I have practiced massage for over 20 years now, and during that time I have noticed that I can give temporary pain relief with just one or two massages, or I can give a  more lasting relief if I am able to do more frequent sessions at regular intervals. If my clients follow up with regular massage sessions at less frequent intervals when the major pain incident has subsided, they are less likely to have another major incident.

It is sometimes difficult to recommend this course of treatment because people being who they are can become suspicious that i am simply trying to make more money. Now I am the first to admit that would benefit me, but someone like me doesnt wear out my hands and arms for years just for the money, believe me there are easier ways to earn it. I believe in the power of massage and exercise as an alternative to dangerous and addictive pain relievers that often only work short term.

I was very encouraged when I cam across this post at Webmd which totally backed up my own personal findings:

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Persistent neck pain is common and stems from numerous causes — car accidents, sleeping in awkward positions or spending hours hunched over a computer, among them, Sherman said.

Doctors often recommend anti-inflammatory medicines, but these drugs frequently don’t provide enough relief, she noted. “People with back and neck pain aren’t usually satisfied with what they get from their doctor, so they are looking around for something that works,” Sherman explained.

Previous studies of massage for neck pain have produced conflicting results, so Sherman’s team decided to look closer. Specifically, they wanted to determine what dose of massage is ideal. In a previous study, Sherman had found that benefits of massage were evident after four weeks.

For the new study, she randomly assigned 228 men and women, aged 20 to 64, to one of six groups. These included 30-minute massages two or three times weekly, one-hour massages one, two or three times weekly, and a comparison group receiving no massage.

Assessing neck functioning and pain levels a week after treatment ended, the researchers determined that patients getting one hour of massage three times a week showed the most gains after four weeks of massage.

Compared to those who got no massage, “people getting massage three times a week were almost five times as likely to have a clinically meaningful (meaning important or noticeable) improvement in function and over twice as likely to report a clinically meaningful decrease in pain,” Sherman said.

Many patients who get therapeutic massage for chronic neck pain may not reap benefits if they undergo shorter or less frequent sessions, the authors suggested.”

So don’t take my word for it, if you are having significant pain, call me and before I even do a massage on you, we will talk about what’s going on, and plan together to work on relieving your pain.

 

Valentina Boonstra

LMT

Palm Bay, Indialantic, Satellite Beach, Melbourne Florida,Theraputic massage

Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi and Qui Gong Instruction