When Will I See Benefits?
Massage can be life changing. This is a fact. One I know personally, having suffered through a decade of chronic back pain due to an L4-L5-S1 injury to my lower back when I was 19 years old. My journey towards finding relief took me 8 months of consistent, targeted massage with a skilled therapist that listened and worked with me. I received a 90-minute massage every other week. This was after a failure of physical therapy and pain management techniques. Even after an MRI showed that the original injury had recovered, my body was still protecting the area and my body had changed how I could use it.
A single massage can be a wonderful experience that offers short term relief. But it won’t offer permanent change to a body that has experienced years of stress, injury, repetitive movement, discomfort, and immobility. Our bodies adapt to how we use them, and our brains permanently change to reflect the messages our bodies have sent them. This may mean our body will protect areas that no longer need protecting, our brains won’t register the proper usage of impacted muscle groups. On top of all of that, there is an undeniable association between our physical selves and our mental selves. Chronic pain and stress cause our bodies to get stuck in a negative feedback loop.
You need to be committed to the journey of feeling better. This may mean you get weekly or every other week massages for the first few months. We keep track of how long the relief between massages lasts and watch as the benefits last longer and longer. You become more confident in your body and become more cognizant of how you are using your body. Once your body finds relief, it will be easier to figure out what the triggers are for your specific symptoms. In my case, my back pain was rooted in my psoas muscle, a deep hip flexor muscle that was never the direct focus of the traditional healthcare I received.
Massage therapy is different than other types of traditional pain and stress management techniques. My focus is not on the area of pain, although we will give a targeted focus on your complaints. Massage does not treat merely the symptoms, but the long-term changes that have been made to your body and brain. It is the opportunity for your body to heal itself. With an educated, skilled, and devoted massage therapist, you will find a partnership and guidance to well-being. Massage Solutions, my practice, is focused on you as an individual. It is my passion to help people feel better. I am confident in my abilities and look forward to seeing what I can do to help you feel better.
