Pain is a holistic condition. When a part of your body experiences pain, your entire body is affected. Even a slight headache or toothache debilitates you and prevents you from performing your daily activities normally. If you are the type of person who doesn’t want to take oral medication immediately, the best option is to undergo a neuromuscular massage therapy.
Neuromuscular massage is known to be the best means to relieve LPB or low back pain. This therapy is also called trigger point myotherapy if the LBP is caused by an injury to the soft tissue. Neuromuscular massage is a technique wherein there is alternating pressure levels are given to the affected areas wherein the elbow, knuckles, or fingers are used. Each pressure variation should be done for 10-30 seconds. Read on and be familiar with the considerations about neuromuscular massage:
1. Reduction of pain
There are several causes of pain—lactic acid production and inefficient oxygenation of tissues. When you touch the affected area, the pain gets aggravated. Tissues suffering from ischemia (low oxygenation) is brought about by muscle spasms. With neuromuscular massage, the lactic acid is dispersed from the muscle tissues, oxygen circulates better again and pain is relieved. At first, the neuromuscular massage will be a bit painful because of the pressure given but as the process continues, the pain goes away.
2. After the therapy
After you have undergone neuromuscular massage, pain or soreness will go away after 24-36 hours. The tight muscles before the therapy will be more relaxed already and remain so for 4-14 days. This depends on the level of activity, level of severity, and the stress that the LBP had before the neuromuscular massage.
3. Inflammation
If the muscle is just tight, this should be immediately relieved by neuromuscular massage performed by a skilled massage therapist with proper equipment. However, if the pain has inflammation, proper medical consultation should be done first. The inflammation should be treated prior to any application of therapeutic pressure. This also applies for those who are experiencing severe back pain.
4. Length of therapy
Neuromuscular massage can go on for six weeks for most cases of muscle spasms. This should be done after a proper treatment plan is established.
5. Combination with other methods
In dealing with pain, it is more effective if the neuromuscular massage can be combined with chiropractic care and physical therapy. It is common for several health professionals to work together to alleviate the pain. This is to ensure the overall health of the patient.
6. Other Causes of Pain
Aside from ischemia or low oxygenation, muscle pain can be caused by nerve compression/entrapment, trigger points, dysfunctions of biomechanics, and improper posture. Nerve compression is when pressure is brought upon a bone, cartilage, or soft tissue. Trigger points are certain areas of the body that radiate the pain to other points of your body. Biomechanical irregularities or dysfunction is a condition wherein there are certain imbalances in the musculoskeletal system that results to wrong patterns of movement. Improper posture is the wrong placement of the body’s horizontal and longitudinal planes. If this is done for a long time, pain in various areas of the body may result. With the use of neuromuscular massage, the ROM (range of motion) provided unlatch the compressed nerve. With the stretches done in this therapy, the muscles are reminded or retrained that they can extend or expand without pain. The neuromuscular massage also gets to release the different layers of pain in the trigger points with the different levels of pressure applied. With neuromuscular massage the patient is reminded to adapt the right posture and right ways to move. Lifting, bending, walking, and standing are only some of the movements that need proper posture and biomechanics so that the center of gravity may be determined.
When you understand the procedure of neuromuscular massage, you will definitely harness its benefits. Going to an expert in this therapy is the right thing to do because these specialists have a very deep knowledge of your anatomy, the techniques needed in neuromuscular massage, and how the various body systems interact with one another. The therapy doesn’t only aim to alleviate the pain, especially LBP but also to orient the patient on things that you should do to improve your progress. Neuromuscular massage makes the patient take part in the healing process. This is a very good aspect of the therapy because the patient learns how to prevent muscle spasms including LBP or low back pain. This therapy has still more room for development in the future. Having both physiology and anatomy interlaced in neuromuscular massage is really the best means to alleviate pain.