Also known as Remedial or Deep Tissue massage, Therapeutic massage is one treatment style aimed at decreasing soft tissue tension and muscular dysfunction as well as improving blood and lymph circulation. It can help maintain range of motion and mobility, decrease pain and increase overall wellness. It is also used for rehabilitative purposes such as pre/post surgery and scar tissue breakdown.
One of the foremost indications of tension or dysfunction of muscles and soft tissue is pain. The problem may be as simple as tight or recently strained muscle, or it could be due to a chronic issue, normally from an injury or overuse, that has been a problem for some time. Therapeutic massage is one of the best methods of locating and treating these conditions.
A good therapeutic massage is not firm or deep for the entire session. Specific techniques are applied at the pressure needed, working within the clients pain threshold, to the areas needing attention on the day, to achieve an overall result, this will mean a variation of firm to lighter touch where needed.
A term that is commonly misused is Sports Massage. Many people ask me for a Sports massage, meaning they want something deep and firm.
Sports massage relates to techniques that are applied specifically and individually to a person to enable them to reach and maintain their peak physical condition, or to help rehabilitate after injury, based on the sport they are participating in.
It is most often not deep tissue massage, but a combination of many different techniques and styles that best suit the sports person at that time. These can include therapeutic, relaxation, lymph drainage, neuromuscular, myofascial, pnf stretching and more.
Are there side effects of Therapeutic Massage?
Great question. It varies from person to person, and from session to session, depending on what is going on in your body, and sometimes even where you are at mentally.
It is normal to feel muscle soreness for one or two days afterwards, or it can be great the next day and feel like you have been hit by a bus on the second or third day, especially if there has been a profound change in muscular or fascial tensions, or a chronic area of tightness has been released.
It should not however, cause you significant horrible pain that makes you question if you ever want to have massage again. If you feel this, you need to communicate with your therapist so they can adjust their technique and pressure next time so this does not happen again.
Another side effect is feeling disoriented or dizzy after the massage. This is quite normal, and you are encouraged to sit quietly once you get up, and drink some water until the feeling passes. I do not let my clients leave if their head doesn’t feel like it belongs to them yet!
Massage can leave you feeling dehydrated. It is important for the next 48 hours that you increase your water intake. This will also help flush any toxins out of your body faster. If you have a headache after a massage, drink water.
An after effect of therapeutic massage can be bruising. This should not be significant. You may notice a couple of small finger sized bruises if the therapist has gone very deep, especially if you bruise easily.
But if you wake up the next day covered in nasty black bruises there was something wrong with the therapists technique – most often they did not warm the tissues up enough and wait for the body to respond to let them deeper. Talk to your therapist about this. If they are blaise about it I suggest you change. No one should be leaving significant bruising on anyone!