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Massage involves acting and manipulating the patient's body with pressure (structured, unstructured, stationary, and/or moving), tension, motion, or vibration done manually or with mechanical aids. Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, or other connective tissue, as well as lymphatic vessels, and/or organs of the gastrointestinal system. Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, forearm, and feet. There are over eighty different massage modalities.The most cited reasons for introducing massage was patient demand and perceived clinical effectiveness.
Neuromuscular massage
Applied to specific muscles, often used to increase blood flow, release knots of muscle tension, or release pain/pressure on nerves. It usually involves trigger points (painful spots in a muscle) and helps break up scar tissue that has formed over the injured muscle.
Some patients can be rid of pain in only one session with a neuromuscular massage therapist, while other patients will require several sessions before a noticeable change takes place. Neuromuscular massage therapists usually spend time warming up the tissue with Swedish or traditional massage before progressing into neuromuscular massage therapy. It can also take time to actually locate the trigger point(s) because the patient may be feeling pain in areas unrelated to the source of the problem.
NMT is a deep tissue massage and is applied directly to individual specific muscles, ligaments, connective tissue & tendons that are contributing to your pain and misery. NMT excels here over the traditional relaxation massage that you may get in a spa.
When you come to visit me with your back pain you will sit in the special massage chair that you see above. Slowly and gently I will be using my thumbs, finger tips and even my elbows to explore every fiber tissue looking for bands of muscle fibers that are tighter than the rest of them.
Benefits
Postural Distortion: This is an imbalance of the muscular system resulting from the movement of the body off the longitudinal and horizontal planes. This is a fancy way of saying your body needs a muscel alignment just like your car does after hitting a pothole!
Biomechanical Dysfunction: This refers to the imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting in faulty movement patterns such as :
Poor lifting habits
Terrible golf swing
Lousy tennis stroke
Incorrect typing posture
Massage therapy and bodywork eases tension and helps people cope with stress more effectively. It slows racing thoughts and worries, helps consumers to reconnect with their body, and brings attention to the mental and physical needs of their bodies so that they may better take care of themselves. It promotes a sense of wholeness and helps enhance one's self-image, while keeping energy levels high. Massage therapy and bodywork can be effective in preventing illness and other physical ailments if received on a regular basis.
Neuromuscular Massage Therapy successfully treats the following conditions:
Neck pain and/or stiffness such as whiplash
Shoulder Injuries
Low back pain, sciatica or hip pain
Most common back pain, spasms, and cramping
headaches
Migraines
Facial or jaw pain
Tingling and numbness of arms, hands, legs and feet
Neuromuscular massage is applied to a specific point in the body. It is usually used in order to relieve tension and pain in the patient. Results are accomplished by focusing on one muscle group, so that the massage therapist can find the tension point and relieve stress in your body. This in turn will reduce pain.
This type of therapy is applied to individual muscles, and is a form of deep tissue massage. It is often used after trauma to muscles and soft tissue. It helps to release pressure on the nerves, which can be caused by injury. This massage therapy will also increase the blood flow, which further reduces pain.
Neuromuscular massage works on intense knots of tense muscle that are radiating pain to other parts of the body. The massage releases these trigger points and eases the pain in various parts of the body. This type of massage therapy is often very helpful for lower back pain, especially when it is caused by muscle strain.
There are 5 elements that cause pain. Neuromuscular massage addresses the following:
Ischemia: when blood is not flowing to soft tissues, they become very sensitive to the touch
Trigger Points: when muscles become irritated and pain starts radiating out to other parts of the body.
Nerve Compression or Entrapment: There is pressure on the nerve caused by soft tissue, bone or cartilage.
Postural Distortion: the muscles get imbalanced, and are not moving correctly
Biomechanical Dysfunction: the entire musculoskeletal system gets off balance due to improper use of the muscles.
Techniques used in neuromuscular massage:
The therapist will give alternating levels of pressure on the area where the patient is experiencing muscle spasm. The fingers, knuckles and elbow are usually used. The pressure should only be done for ten to thirty seconds.
When muscle is in spasm, (tightened in a knot) it will be very painful to the touch. This is primarily caused by lack of blood flow. This sets off a chain of events; due to lack of blood flow the muscles are not receiving enough oxygen. Lactic acid is produced due to oxygen deficiency. The lactic acid will cause pain in the muscle after activity.
When the muscle is relaxed by massage therapy, the lactic acid will be released, and the blood and oxygen start to flow to the muscle. This in turn will give relief to the patient. At first, the pressure of the massage will be a little painful, but as the treatment continues, the symptoms will be relieved. It is important to drink adequate amounts of water to aid this process.
After about 24-36 hours, the pain and soreness should subside. The patient should experience relief for at least 7-14 days, as the muscles should remain relaxed for that period. This is a very useful form of massage therapy and can be used for athletes or anyone suffering from the after affects of trauma or muscle strain.