What is Deep Tissue Massage Therapy?
Deep Tissue Therapy is used as part of a Remedial Massage Treatment to relieve severe tension in the muscle and the connective tissue or fascia. This type of massage focuses on all layers of soft tissue, not just the superficial ones.
Oxenford Mind & Body offers a genuine Deep Tissue Massage treatment which targets specific problem areas such as the shoulder girdle, lower back/hip region and legs, rather than the full body approach that is more common. This enables the therapist to thoroughly address all of the tension causing the specific complaint, thereby producing rapid and lasting pain relief, as well as increased mobility.
Who Can It Help?
Deep tissue massage therapy is often recommended for individuals who experience consistent pain, are involved in heavy physical activity – such as athletes, and patients who have sustained physical injury – and individuals involved in repetitive activities – such as typing, using a mouse, operating equipment, long hours of driving or sitting, etc.
Deep Tissue Massage therapy treats poor posture, neurological symptoms and a variety of musculoskeletal conditions….
How Does It Work?
Deep tissue massage mainly focuses on realigning deep layers of muscle and connective tissue. Where there is chronic muscle tension or injury, there are usually adhesions (bands of painful rigid tissue) and trigger points that can block circulation and cause local and referred pain, limited movement, and inflammation.
Deep tissue massage works by physically breaking down these adhesions and releasing trigger points to relieve pain, muscle tension and restore normal movement. To do this, the massage therapist often uses direct deep pressure or friction applied across the grain of muscles. The therapist will also often use a slow light pressure to address superficial fascial sheath which wraps around the muscles. When restricted, this fascial sheath acts like a tight sweater, affecting the underlying tissue and causing postural changes.
Massage therapists may use fingertips, knuckles, hands, elbows, and forearms during the deep tissue massage. The therapist may incorporate some of the strokes used in classic massage therapy, but for the most part, the movements are slower.
Does It Hurt?
While it is usual to feel some pain or discomfort during the massage, it is important to let the massage therapist know if it is too painful for comfort, and the treatment will be adjusted to your tolerance level. It counteracts the benefit of the massage if the tissue is not able to relax into the pain.
After the treatment, it is common to experience some tenderness. This is due to the therapist purposefully breaking up misaligned fibres, enabling them to heal in their correct position. Somewhat similar to an intense, this will gradually subside over the next few days.
The Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage
Unlike other therapies, Deep Tissue Massage, due to the nature of the treatment, is able to produce significant results in terms of pain relief and increased function and flexibility within a very short time frame.
In most cases, there will be a marked improvement even after just one session. Sometimes, this can even be a total alleviation of the presenting pain. However, for long lasting results, the residual tension must be addressed, which can take a few more sessions.
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