When physical trauma causes injury individual suffering is inevitable until the body has recovered or is safe and comfortable to move without the pain again. A remedial massage therapist can support injury rehabilitation by targeting affected muscles and soft tissues to help reduce pain and tension, improve mobility and support recovery. Treatment may include deep tissue massage, myofascial release and other techniques tailored to the injury. Remedial massage can complement physiotherapy and other rehabilitation approaches when appropriate. The go-to treatments for injury rehabilitation are still conventional physiotherapy and medication. A Remedial Massage Therapist however has a critical role to play in getting the body back and also speeding up the healing process. Remedial massage targets specific areas of the body which relieves the deep-seated aches, and pains, and kick-starts the body’s natural healing process. The role of a remedial massage therapist around diagnostics, injury rehab, sports injuries, chronic pain sufferers and post-surgical procedures is to accompany and aid in short and long-term recovery.
We will also discuss why it is crucial, and how it plays its role in your recovery. This article will focus on the role of remedial massage in the rehabilitation of injuries. What is it exactly, and why is it important for recovery? The most significant role of remedial massage is to promote the healing process of an injury. It involves eliminating the accumulated waste in the muscles after an injury and ensuring better blood flow and circulation.
The Role of a Remedial Massage Therapist in Injury Rehabilitation
A Remedial Massage Therapist is an important part of an injured person’s recovery process, especially when it comes to injuries such as muscle, tendon, ligament strains or tears. Unlike remedial massage, which is more specifically targeted towards a physical injury through active touch, a regular massage tends to be more generalised and relaxation-based. This is why the input of a remedial massage therapist is so important to the rehab process following a physical injury.
What is a Remedial Massage Therapist?
A qualified practitioner of remedial massage therapy diagnoses and treats musculoskeletal injuries and imbalances. This might involve deep tissue massage, trigger point and myofascial release to reduce muscle tension and soft tissue adhesions, relieve pain and restore the health of injured tissues. Remedial massage therapists have a thorough knowledge of anatomy and physiology and always aim to treat the cause rather than the symptoms.
Remedial massage can reduce the recovery time, minimise the formation of scar tissue, enhance flexibility and strength, and so must be an integral part of injury rehabilitation.
Common Injuries That Benefit from Remedial Massage
And most injuries seem to recover faster too, if remedial massage is used – whether it’s a sports injury, an injury from work, or even post-surgery.
Sports Injuries
One of the serious problems of both professional and recreational athletes is that they are more susceptible to injuries involving muscles, ligaments, joints and other soft tissues like tendons, and cartilage. These injuries include muscle strains, ligament sprains and dislocated joints, which can cause chronic pain and loss of range of motion if left unconsidered.
Remedial Massage Therapists use firm pressure on the body’s affected areas such as injured muscles and tendons around the joints. This maximises circulation to the affected areas, alleviates inflammation, and ultimately hasten their recovery.
Back and Neck Pain
Generally, a Remedial Massage Therapist will perform on people who suffer from chronic back and neck pain. One of the common causes of chronic pain is poor posture. As women tend to choose heel shoes, it will have a bad influence on their posture. Meanwhile, during our work or study, especially from using a computer, we will stay in a similar situation (like the forward neck), which will increase our muscle tension and lead to an imbalanced posture. In general, Remedial Massage Therapy will be used to help people relieve muscle tension, correct muscle imbalance, and gain good posture.
There are lots of deep muscles in our body. To relieve our chronic pain from frequently irritating our muscles with the same movement, therapeutic massaging practitioners will use their hands on the deep muscles to get rid of the chronic pain. Chronic pain with poor posture, which is caused by frequent repeating movements, is a complex issue. There will still be a question: why did people torture with such poor posture? Financial burden and not taking these problems seriously might be the factors for many of us. Nevertheless, bad posture not only leads to chronic back pain but to future injuries as well.
Post-Surgical Recovery
Rehabilitation after the operation can be an extensive process and remedial massage not only helps to deter the formation of scar tissue but also increases flexibility in the deficient areas, therefore better circulating blood to the injured areas so to reduce stiffness in the tissues which in turn can help the operation areas recover quicker and more efficiently.
How Remedial Massage Accelerates Healing
When you are hurt, healing takes a long time. But the time to be healed reduces greatly if you can get a Remedial Massage Therapist’s assistance. This is thanks to how massage makes use of your body’s self-healing mechanism.
Improved Circulation
One of the immediate benefits of remedial massage is the improvement in blood circulation in these areas. If an injury isn’t vasodilating (ie, not causing blood vessels to relax and widen), this slows down the flow of the essential nutrients and oxygen around the injury site.
Reduced Muscle Tension
Injuries that limit muscle movement often tighten muscles and cause pain. Remedial massage therapists can use methods such as myofascial release to stretch the muscle and help to lengthen it, improving range of motion and reducing pain, thereby allowing clients to move more freely. This will make them better prepared to execute their therapeutic exercises.
Breakdown of Scar Tissue
If not managed effectively, scar tissue can limit movement, and cause long-term pain. Remedial massage can reduce scar tissue, helping the surrounding tissues to work and heal more effectively. This is one reason why remedial massage is often employed in post-operative patients, or those recovering from serious injury.
The Challenges of Injury Rehabilitation Without a Remedial Massage Therapist
But many try to heal from injury using nothing more than medication, rest, or physiotherapy: this can lead to the chance of not healing, or to it taking much longer than it should. Without the restorative care of a Remedial Massage Therapist, your problem could become much worse, and persist far longer:
Chronic Pain and Stiffness
If massage therapy is not provided, an injured muscle or joint can stiffen and begin to experience chronic aches, with bouts of pain and limited mobility. Sometimes, without proper rehabilitation, a person can get stuck in a feedback loop of re-injury.
Incomplete Recovery
However, recovering it fully and caringly can be hampered by muscle imbalances and restrictions, as well as scar tissue formation. Rest and physiotherapy alone cannot always address all these issues. A Remedial Massage Therapist aims to work on those areas that need it most.
Delayed Healing Process
Without the aid of massage therapy, it can take a long time for the natural healing mechanisms of the body to kick in, especially as swelling and inflammation around the tissue surrounding the injury can slow down the healing process. As well as reducing muscle inflammation, remedial massage helps to speed up the recovery time by boosting your circulation.
The Psychological Benefits of Remedial Massage in Rehabilitation
A return to health not only requires physical healing but also mental rehabilitation, another responsibility of the gifted Remedial Massage Therapist.
Stress and Anxiety Relief
Some kind of injury is virtually guaranteed to cause stress and anxiety. Particularly if it affects your day-to-day living. But just as anxiety and stress affect the way we feel physically, remedial massage can help us improve our mood and decrease anxiety. One of the beneficial effects of massage can be summed up as an extreme value to the client – relaxation. Because massage helps to relieve muscular tension, it triggers the body to release naturally occurring pain-killing chemicals, called endorphins.
Better Sleep and Relaxation
Vice versa, nocturnal injuries can interrupt sleep due to sheer sensory distress. Remedial massage ensures the cessation of pain through the reduction of muscular rigidity and subsequent relaxation, which is believed to create the best conditions for sleep and therefore the most effective healing process.
The Role of Remedial Massage in Preventing Re-Injury
Being injury prevention, this is one of the most significant longer-term benefits a remedial massage therapy appointment can offer to your body.
Improved Flexibility and Strength
Sometimes the modalities that prevent injuries are more subtle after the injury. For instance, if an arm, groin or leg is achy or sore, flexibility is usually lost and the muscles surrounding the damaged area may also be strained.
In these situations, remedial massage not only provides pain relief but also helps to restore both strength and flexibility to the injury site.
Enhancing Recovery Programs
Remedial massage might be complementary to an exercise regimen, for example, or it might integrate elements developed in physiotherapy. By augmenting the impact of these other rehabilitation programs, the human body and brain will be helped to recover more fully and at a faster rate.
Why Choose Elia Chiropractic for Injury Rehabilitation
At Elia Chiropractic we understand that a complete recovery from injury requires effective rehabilitation and recovery. Therefore my hand-picked team of Remedial Massage therapists complete the chiropractic care to deliver patients to achieve full recovery from injuries in the shortest time possible.
See us for treatment for injury recovery (sports, motor-vehicle accidents, whiplash), chronic pain, arthritic conditions, scoliosis, headaches and post-surgery recovery. At Elia Chiropractic, we prioritise your recovery and well-being. Our team of experienced Remedial Massage Therapists is ready to assist you in your injury rehabilitation journey. Whether you’re dealing with chronic pain, recovering from surgery, or just looking to improve your overall health, we’re here to help.
Contact Us Today to schedule your consultation and start your path to recovery.