take time to stretch and mobilise the muscles. The massage will be based on your needs and issues, but will likely concentrate on the upper shoulders and neck.

Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain is another very common complaint. Unless you have sudden, constant, excruciating pain and know or fear there is a disk problem, it is possible that the pain is due to muscular overuse. The cause may have been present over many years, but either coming on gradually or almost suddenly. Maybe you worked hard in the garden the day before or was moving things around. Muscles can take a lot of effort and pressure, but unless you look after them, they will get tired and achy and cause pain to stop you making things worse. There is a whole protocol developed for lower back pain, which works the whole area and most likely contenders to lower back pain. It is often deep muscles in the lower back which are affected and therapeutic massage uses several techniques to ease out this tension, leaving you feeling better. One of the worst things to do for lower back pain is to rest in bed. Therapeutic massage can help ease the pain and tension which will enable you to continue being mobile with a reduced pain level.

Knee Or Ankle Pain

Twisted ankles seems to go hand in hand with normal everyday life. But once the initial pain has subsided and the swelling has gone, the area may still be sore and not quite the same as before. After a twist the tendons and muscles may have been pulled or stretched and may still be tensed up in order to protect the area from further damage. Knee pain is not a normal part of growing older. Pain is an indication that something is not right. Knee pain can have many causes, and sports injuries or falls probably top this. But what about activities which are slightly irritating it, repeated daily? It could be walking in poor footwear, which doesn’t support the body. Or it could be a small muscular imbalance, which is pulling the knee out of balance. In both cases therapeutic massage can help to detect and reduce any muscular tensions in the surrounding muscles or tissues which are keeping the area tight and in pain.

Any Other Muscular Pain

The above are just suggestions of people I have worked with. If you are unsure if your issue can be helped by therapeutic massage, please contact me and I’ll be happy to discuss the options with you. For all the clients they have felt an improvement in the first session, however, a course of sessions are generally recommended, specially if you have had the issues for a while. Having maintenance massages on a regular basis is great way of looking after yourself and reducing the risk of the issues getting to the same level of pain again. My purpose is to work with you to locate the areas of tension and to reduce this to make you feel better. Get in touch when you’re ready to let go of the pain and feel the difference.