Remedial Massage has become a very popular treatment over the past few years. Our clients of our Brisbane based clinic, Vibe Natural Health, often ask us about the ways massage can benefit their health.
The difference between Remedial Massage and Relaxation Massage is that Remedial Massage is aimed at reducing pain, improving range of motion of the muscles and joints and aiding and preventing injuries. It’s a much firmer massage style, using a combination of deep techniques that release the muscles and tendons.
Remedial Massage helps to re-educate and re-align the body. After a massage you find you are much more aware of your body and your posture. We walk around, drive around and sit for long periods of time, often without giving much thought to our posture. We may slump – putting pressure on the lower back, stick our neck out like a turkey while driving – causing neck, chest and shoulder pain or carry a heavy bag – changing the dynamics of the hips and shoulders when we walk which can lead to lower back pain.
Clients often comment that they didn’t know how tight they were until they had a remedial massage. Bringing conscious awareness to the body and its tight areas through massage helps us walk, sit, drive and perform sporting activities with more awareness and better posture. Clients often notice more subtle changes in their body after they’ve had a massage, noticing when they start to get tight again. To prevent this tightness from building up again, we recommend some stretching, come for a follow up massage or watch your posture to prevent the tightness from worsening. This leads to a more proactive or preventative approach to your health.
Remedial Massage also helps reduces stress, anxiety and depression by encouraging awareness of the body through relaxing tight bands of muscles which we contract when we are stressed or “carrying the weight of the world upon our shoulders.”
Massage helps us take time out for ourselves – to connect in to our bodies and have some time out from our busy minds. In today’s busy world we are constantly bombarded by stimulus, which overloads the nervous system. Smart phones have led to us being constantly in contact with work and friends and contributed in some ways to greater community and in others, made us busy and stressed!
Many of our clients opt to take some time out for themselves after a massage by having a hot bath, reading a good book with a wheat bag or just chilling out. It’s best not to have a work out afterwards and just let the muscles relax and the posture re-set.
Remedial Massage to help sporting performance
Sport and exercise related injury and tightness are a common reason for our clients to seek a remedial massage. These injuries may occur from over using the muscles or from poor posture during these activities. Regular remedial massage – such as a monthly preventative treatment helps to keep the body moving well and prevent sporting injuries.
As our Bardon clinic is located in a gym, many of our clients are personal trainers or work out regularly. The trainers who send their clients to us report that their clients can exercise longer and do more weights before they fatigue and flexibility via stretching is also improved after a massage.
Our Success Stories
Post Operative Massage Rehab
“M” is a regular client of ours in her 50’s, she’s a very fit woman who regularly does spin and body pump classes at the gym. She had a knee operation (arthroscopy) to help her arthritis. Post operatively she had clicking in the hip joint and pain on exercising. By releasing tight muscles around the hips, knees and buttocks she was back to gentle exercise again quickly which reduced the post operative complications.
Symphysis Pubis in Pregnancy
This painful condition can happen in pregnancy as the connection between each side of the pelvis loosens under the influence of pregnancy hormones. We have successfully treated this with a combination of remedial massage techniques to release tight muscles around the hips, sacroilliac area and ITB down the leg. With combination of exercise in water and pelvic floor exercises, much pain relief can be gained.
Recurrent Headaches & Jaw Pain
Many of our clients come in with headaches and jaw pain. We usually ask about the height of computer monitors, desk and chair set up and the adjustment of drivers seat in the car. Grinding teeth during sleeping or holding the jaw tight when stressed during the day can also exacerbate jaw pain. Releasing the muscles in the front and back of the neck with long “stripping” techniques and trigger pointing the muscles in the upper shoulders provides much relief. A technique called TMJ release can be used to slowly relax the tight jaw muscles. This is helpful for clients whose dentists have told them that their teeth are worn down due to teeth grinding at night. We also recommend magnesium supplementation to reduce muscle tension in extreme neck and jaw tightness.
If you live in Brisbane and would like to book in for a Remedial Massage with one of our experienced therapists, please contact us at Vibe Natural Health ph 3366 7970. You can book online via our direct booking service CLICK HERE TO BOOK ONLINE
