3 Types Of Massage For Chronic Pain

Massage can be an integral part of treatment for chronic pain. Since there are many types of massage, it can be difficult to determine the appropriate treatment to help reduce or alleviate pain. There are some options that might be more beneficial than others.

Trigger Point Massage

The goal of trigger point massage is to alleviate tightness in areas of the body that may be responsible for widespread chronic pain. For example, people who experience muscle tightness and spasms likely find their pain radiates to other areas. Your massage therapist will perform a general massage over all areas of the body, but they will use additional pressure to release trigger points. Although this process should not be painful, everyone will respond differently, especially if you have many tender areas all over your body. With consistent massage sessions, pain that is associated with tightening of these trigger points should reduce or may resolve completely.

Reflexology

Reflexology can be a good choice for people who are especially sensitive to touch, such as those with fibromyalgia, which can make you feel tender all over. Reflexology focuses on massaging certain areas of the foot and other extremities. Specific areas on your feet and hands may be correlated with other body parts. By massaging these areas, you may find a reduction in pain in strategic areas or all over. In addition to being a good form of massage for chronic pain, this type of massage can be more comfortable for people who would rather remain fully-dressed throughout the treatment. You may only need to take off your shoes and socks for treatments.

Hot Stone Massage

Hot stone massage combines a traditional massage with the use of hot stones. This can be an ideal form of treatment if your type of chronic pain responds well to heat, such as some types of arthritic pain and muscle tension/spasms. Your therapist will perform a traditional massage all over your body and place the hot stones on different areas of your body. They may also use gentle pressure as they push the stones over your body. In addition to the hot stones being soothing for some types of pain, the heat can help recruit natural healing properties to different areas because heat increases blood flow.

Massage is frequently used and recommended as part of ongoing management of chronic pain. Being selective about the type of massage your receive for chronic pain can increase the benefits of your treatment. For more information, get in touch with a company such as Burgman Chiropractic Clinic PC.

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