Soft Tissue Massage
A hands-on technique to massage tissue by rubbing, stroking, kneading, frictioning, etc. muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This promotes healing, reduces spasm, and relaxes the tissue. Massage is often used prior to manipulation/adjustments to relax the area to allow the joints to move.
Joint subluxations, troublesome enough on their own, are almost always accompanied by tension or injury in your soft tissue: muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia (connective tissue that permeates muscles and forms protective sheets throughout your body).
Soft tissue pain can actually spread because it causes protective muscle tightening in surrounding areas. Over time, tight, inflamed muscles and fascia (together called myofascia) suffer poor circulation and can develop glue-like myofascial adhesions which prevent muscles from lengthening completely. Painful trigger points can also develop, often referring pain or tingling to other areas in the body. In extreme cases, tight muscles can compress nerves just as painfully as a subluxation.
How does Massage Therapy Help?
Massage therapists use a variety of techniques to address soft tissue problems. Gentle kneading and stretching lengthens contracted muscles and fascia. Techniques such as sustained pressure, ice massage and stretching can release trigger points. Painful sprains and strains, as well as myofascial adhesions, can be addressed directly with massage techniques that improve circulation and stimulate healthy separation and realignment of injured fibres.
In general, massage increases circulation. This reduces painful swelling and inflammation, and promotes healing by removing waste products and bringing nutrients to your tissues. Like a sponge absorbing water, both fascia and muscles
begin to soften and lengthen.
Helps to maintain your daily health
Both massage and chiropractic offer preventive care to support your ongoing good health and well-being. A timely visit to your chiropractor can reestablish normal alignment and mobility before secondary soft tissue problems develop.
Regular massage can release chronically contracted muscles and fascia, improving the balance among muscle groups and promoting healthful circulation. Your body will be more resilient in the face of daily stresses, less prone to injury and subluxation.
Chiropractic supports Massage
You can benefit in a number of ways by adding massage therapy to your chiropractic care program. Recovery is normally faster and more complete when you address multiple components of your pain. Chiropractic treatment often proceeds more easily, with less discomfort, when soft tissue has been relaxed with massage. You may be less anxious and more ready to receive chiropractic adjustment after a relaxing massage. Adjustments frequently last longer when muscle tension is released that might otherwise pull your joints out of alignment again. If your pain involves a subluxation, chiropractic adjustment may give immediate relief as your joint is restored to alignment and mobility. You may find that surrounding soft tissue heals quickly once it is no longer subjected to the stress of misaligned joints.
Benefits of Massage:
Massage Therapy is the manual manipulation of muscles and soft tissue by applying pressure to the body with the intention of positively affecting the health and well being of the client or patient
• Stretches superficial tissue.
• Assists lymphatic and venous flow.
• Helps to break up and loosen subcutaneous tissue adhesions.
• Can help reduce certain types of edema.
• Stimulates the sensory receptors (nerves) of the skin and deeper tissue.
Massage Therapy is recommended for:
• Relief of chronic stress /tension.
• Relaxation.
• Relief of pain/spasm.
• Headaches.
• Repetitive strain injuries.
• Sprains/strains/athletic injuries.
• Tendonitis/bursitis.
• Pregnancy discomforts/post partum.
• Postural disorders/muscle rehabilitation.
• Lymphatic drainage.
• Improved circulation.
Type of Massages:
Swedish Massage is a system of long strokes, kneading and friction techniques on the more superficial layers of the muscles, combined with active and passive movement to the joints.
Swedish massage is a very relaxing and therapeutic style of bodywork. It combines oils or lotion with an array of strokes such as rolling, kneading, and percussion to help the body improve its circulation. The benefits of this type of bodywork are wide-ranging and include relief from aches and pains, decreased stress levels in the body, enhanced mental clarity, improved appearance, and greater flexibility.
Deep Tissue Massage releases the chronic patterns of tension in the body through slow strokes and deep finger pressure on the contacted areas, either following or going across the grain of muscles, tendons and fascia. It is called deep tissue, because it also focuses on the deeper layers of muscle tissue.
Deep Tissue Massage is a form of bodywork that aims to relieve tension in the deeper layers of tissue in the body. Deep Tissue Massage is a highly effective method for releasing chronic stress areas due to misalignment, repetitive motions, and past lingering injuries. Due to the nature of the deep tissue work, open communication during the session is crucial to make sure you don’t get too uncomfortable. Keep in mind that soreness is pretty common after the treatment, and that plenty of water should be ingested to aid with the flushing and removal of toxins that will have been released from the deep tissue during the session.
Sports Massage
massage therapy focusing on muscle systems relevant to a particular sport.
Sports Massage is a type of massage designed for highly active people who engage in athletics. Engaging in sports is harsh on the body and can often lead to injuries in both the short and long term. Sports Massage enhances performance and prolongs a sports career by helping to prevent injury, reduce pains and swelling in the body, relax the mind, increase flexibility, and dramatically improve recovery rates. Sports Massage is also highly effective in aiding the rapid recovery of an athlete from an injury by encouraging greater kinesthetic awareness and in turn promoting the body’s natural immune function.
Pregnancy Massage is a form of bodywork designed specifically for pregnant women. Pregnancy is a time in which a woman’s body endures tremendous stress due to dramatic physical, mental, and emotional changes. Using various techniques specifically for the new mother, Pregnancy Massage helps alleviate discomforts experienced throughout the pregnancy. The benefits are profound, including emotional support, the reduction of joint pain due to extra weight and postural imbalance, improved breathing and relaxation, and relief from uncomfortable digestive issues.
Trigger Point Therapy (also known as Myotherapy or Neuromuscular Therapy): applies concentrated finger pressure to "trigger points" (painful irritated areas of spasm and pain in muscles).
Trigger point is a style of bodywork that focuses on stimulating and releasing “trigger points” in your body. Trigger points are tender areas of tension similar to acupressure points, except they occur in the belly of the muscle tissue rather than along the energy pathways of the body. These ‘knots’ are built up throughout a person’s life due to physical, mental, and/or emotional stress. During a session, focused pressure is applied through a variety of techniques order to release your trigger points. This process can be quite painful at times, yet the effects are lasting and profoundly transformative.
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