What is the Best Type of Massage Therapy for Me?

Message therapy is a technique of promoting healthy tissues and relieving pain, thereby increasing the functionality of a person. The type of massage therapy you choose depends highly on the particular tissue or injury to a specific part. There are plenty of massage therapies which the customers can choose from according to their needs.

However, one of the most common massage therapies is Swedish massage developed in late 1700 by Per Henrik Ling. This technique focuses on using long and smooth movements for tissue kneading or tapping. Also depending on the needs of the customer, this technique can be used for either relaxing muscles or increasing their tone using light or deep pressure. It is also advised that the therapist giving this massage should have specialized training. 

Besides this technique, there are many other types of massages as well. Some of these techniques are as follows:

• Relaxation massage- As the name suggests, the primary aim of this type of massage is to increase the relaxation of the clients using slow and rhythmic movements on targeted muscles. One of the primary examples of such massages is infant massage by the parents, which helps the babies to a night of better sleep and a great bonding experience of parents with the babies. This type of massage is also advised during pregnancy but with some modified techniques according to the needs of clients.

• Sports massage- This technique is a combination of Swedish massage with stretching and active inhibition technique. The speciality of this massage is that it is performed either before or after a particular sports event. However, the purpose of pre-event massage is to provide rhythmic movements to warm up and stretch the body muscles so that they are ready for the event. On the other hand, the post-event massage tends to use slower movements so that they can relieve pain and reduce the recovery time for the muscles. This type of massage is highly advised for athletes to help them to achieve optimal performance.

• Deep tissue massage- This is another name of the Swedish technique, but this technique is used at deeper tissue levels. The only requirement in this method is that the muscles should be warmed up to a superficial level so that the therapist can go into deeper layers of the tissues and do the needful. It is also recommended that the therapists while performing this type of massage must have specialized training, and should only be applied to such clients who are accustomed to this type of massage.

• Friction therapy- This technique is typically used to break down adhesions or such scar tissues which might cause pain and can be a hindrance in the movement of the muscle. However, this technique is always used in combination with Swedish technique to warm up and help in the removal of metabolic waste, thereby helping in relieving pain.

• Manual lymph drainage- This is also known as Lymphedema massage, and uses a series of gentle movements to stimulate the lymphatic fluids in the body which relieves pain and congestion from the muscle. This type of massage is highly recommended for people who assist in the reduction of swelling after an injury or after surgery. This massage has shown excellent results for women who are suffering from the mastectomy. But this technique also requires specialized training by the therapists in order to treat the lymph nodes properly. 

There are many other massage techniques available as well. However, whichever method you chose should be according to your needs and after consultation with the therapists keeping in mind the targeted muscle.

Contact our clinic right now and experience all these great benefits of Massage Therapy today. At Hinterland Chiropractic, we are more than just chiropractic. We are all about helping you achieve optimum health.