Do You Want Your Pain Relief to Last Longer After a Massage?
You have pain, you like massage but you want the results to be long lasting. When you feel the pain come back you may think oh no! Is this something I have to do all the time or maybe the massage is not working.
I feel you and as a massage therapist who also receives massages, I too dislike having my trouble spots start to return. Yes, sometimes it might be the massage, maybe it was not the right modality to help with your muscular complaint. And yes oftentimes it is what we do everyday that may be moving the needle of pain, discomfort or tightness back to premassage state.
The key is to understand once you get those sticky congested areas unstuck and looser from your massage is to pay attention to what you are doing daily. Here are some ideas to help you out.
Is This You?
A common complaint people want help with is upper back, shoulder and neck discomfort. You may be sitting long hours in front of the computer, with your upper body slumped forward and head forward of the spine. If you did this all day long without changing positions, this way of sitting becomes habitual and the longer it’s habitual, it turns into a holding pattern.
If this sitting position of being slumped forward, head forward contributes to your headaches, shoulder and upper back pain and you are aware of it, then you should re-orient your body in such a way to change that. If it’s a habitual pattern, your nervous system will favor this familiar pathway and this pattern will just continue day in and day out. Faulty pattern, over faulty pattern repeatedly will take a toll on how your upper body will feel.
The beauty of this is first recognizing this habitual pattern and then acting upon it to change the pattern to create greater ease and comfort.
Longer Relief
Here are some tips to help learn a new sitting posture and help you with upper back and neck stiffness and pain.
- Get up and move away from the desk, or wherever you’re sitting
Walk around to get your blood oxygenated and flowing throughout the body. - Set a timer at 50 minutes – take regular breaks.
If it’s not break time, move in your chair.
- Undulate your spine while sitting. Rock your pelvis back and forth, which in turn extends and flexes the whole spine, repeat several times.
- Sit up tall, put a slight arch in the lumbar spine, push your chest slightly forward, and tilt your head up slightly and then lower the chin. Repeat several times. Come back to neutral.
- Sit with a neutral spine, rock your entire spine back and forth over your hips. Pay attention to when your spine is over the front of your hips. Pay attention when your spine is behind the front of your hips, and now come back to the center where you feel your hips are in between these 2 positions, this is neutral spine in sitting.
Incorporate these movements into your daily life, to create new habits for better sitting at your computer or wherever. You’ll start to have less upper neck and shoulder pain and the benefits of your massage will last longer.
Do you want more self care tips? You might find this post very helpful
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