Massage helps prevent and heal injuries
Running is a strenuous activity -- and one that pays off by building strength, and boosting overall physical and psychological health. That said, most runners will have at least one injury in their running careers. Regularly stretching the quadriceps, calf and hamstring muscles helps prevent injuries. Massage also helps boost conditioning and prevent injuries.
How massage helps
In between strenuous training workouts and events, massage allows the muscles to relax, which helps build healthier tissues. To begin with, relaxed muscles don't produce as many of the waste products that irritate tissues. And when tight, bunched muscles relax and lengthen, they don't press as much on surrounding structures. This helps restore circulation, and improves the flow of nutrients and natural pain-relievers to the stressed area. Finally, relaxed muscles allow the body to heal the tiny tears and other "micro-traumas" which can result from strenuous exercise.
If you have an injury
Shin splints, Achilles tendinitis, hamstring strains, and calf muscle strain are some of the more common injuries people can experience when they run. One of the most effective treatments is rest. If you have an injury, there's also a good chance you need new, or different, shoes.
Massage treatment for running injuries often works best when it is frequent and gentle, especially in the beginning. After a period of rest and a series of treatments the pain should ease, and you can resume your running program, stronger than ever.
Give your legs a massage
Special "rubs" for runners and walkers
Try these moves in between massage sessions, especially after working out. If you want to rub with oil, try adding a little essential oil of eucalyptus, peppermint, or rosemary, no more than 10 drops of plant oil to an ounce of massage oil.
Note: If any of these moves are painful, discontinue and consult your primary health practitioner.
1. Sitting on a chair or on the floor, begin by using both hands to squeeze and release the upper thigh. Work downward toward your foot. Work the front, back and both sides of the full length of both legs.
2. Roll the calf muscle back and forth between the heels of your hands. Work both legs from the knee to the ankle in a rhythmic motion.
3. Pressing deeper into the muscles, make circles with your fingertips or the heel of your hands, working up and down both legs.
Stretches for walkers
Keep your muscles flexible and your joints lubed
Walking in supportive shoes with flexible soles can be one of the best forms of aerobic exercise. Combining stretching with your walking routine will help keep your joints lubricated and your muscles flexible, and can even help prevent injuries. The best time to stretch is after your muscles are warmed up with exercise. If a stretch is difficult because of tight muscles, mention it in your next massage session so that the area can be addressed. If you experience pain with any of these stretches, consult your primary health practitioner.
Quadricep stretch
Lift your right foot behind you and grasp your foot or ankle with your right hand. If you wish, stand next to a wall or chair and place your left hand there for balance. If you can't reach your foot, use a strap to loop around the ankle, and then raise the foot behind you. Breathe and hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds. Switch sides and repeat.
Calf stretch
Stand close to a wall you are facing. Lean into the wall, your hands placed on the wall at shoulder height. Move your right leg back only as far as you can keep that foot flat on the floor, but far enough that you can feel a comfortable stretch in your calf muscle when you lean into the stretch. Repeat on both sides, holding for 20-30 seconds.
Hamstring stretch
Stand upright, and extend your right leg so that your right foot is resting on a stair or block in front of you. Keep your right leg straight. Exhale, and slowly lean into that leg until you feel a comfortable stretch. Hold for 20-30 seconds and return to start. Repeat several times on both sides.
No other activity bestows the blessings of exercise as easily, enjoyably, or safely as the simple act of going for a walk.
-- Mark Bricklin, Editor of Prevention Magazine
Shoulder pain
Frozen shoulder and other conditions
You feel it most when you reach into your hip pocket. Combing your hair causes pain. In sleep, you roll over and then you are awakened by the discomfort. What is often called frozen shoulder is characterized by pain and stiffness in the shoulder that turns everyday tasks into pain-filled challenges. It limits your range of motion and affects your quality of life.
The shoulder joint
The top of the upper arm bone, shoulder blade, collarbone, and various muscles and ligaments come together at the shoulder joint. The remarkable teamwork of these parts allows the shoulder to move in more ways than any other joint.
Imagine how inconvenient simple tasks would be without the use of this joint, or how limiting it would be if our arms only moved in one direction like an old-fashioned Barbie Doll's. Aside from the hip, the shoulder is the only other "ball-and-socket" joint that can freely move in many directions. The down side is that its wide range of mobility makes it more susceptible to injury.
Causes of shoulder pain
Pain and limitation in the shoulder can be caused by muscle tension, repetitive strain injury, dislocation, osteo- or rheumatoid arthritis, tendinitis, bursitis, pulmonary or cardiac disorders, myofascial trigger points, surgery or poor posture.
"Frozen shoulder" is often used to refer to various soft tissue problems in the area. True frozen shoulder is called adhesive capsulitis because the muscles and ligaments at the shoulder joint adhere to each other, becoming thickened and contracted. Symptoms include intense pain and restricted movement. If you are experiencing severe or persistent pain in your shoulder, consult your primary health practitioner before receiving massage.
Massage can help
The good news is that massage therapy can help reduce pain and restore mobility in your shoulder. Through the use of preventive maintenance, self-care exercises and frequent massage sessions, your pain can be greatly reduced and movement can gradually return. You'll be able to scratch your back and put your coat on without grimacing in pain!
Massage for your shoulder
Reduce pain and improve mobility
Massage is a safe treatment that can help relieve pain and restore your shoulder to normal movement -- which will surely be your first priority.
Massage, in conjunction with other medical treatments, can help relieve tension and pain whether it's caused by myofascial trigger points, injury, tendinitis or frozen shoulder. Massage therapists can help dissolve these areas of pain using trigger point therapy, frictioning techniques, stretching and hydrotherapy.
Using a variety of massage techniques and gentle joint movements, the painful restrictions that have developed in your shoulder can be released. Your pain can gradually subside and normal movement can return. A treatment plan usually consists of frequent massage therapy sessions over several months, including an individualized program of stretches that you can do at home to help speed recovery.
Self-care for the shoulders
Practice these tips to stay pain-free
1. Stretch the shoulders. Lie face down, propped up on both forearms and elbows. Shift the weight of your chest toward the floor. Then press back to neutral. Repeat 3-5 times a few times a day.
2. Sit up straight. Posture can be the root of many shoulder problems. Frequent sitting tends to round our shoulders forward, which stresses the neck and upper back muscles, and restricts arm movement. Develop more awareness of your posture. Stand or sit with your spine erect. Lift your shoulders toward your ears, and then let them fall gently back into position, feeling your shoulder blades drop down your back.
3. Stretch and strengthen your shoulders and upper back.Keeping your spine erect, repeat these movements 5 to 10 times several times a day to loosen tight muscles. 1) Stretch your arms forward, 2) Reach your arms wide behind you, 3) Reach over your head.
4. Apply heat or cold packs to stiff and painful shoulders. Heat relaxes your joints and muscles and helps relieve pain. Cold can reduce pain and swelling in specific areas.
5. Don't exercise a painful, inflamed joint.Apply heat or cold and rest the joint until the pain goes away. Keep your circulation and the rest of your body moving with exercises that don't strain the shoulder joints. Brisk walking, dancing to music and tai chi are some good ways to keep your whole body healthy.
The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest
force in getting well.
--Hippocrates
Tendinitis
An injury that affects sports enthusiasts, office workers
Tendinitis can affect everyone from tennis players and golfers to warehouse and office workers. Known for painful inflammation ("itis" refers to inflammation), scarring of tendons, swelling, and a feeling of weakness, tendinitis inhibits proper muscle function.Muscles form a part of our body's locomotor system. They serve to provide movement and stability of our skeleton and internal organs. The tendon is the tissue at the end of the muscle that connects to the bone.
Common areas of pain
Tendinitis is sometimes confused with or occurs with a condition called "tendonosis," a degenerative condition of the tendon, which also causes pain and dysfunction. The most common sites for both are the shoulder, arms, hip, hamstrings and the Achilles tendon. You may experience pain at the site of the injury or pain can be referred, or radiated, to areas distant from the injury.
The role of repetitive actions
Through repeated microtrauma, tendons can develop tiny scars. Repetitive strain injuries (RSI's) develop from repeated movements and are characterized by pain, stiffness and tissue scarring. They often involve tendons that cannot adapt to forces placed upon them. Unless you've suddenly whacked your tendon, pain and dysfunction usually occur gradually through repeated trauma to the tendon. A thorough assessment will help determine the cause of your specific problem.
Massage technique for tendinitis
Cross-fiber friction reduces pain, helps healCross-fiber friction massage was developed for treating injuries by Dr. James Cyriax, MD, who is sometimes called the father of orthopedic medicine. In cross-fiber friction, pressure is applied crosswise to the affected tissues for 2-5 minutes. The sensation can be numbing and uncomfortable. However, any pain should subside within minutes, and massage therapists make it a point to work within pain tolerance levels.
The case of tennis elbow
Tennis elbow is a painful condition involving micro-scarring deep within the muscles and tendons of the forearm. These scars consist of fibers which are laid down randomly, limiting movement. To help heal the condition, deep friction is applied across the length of the forearm at the site of the injury. This is similar to rolling the fingers over a pile of toothpicks until they all reorient in the right direction.Realigning the tissues with cross-fiber friction often requires a series of treatments. The goal is to reduce and mobilize areas of scar-like tissue, reduce pain, improve the overall function of the tendon, and restore muscle length and strength.
Massage therapy for tendon injuries
Specific techniques reduce pain and restore function
Massage is very effective in treating both acute and chronic tendon conditions. Massage therapists draw from an extensive background in clinical anatomy, and hands-on assessment and treatment skills. For tendon injuries, people often find short, regular visits reduce recovery time.
Why massage?
Massage relaxes and lengthens muscle groups in the area of injury and dysfunction. In addition, transverse or cross-fiber friction massage is often used on the area of the specific tendinitis, followed by ice. Massage also helps to ensure that the joint areas above and below the injury site (where applicable) stay relaxed and mobile.
Warm and cold applications
Massage therapists often use hydrotherapy in addition to massage. When inflammation is present, ice may be applied as a natural pain reliever. After the major inflammation winds down, contrast hydrotherapy is often used to improve circulation to the injury site. This means that warm and cool applications are applied alternately on the area, several times each of warm and cool, ending with cool.Finally, after a few weeks brief heat applications may be used, unless there is a flare-up of symptoms, in which case ice may again be applied. If your tendon is painful after work or exercise, you can use ice at home, following your therapist's guidelines, to reduce the body's inflammation response and relieve pain.
Strength that has effort in it is not what you need; you need the strength that is the result of ease.
--Ida Rolf, PhD, author of Integration of Human Structures: Rolfing
Myofascial trigger points
Massage relieves radiating pain
Imagine this: you feel a deep, spreading pain at your right shoulder. It feels better after a good night's rest, but as your day progresses, the knot-like feeling creeps up on you without invitation. The pain is sometimes very intense and sometimes moderate. And you note that sometimes it travels to different areas of your body.
What are trigger points?
These annoying little knots in our muscles and connective tissues are called myofascial trigger points. The "myo" part of the word means muscle and "fascial" refers to the elastic, connective tissue that runs throughout the body.
There are two basic types of trigger points: active and latent. Latent trigger points don't cause pain except when pressed. When latent trigger points become triggered and awakened by stress or injury, they become active. Active trigger points radiate (or refer) pain from muscle or fascia in a characteristic pattern. For example, trigger points in the shoulders often send pain and tension throughout the shoulders and up into the lower neck. Likewise, trigger points in your buttocks can refer pain down the leg just as in sciatica.
Massage can help
Two doctors, Dr. Janet Travell and Dr. David Simons, revolutionized our understanding of trigger points. They mapped out the entire body and standardized a pain referral pattern for each muscle. Trigger points usually follow these maps, though some people have unusual pain patterns. In either case, deep breathing, stretching, applications of heat or cold, and massage can help.
A case in point
The levator scapula, a problematic muscle
Levator scapula trigger points
Travell and Simons say that the shoulders are the area most affected by trigger points. The levator scapula muscle connects your shoulder blade to your neck and is responsible for elevating your shoulder blade. It is especially prone to trigger points, and can refer pain to the neck, around the shoulders and down into the mid-back.
Releasing the levator scapula
To help relax this muscle, focus on the shoulder area. Breathe deeply and begin to let go of the tension with each exhale. Then inhale, shrug your shoulders up toward your ears, squeeze, and hold them to the count of three. Release them completely on the exhale. Repeat three to five times, then relax and breathe slowly and deeply.
All the right points
Specific techniques to relieve pain
Myofascial trigger points can keep people from going about the daily activities of life. The good news is massage therapists are trained to prevent and reduce these knots and the pain that accompanies them. One of the most effective treatments that therapeutic massage utilizes with trigger points is called "ischemic compression." After locating the trigger point, the therapist applies direct pressure, producing pain within your comfort level. You may feel the pain locally or you may feel it radiate and travel away from the area being pressed.
Your therapist may instruct you to breathe deeply, consciously relaxing the area being pressed until the pain subsides. Next, the pressure may be slowly increased until the pain returns. This process may be repeated, followed by other massage techniques and hydrotherapy such as moist heat or ice massage.
Many people needlessly suffer pain for years without the knowledge that a few focused sessions in trigger point therapy can resolve their problem. That said, there is an old saying, "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always had." Therefore, to ensure that your trigger points stay away, consider adding stretches, moderate exercise and relaxation to your daily habits.
Research by the acknowledged world experts on pain, Professors P. Wall and R. Melzack, has confirmed that while certainly not the cause of all pain, trigger-point activity is at least a part (often the major part) of almost all chronic pain situations and conditions.
--Leon Chaitow, ND, DO, author of Fibromyalgia and Muscle Pain: Your Self-Treatment
Massage relaxes, promotes healing
Revered through the ages
Throughout human history, massage was used for everything from stiff, painful muscles to chronic disease. In China, medical texts refer to it as early as 3000 B.C.
Today massage therapy is being used by a wide range of people as a pain reliever, antidote to stress, and enhancer of athletic performance. A survey conducted by the American Massage Therapy Association showed that 25 million more Americans received massage in the year 2006 than they did in 1996.
Doctors are referring patients for massage as well. Andrew Weil, MD and author of Spontaneous Healing said, "[Massage] works on the premise ... that the body can heal itself if given a chance. Massage nurtures the body's talent for healing by triggering and supporting the body's own healing response."
Recent research has shown that massage lowers blood pressure, increases circulation, relaxes muscles and improves range of motion. What's more, it reduces the effects of stress and can ease the impulse to tighten in response to pain. Because of these results, many people are finding that massage helps them heal faster from injuries and disease.Studies also demonstrate that the benefits of regular massage tend to accumulate, easing long-term tension, conditioning tissues to help prevent injury, and enhancing your ability to breathe more deeply and relax more fully.
Aromatherapy, the art of scent
Essential oils can boost your mood, relieve stressAromatherapy is the application of essential oils through baths, spa treatments, facials or massage. Essential oils are distilled from plants -- such as lavender, eucalyptus and peppermint -- which give the oils their fragrances and therapeutic qualities.
Research on the sense of smell has shown that scent is perceived by the part of the brain connected with emotion, and that a scent that pleases you or is associated with a happy event will increase your feeling of well-being. That effect can be heightened when essential oils, easily added to massage oils and creams, are combined with massage.
According to Peter and Kate Damian, authors of Aromatherapy: Scent and Psyche -- Using Essential Oils for Physical and Emotional Well-Being, jasmine, lavender, neroli (orange blossom), and rose are effective in reducing anxiety. These oils in addition to clary sage are helpful for panic and soothing the nerves. Jasmine and lavender as well as basil are believed to help improve sleep. While certified aromatherapists focus solely on the use of essential oils, other professionals such as estheticians, spa professionals and massage therapists often enhance their services with the wonderful properties of these oils.
Massage for back pain
Study shows long-term benefits
Research has shown massage to be very effective in reducing low-back pain. One study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine followed back-pain sufferers who participated in three different groups receiving either massage, acupuncture, or educational information. After ten weeks, the massage group reported a 47% improvement, while the acupuncture group improved by 38% and the educational group improved by 27%. The study showed that the benefits of massage lasted far longer than the post-massage feeling of relaxation. Even a year after the study was finished, the massage group maintained benefits.
How does massage reduce back pain?
Massage eases tension and muscle spasm. As the muscles relax, circulation increases, bringing healing oxygen to the tissues. Certain massage techniques release painful trigger points, and increase flexibility and mobility in the body.
Massage therapists are trained to be sensitive in dealing with sore, painful tissues. If you have back pain, the goal will be to work well within your pain threshold, gently encouraging relaxation in the back, and throughout the body. Imagine how much better your back, and your body overall, could feel with improved blood flow to the muscles, decreased tension and trigger points, increased relaxation and easier movement.
The more high technology around us, the more the need for human touch.
--John Naisbitt, Author of Megatrends