Pain Management and Rehabilitation

By Gwynne Buttrill, LMT

California Total Body Massage

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Pain Management and Rehabilitation

Pain reveals itself in different ways, affects each body differently, and responds to each type of therapy differently. Pain can be acute, or short lived, or pain can be chronic, or long lasting.

Therapeutic massage is a complimentary alternative care that assists in achieving structural changes in the body that can relieve pain. Therapeutic massage training is extensive and on-going. The treatment includes an honest, compassionate client relationship and education toward overall structure awareness. Massage therapists are able to assess if tissue is soft, pliable and properly hydrated. They are able to see and feel shortness in tissues and can test for strength/weakness in muscles. They perform these assessments by engaging their own nervous systems and using massage to release body tensions.

Posture, often a factor in pain, is a passive neuromuscular event, not a mechanical one. Were you a young athlete now spending your career sitting at a desk? Are you a runner? Do you lift weights to build muscle bulk or to increase strength?

Depending on if you pay attention to and how you take care of your body, any of these activities may result in pain. Pain experienced by blood, nerve, muscle, skeletal, and lymph systems can be caused by neuromuscular imbalances; when some muscles are strong while others are weak or by a tension/length relationship, when some muscles are short while others are long; you can experience one or both. In these cases, pain may be due to inflexibility (loss of muscle range of motion) and/or instability (loss of muscle strength and potential nerve impact).

Proper massage therapy requires asking each client about not only pain, but current physical abilities. It includes understanding client expectations and creating an individualized treatment plan. It takes teamwork, time, and drive both psychological (must be wanted) and neurological (mental relaxation through proper breathing and exercise) to achieve the goal of becoming pain free.

It should be noted that when neuromuscular tension builds up, releasing it can be difficult. Effective manual manipulation may or may not cause pain during or after the session. Common recommendations for after care are to drink plenty of water (become a sponge) and listen to your body.

“If you listen to your body when it whispers, you won't have to hear it when it screams.” Author Unknown.