Benefits of Back Massage for back pain

More than two-thirds of adults have suffered from a type of back problem and pain, from moderate to severe, at a certain point in their lives. Overweight and older people are most exposed to the risk of suffering from a type of back pain. Sedentary and desk-bound lifestyles can make the condition even worse. Half of the people who experience such a pain in their lower back spend most of their days sitting at their desks, a typical side effect of our indolent modern lives.

However, even if you are not overweight or do not sit at your desk for a long time every day, you might anyway suffer from back pain. Professional athletes, such as weight lifters, and people with manual and physically hard labors may suffer from a type of pain in their lower back due to strains, muscle tension, and inappropriate movements.

Although in our impulsive and fast-paced modern societies, analgesic and sedative medicines are overly and incautiously taken to reduce pain, back pain and tension still cannot be easily controlled. Every day, a large number of people miss their workdays as they are unable to move due to back pain. Moreover, billions of dollars are spent each year to cure back issues through various dangerous and complicated medical treatments and surgeries. Massage therapy offers a more economical, non-invasive, and low-risk solution to reduce physical and psychological pain.

Back massage includes any type of massage that is carried out on your back muscles and can help your backache. Shared by almost all approved massage types, any type of back massage can be considered as a non-invasive supplementary therapy that can help you attain a number of incredible benefits through the trained hands of a skillful physical therapist, a massage therapist, or an osteopath.

In case of any past experience of back massage, you probably know the sense of relief you get after a few minutes of massage movements and gliding strokes on your back. Here is a consolidated list of key benefits:

• Promoting the production of happiness hormones and decreasing cortisol levels: Endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin are among body chemicals that are responsible for promoting happiness and satisfaction, while cortisol is among those which make you feel blues or stressed out. Any effective massage type can stimulate the production of these happiness hormones in your brain, reduce cortisol levels, and promote a sense of well-being. With a more enhanced good mood, you will be likely to feel lower levels of pain and anxiety, ease distressing moods, and lessen depression symptoms. It can also speed up the recovery of your weak, tight, or atrophied muscles and generally accelerate healing.

• Increasing blood circulation: Massage manipulations can help to unknot your back stiffness, creating freer space for your veins and vessels to deliver nutrition as well as remove waste materials. This can lead to a higher temperature, higher joint flexibility, and range of motion, which means you will physically feel better while sitting at your work desk or during another intense workout session. Moreover, increased blood flow can help muscle recovery, decrease muscle tenderness, and boost long-term vascular functions, especially in inactive patients.

• Better oxygen delivery: In addition to improved circulation, unknotted muscles help supply your back cells with a higher level of oxygen. Oxygen helps your body eliminate toxins as well as viruses and harmful bacteria. It also increases your body’s metabolism, turns more fat and carbohydrates into energy, fuels your muscles, strengthens your muscles, and promotes the function of body systems such as the immune system, nervous system, and digestive system.

• Decreased muscle tension: While you are trying to focus on an important overdue project, you may not care much about your immobile body which you force to stand or sit still for long hours. Too much pressure or wrong repetitive motions during an intense workout session can also make your muscles stiff and tense. The final result would be a severely painful lower or upper back which does not allow you to move naturally. A back massage can help you deal with the pain and strain you have forced on your back muscles. It frees and relaxes the muscles, helps to alleviate pain, enhances flexibility, and substantially limits one’s power to move when tension is extreme.

• Improving sleep quality: Any sleeping position can be painful with a sore back. Soothed muscles and higher endorphin levels can help you sleep deeper and longer. More restful sleep hours can support a faster and more optimal recovery, which itself results in more efficient physical performance.

There are a number of various massages such as hot stone massage, shiatsu massage, Thai yoga massage, deep tissue massage, and chair massage that can help you with your backache. Massage therapists can use different techniques to treat upper and lower back pain. Nevertheless, most of these massage types need you to spend at least an hour in a massage room. Moreover, there are a few massage prerequisites for most massage types that not all people are comfortable with, such as the need for having your clothes off or lubricating your skin by massage oil or lotion.

You may not have enough time, you may not feel comfortable enough to get undressed, you may be allergic to massage oils and lotions, or you may have any other problem with certain massage types, and yet you still feel muscle ache at your upper or lower back. Below are details on two effective options: deep tissue massage and chair massage.

Deep tissue massage on back muscles can reduce upper back pain significantly. Key muscles to focus on include levator scapulae, rhomboids major and minor, rotator cuffs (teres minor, infraspinatus, and supraspinatus), teres major, subscapularis, serratus anterior, serratus posterior inferior, iliocostalis lumborum, and iliocostalis thoracis.

This muscle is attached to the top of the scapula and the fourth vertebra. Working on this muscle is really important because on most clients this muscle feels tight. It is one of the muscles most abused by the carrying of heavy backpacks and shoulder bags.

At one end this muscle is attached to the lower side of the scapula and at the other end it’s attached to the bicipital groove of the humerus. Press along the lower lateral border of the scapula. Follow the muscle from the lowest side of the scapula to the bicipital groove.

The infraspinatus is one of the other rotator cuffs. This muscle is at the top of the scapula and it covers most of the scapula. At one end this muscle is attached to the infraspinatus fossa of the scapula and at the other end it’s attached to the greater tubercle of the humerus. You can massage this muscle with constant petrissage from the greater tubercle of the humerus toward the spine on the scapula.

At one end this muscle is attached to the sacrum and ilium, and at the other end to the inferior border of the lowest six ribs. Because these muscles are attached to the aponeurosis, massaging them can reduce lower back pain significantly. As these are a bundle of muscles, the massage therapist can use larger tools like the forearm or knuckles.

At one end this muscle is attached to the upper borders of the lower six ribs and at the other end to the lower borders of the upper six ribs. Massaging this muscle can help alleviate mid-back pain and improve posture by reducing tension in the thoracic region.

If deep tissue or other full-body massages aren’t suitable, chair massage is a brief option that normally takes only 10 to 15 minutes, during which you can stay fully clothed. Rather than a massage table, a chair massage is typically carried out on a standard chair, where you sit with your face forward while your body front and arms are supported by the chair. Your head is also placed in a padded cradle that supports the muscles of your neck and upper back.

Chair massage is a great type to relieve your back pain and tension since your back, neck, and shoulders are completely exposed to the massage therapist. Almost all the aforementioned benefits of an efficient back massage can be obtained by chair massage therapy. Moreover, there are great privileges that make chair massage an even greater option to soothe your back stiffness.

Unlike massage types conducted on a table, during a chair massage, the therapist can stand in various angles and apply different levels of pressure on your muscles, which makes it highly adaptable and effective for targeted relief.

Essential oils can provide wonderful relief from back pain they work deeply into the tense muscles and provide the relief.

Rosemary, ginger, camphor, lavender, cypress, peppermint, basil, eucalyptus, marjoram, black pepper.
You can make a blend with some of these essential oils. Remember to dilute essential oils with a carrier oil before you apply it on the body
For more information about the essential oils and how to use them. Visit aromatherapy blog on our website

Eliminating muscle tension and pain can improve the patient’s daily functioning. It can reduce consumptions of over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as the renowned ibuprofen, for the lower back pain. Manipulation of the body muscles is considered to be relatively safe; however, it is strongly recommended that you visit your doctor first and ask for his/her advice on massage therapy and the special therapist you pick.
Similar to any other ailment treatments, massage therapy can have its own side effects if conducted by an incompetent therapist or if applied on muscles, skin, or bones which are too vulnerable to endure any type of pressure even as gentle as a massage. A number of these conditions after which the patient is forbidden to have any type of massage therapy are varicose veins, any type of recent surgery in the area, unhealed wounds, infectious skin diseases, severe rash conditions, osteoporosis, etc. It is also essential that you pick an expert as your massage therapist, someone who performs in a professional healthcare center which is constantly monitored by specialists who can perfectly treat your back pain.