Massage Therapy

What is massage therapy?

Massage therapy comes in many forms and when used appropriately, can provide a variety of helpful results.

The term ‘massage therapy’ can be used at a range of occasions and can include several techniques which a clinician such as a physiotherapist, osteopath, manual therapist or alternative therapist may use on a client in order to elicit a desired outcome.

These may include:

  • Deep tissue or ‘sports’ massage
  • Relaxation or ‘swedish’ massage
  • Pre- or post-event massage

Do I need massage therapy?

Massage and manual therapy can be a helpful tool in many cases. However, it is important that when you see a physiotherapist or other clinician, that you are fully aware of the realistic expected outcome of the sort of techniques listed above.

Much has changed in the past decade in our understanding of the direct physiological and physical effect of massage therapy, and so it is important that we do not overstate the impact or expected outcome of using various forms of massage therapy. 

Here are a few myths that have been busted over the past decade:

Massage can improve range of movement or flexibility.

While massage can be helpful at making sore tissues feel better, research over the past few years has found that massage itself cannot make a significant change to muscle flexibility or joint mobility lasting more than a few hours.

Massage can improve blood flow.

Recent research using doppler ultrasound techniques has found that blood flow and the internal temperature of a muscle does not change after prolonged focused massage over the area.

Massages can break down adhesions and scar tissue.

Adhesions and scar tissues are bands of fibrous tissues which can sometimes form following surgery or injury.  In some cases, this can be a normal phase of healing and is often over-diagnosed without good clinical reasoning.  Just because something feels stiff or ‘tight’ does not mean it has scarred.  Even still, it has been found with studies on cadavers that it takes a minimum of 9075N or 925KG of force to lengthen a tissue by 1%.  Surgeons need scalpels to move connective tissues, we can’t do it with our thumbs!  

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Can massage therapy help me if I’m in pain?

Yes, absolutely. Even though these techniques are not long term solutions to pain or injury, they have been found and proven to have profound effect on people’s experience of pain and can be a valuable tool for reducing pain and reducing the feeling of discomfort when moving.

Some of the expected benefits from these types of manual therapy techniques are:

Stress relief:

Massage therapy and therapeutic touch can be extremely beneficial for reducing stress and improving emotional well being. Both of these factors can negatively affect our relationship with pain and can become barriers to recovering from injury.

Pain relief:

The effect of massage can be very impactful on a person’s experience of pain, it can be helpful to desensitise irritable tissues and improve the feeling of ease of movement and provide a valuable window to restore good function and engage in rehabilitation.

Improved quality of sleep:

Improving a person’s experience of pain and movement can be highly beneficial in helping them achieve better quality of sleep which can be a big milestone in pain and injury management. Poor sleep can be a significant driver of pain, nothing feels good when we’re sleep deprived! Getting as much good quality sleep as you can when you’re in pain can be one of the most helpful steps in making progress in the early stages of rehabilitation and massage therapy can be helpful in providing this opportunity by reducing pain sensitivity and stress,

When should I avoid massage therapy?

  • Acute injury: Massage therapy should not be used in the early stages of injuries, i.e.: in the 3-5 days immediately after an injury. Massage therapy can be irritating to damaged or vulnerable tissues, can disrupt healing tissues and may detrimentally impact recovery.
  • Open wounds: Massaging around open wounds or damaged skin (e.g.: sun damaged or severely dry and broken skin). This can significantly increase the risk of infection and can slow down healing.
  • Illness or acute infection: If you are acutely unwell or fighting an infection, massage therapy should be avoided. Massage therapy can be irritating to soft tissues and has been known to temporarily increase the demand on the immune system which in turn can leave you more exposed to the impact of active infections or illnesses.
  • Severe pain or severe muscle spasms: While massage is thought to be beneficial for ‘loosening’ tight muscles, severe spasms can be very stubborn, and unnecessarily treating them with massage or manual therapy can often make them worse as the spasm can tighten when pressure is applied.

Massage therapy helps:

When undergoing active cancer treatment.

If you have a contagious skin condition.

If you are experiencing complications associated with pregnancy.

If you have a fracture or broken bone.

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