Deep Tissue Massage for Back Pain: What are the Best Therapeutic Techniques?

 

Back pain massage is one of the most common requests of our massage therapy clients. Deep tissue massage for back pain can be a life saver! Our spine protects and houses a large part of our central nervous system. When trauma or dysfunction happens to your body, it is going to want to protect this region first. One way that your body does this is by sending pain signals to the area. The pain is a signal to rest and heal. Unfortunately, with our busy lives, we tend to ignore this signal. 

“Splinting” (ie contracting) the spinal muscles is another way that your body protects itself. This can help with an immediate injury. But it can exacerbate chronic back pain and tightness. Back pain massage is a holistic approach to rectify this dysfunction. Therapists communicate through touch to your nervous and muscular systems. The massage helps your brain understand that the original injury has healed. When your brain processes that it realizes that it doesn’t need to protect anymore. So it lets your back muscles go. The splinting is no longer necessary.  

Great massage therapists employ many different deep tissue massage techniques

Back pain can be the result of a wide variety of neuromuscular issues. And responses to various kinds of trauma. Therefore, our approach for each client case is unique. Crafting an effective massage requires an understanding of how each technique is going to affect your specific body. Each technique has a specific intention. And also produces a different sensation and result. Massage therapists frequently combine techniques to achieve an overall result. This includes reduction in pain, tightness, and restriction!

Deep tissue massage techniques are most effective for long term back pain relief

Deep tissue massage does involve a higher intensity group of techniques. However, deep tissue massage techniques should not simply to beat up your body. Or cause you unbearable pain! There is a point past which more pressure has no therapeutic benefit. And only causes more pain.

The name deep tissue massage indicates that the techniques are going to produce more intense feelings. This is due to the higher applied pressure and greater specificity of this pressure. However, the sensations should always be bearable to be effective. You should be able to breathe through the intensity. And not flinch or tighten other muscles. The techniques discussed below all fall under the larger umbrella of deep tissue massage.

For More Information: Back pain massage in Midtown 

Want to hear some good COVID-19 massage news? Massage Therapy with safety protocols is SAFE!

 

Our COVID-19 safety measures for massage therapy are working great – Read Our in Depth Safety Plan Here

Hi! So, we have been open now since July 6th and steadily rebuilding our team. The first couple of weeks felt pretty stressful. We have a whole list of new safety protocols and cleaning procedures to practice. What once felt routine and easy (all the things that happen before and after your massage) has took a while to adjust to, but is now the new normal. It feels good to be able to share some good COVID-19 massage news. Whew!

Our track record over the past 4 months is now over 1,500 appointments since reopening with zero issues of covid transmission. Therefore, I feel that I can comfortably say that massage therapy is a safe activity with our safety protocols securely in place. Thank you to all NYC’ers for taking masks and social distancing seriously! All of our hard work is what’s allowing businesses to stay open and for us specifically to be able to offer medical massage in New York.

With the recent uptick in cases in NYC, we are re-instituting mandatory PCR covid testing for our therapists. Since we reopened, I myself have had 7 tests, all were negative. As long as testing is readily available, therapists will test every two weeks even though it’s not required by NYS. You can view the therapists’ test results here.

For More Information: Medical Massage in New York

How Often Should I Get a Massage?

 

In the often hectic & stressful environment that is NYC, having a self-care plan or routine in place is key. A good self care plan can greatly aid in reducing the physical and mental effects of this stress. Deciding to integrate massage therapy into your self-care routine often begs the question: “how often should I come in for a massage?” There is no one-size fits all answer, but here are some general guidelines depending on your lifestyle and health. Hopefully, these will help you determine an effective frequency to keep you pain free!

General Recommendations: How Often Should I Get a Massage?

First rule: Don’t wait for a crisis! Start adding massage therapy to your routine before you get injured. You’ll need to come far less often and also vastly improve your ability to prevent future injury.

For any actual pain symptoms, we recommend a series of massage therapy sessions with no more than 2 weeks between sessions. Depending on the severity of your pain and the causes the series will be anywhere from 3-8 sessions.

Once you are no longer experiencing pain, you can switch to a maintenance cycle of massage sessions. This is important to keep the pain from coming back. For people who work highly stressful jobs or work out hard regularly, we recommend a maintenance massage every 2-4 weeks. For the rest of you, a maintenance massage every 6-12 weeks usually does the trick of keeping you pain free!

For More Information: How Often Should I Get a Massage?