Massage Therapy

Is it Better for Prevention or Cure of Your Back Pain?

Massage therapy is often thought of as a relaxation technique. Yet it is one of the best types of back pain treatment . Or is it…

Most back pain occurs, not from falls or injuries, but from day to day stress. In fact – less than 10% of back pain cases come from injuries. Back pain is most often felt after doing an activity you have done a hundred times before. But you suddenly feel pain.

So is massage the ideal choice in these circumstances?

Massage works on your muscles. Now that is nothing new. What massage technique does not do though is change your joints. It will ease tension in muscles and help them relax.

If muscles are in spasm, then massage can actually make problems worse. Although there are many forms of massage, most massage technique will aggravate severe or acute muscular conditions.

When is Massage Therapy Best?

Once your muscles are easing in tension, massage is fantastic at improving that relaxing effect. If muscles are relaxed they do not pull on the joints creating joint distortion.

If you combine massage technique with other body work that involves the joints, and then combined you have a method to stop back pain. The only problem is you need to see two practitioners.

Does Massage Technique Prevent or Cure

Massage technique is an invaluable tool. However it is best suited to use as a preventative rather than a curative technique. Why?

As stated before, most back pain issues arise not from injuries. It is the muscle tension that pulls on joints that allows back pain to occur. In reality back pain is created by joint distortion, muscle tightness, muscle weakness and inflammation. Massage addresses the tight muscles only.

A regular massage will help to prevent back pain. As muscles are kept in a state of relaxation as regular massage happens. This helps to prevent muscular imbalance that allows the muscle weakness and spasms to occur. It also means that the joints are less likely to be disrupted.

Massage technique is therefore more a preventative measure in back pain.

The Drawbacks of Massage Therapy

Massage like most techniques fits into the realms of practitioner oriented. This means it is almost impossible to apply your self. Certain muscles can be reached and massaged, but in back pain conditions this is usually impossible.

Massage technique varies from practitioner to practitioner. They range from the gentle massage technique to heavy techniques. Shiatsu massage , a Japanese style of massage therapy for example can be both.

No matter what type of massage technique you desire, if the massage therapist passes the "Sugar Test" then you have found the ideal practitioner for you. Massage therapy is an ideal long term technique to use for your back pain.

The Back Pain Advisor strives to give you only the best and expert advice on your back pain issues. Massage therapy is an ideal technique for back pain, more for prevention than cure, but if any massage technique passes the "Sugar Test" then it is the ideal therapy for you.

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Back Pain Therapies

Chiropractic Care	Osteopath	Acupuncture
Feldenkrais	Physical Therapy	Acupressure
Shiatsu Massage	Bowen Therapy	Alexander technique

Are you confused? A simple practitioner guide is here to help remove the confusion on the ideal back pain treatment for you.