Why is massage therapy maintenance so important?

Turns out, my headaches were being caused by the built-up tension within my head, neck and shoulder muscles, along with muscle imbalances and trigger points. Massage therapy is a terrific tool to manually decompress the muscles of the head, neck and shoulders and dissolve trigger points. We (RMTs) typically create a treatment plan that incorporates Swedish massage techniques, manual stretching, and heat to kick-start the process of muscle release.

How does manual therapy release muscles?

RMTs are able to use:

1. Elbows, forearms, and hands to apply direct pressure to specific muscles and tissues.
2. Downward pressure to get into deeper muscles and tissue to target problem areas.
3. Long, deep, slow movements coax the underlying structures to slowly release.

Now let’s add stretching to the mix. The act of elongating a muscle and it recoiling back to its original state. As we continuously stretch a muscle or associated soft tissue, the structures begin to adapt to the new environment we are exposing it to, and eventually the changes are long lasting.

Long lasting… something we all want to hear when it involves the state of being pain free.  As fast as our muscles and tissues adapt to new changes, the second we drift from those healthy habits, our bodies revert back to its previous painful state.

This is where the importance of massage therapy maintenance comes in. Although your massage therapist may be able to work wonders on healing your body and taking away your pain, it is important to remember that long lasting results not only take time, but continued treatments and manual interventions periodically to successfully promote permanent change.