Do you NEED to get beat up at your MASSAGE appointment?!
Have you avoided getting a massage since that one you had that left you feeling beat up for a week after? Are you nervous because you have low pain tolerance and everything wants to refer you to their sports therapist?
This blog is a few ways to explore treatment options that are best for you!
This is something I have wanted to share with you guys for a while so I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. It combines so many aspects of my training and lets me use my Massage Therapy schooling in such an applicational way I can’t help but be in heaven. In a Personal Training setting we learn how to stimulate GROWTH and RECOVERY within a muscle but with Massage Therapy we learn how to stimulate HEALING at different levels of anatomy within the body! How AMAZING to be able to combine the two. As much as I may not primarily use my skill set to touch humans with my hands anymore I genuinely incorporate it into my thought process at all times. I find it very important to access the body as a whole and in a deeper way and find the most efficient and enjoyable way to move.
Who is familiar with these sayings - as a client or practitioner …
“It hurts so good”
“I was SO sore for like 3 days then I felt better”
“I can take more pressure it doesn’t even hurt yet”
“I can take more pain, keep pushing that stretch”
“I feel that but it doesn't hurt so I don’t think it’s working…”
”I wanted to go back to that massage therapist because I did FEEL better but it just didn’t HURT enough while they were doing it, you know?!”
The thing is that your body doesn't actually need PAIN to HEAL.
There are so many different ways to get your body to stimulate a healing response - some of them not including elbows digging into sensitive areas! That is a huge reason I LOVE treating Fascia and its unique lines before I dig deep into someones muscle belly! Often this can decrease that entire TENSE feeling and help your body prep for a more intense stimuli like an elbow to the glute ;).
A few of my favourite techniques to have done in a massage treatment (or even to do on myself for self massage/recovery) :
Tapotement - can look like a karate chop massage like in the movies LOL! BUT it is a real thing and it can wake up your nervous system and lymphatic system! I personally love the feeling of all the instant flow and a rush of heat this can cause! Its like instant gratification.
Petrissage - specifically the skin rolling technique is used to treat restriction and areas where your fascia and connective tissue builds up causing pain! Sometimes its not the greatest feeling but WOW does it do wonders!
Compression - this is way too simple not to utilize! It has so many benefits and only requires applying pressure for a short time. By doing this intentionally you can reduce hypertonicity in the muscles which means they can relax and lengthen, better blood flow increases cellular nutrition which create healing and this usually all leads to a decrease in pain!
A few things to think about before deciding what type of treatment to schedule in!
Why are you seeking out treatment? Is it for a pain specific issue or more of a performance enhancement? Do you need to relax and unwind? This will very much help you decide what treatment style you’d like.
If it is for pain what type of pain and how consistent is it? If its pretty consistent chances are you already have a high level of inflammation going on - in which case I would not increase the inflammatory response so I might opt for a gentler approach instead of running to the first deep tissue therapist you know. This also might be something worth looking into as an overall lifestyle situation - what foods are you eating that may be causing an increase in that inflammation or what could we be doing daily movement wise to decrease the inflammation? Getting a treatment once a month will not solve the issue 100% it is a lifestyle.
If it is performance how much recovery is this athlete doing on their own? Are they here as maintenance or are they here because they have neglected something so long they need FIXING? These are two very different types of appointments. I could most likely benefit more from doing a gentle full body treatment, mobilizing and reassessing post appointment to see the root of the problem as opposed to spending an entire appointment treating the one shoulder that is acting up because your athlete never stretches and its not over compensating for something completely different. This client is also more than likely in a state of over-training and hypertensive from the fact alone that they LOVE to workout and push themselves. They are already at such a high state of intensity we need to bring them back down from that! This is why I love doing Fascial Mobility appointments with big huge guys that squat 500 lbs! They cannot believe I am so much smaller than them and I didn’t have to shove my elbow into them for an hour! Also I sometimes send them to get someone to do deep tissue of course but this can be just as beneficial!
Having come from my accident and being extremely inflamed at all times with my concussion especially I could barely have someone TOUCH me let alone do a deep tissue massage. This made me very intentional about my therapists and what I was getting done. If I had taken the stereotypical approach of if it doens’t hurt its not working then I cannot imagine what I would be doing now! My body would not have reacted well to even a light massage yet here I am able to spend 60-90 minutes with Don at Prema Wellness and walking out feeling completely different. This is an amazing example of a gentle and insanely effective treatment because he assessed and implemented the correct treatment protocol for me specifically. I needed something that my body could react to in a slow and easy way and acupuncture and soft tissue manipulation do just that for me! I love that I had options. Check out this video that is literally a full 53 minutes in just over 5 minutes! You can see it looks SO minimal. I am not tapping out in pain or struggling for days after! I honestly usually just need a long nap and see water!
If you are still unsure what your best RECOVERY routine may be then you can always contact me as I do two specific services for recovery and mobility! I do a full lifestyle assessment, movement assessment and 45 minute Fascial session if you are in YYC and can book in with me at Prema Wellness! Or you can easily reach out for your complimentary consult call and get your own personalized Recovery & Mobility assessment and routine via my online Personal Training platform!