Deep Tissue Massage
This form of massage usually encompasses the application of firm pressure accompanied with slow strokes that are able to reach the deeper layers of muscle and fascia which are the connective tissue surrounding the muscles. Deep tissue massage is suitable for recovery from injuries for example falls, repetitive strain injuries, and muscle tension that can be located in the hamstrings and glutes just to name a few.
If you are one who plays sports or usually has workouts, it is quite easy to hurt or strain one of your muscles. Such injuries may take a bit of time to heal and thus deep tissue massage can be important to help in rehabilitation
The techniques that are applied during the deep tissue massage are used to help break up the scar tissue and physically break down the knots or adhesions in the muscles. Adhesions are painful bands of rigid tissue. These knots and adhesions will usually cause pain and disrupt circulation leading to a limited range of motion and even inflammation. It usually begins with lighter pressure to allow the muscles to warm up in preparation. Then the techniques to be used are applied. Some of these techniques include stripping which is when a deep and sort of gliding pressure are applied along the muscle fiber’s length and the person doing the massage will use their elbow, forearm, knuckles, and thumbs. There is also friction that focuses on the grain of a muscle. Pressure is applied at this point to be able to release adhesions and assist in the realigning of the tissue fibers.
During the deep tissue massage, you may be asked to take deep breathes while your therapist focuses on the tense areas. Stiffness or even soreness afterward is quite normal and this feeling will go away in a day or two. You should also drink lots of water that would help in flushing metabolic waste from your tissues.
Deep Tissue Massage for Injuries
A deep tissue massage that is being done to one who has an injury, for example, one obtained through sports, should be performed by someone who is well experienced and a licensed massage therapist. This massage may also hurt but the pain felt during the process is not from the injury obtained. The pain usually comes from releasing the tension that had been building in the deeper layer of muscle.
What usually occurs is that when you are injured, your muscles will tighten around your place of injury effectively acting as a protection mechanism. The fascia is likely to become tight because of the scar tissue. As a result, there is a restriction in movement and the optimum length of the muscle is greatly affected and is what we term as tightness. The massage, therefore, comes in to help ease the tightness restoring blood circulation in the tissues.
The muscle has fibers that overlap and therefore, tightness in the muscle will cause them to overlap even more than usual. This will lead to a lack of flexibility and the deep tissue massage will play a role in the recovery of normal functioning. The massage will increase the temperature of these tissues and this, in turn, causes them to loosen and stretch. The stretched fibers will then lead to improved functionality and faster recovery.
Discomfort is usually inevitable because the therapist will need to increase the pressure used to enable him or her to get access to the deep muscles in the area that has been injured. Communication at this point is thus very vital to allow the therapist to know when the pressure being applied becomes too much for you. The injuries you obtain will not heal in one night or after one session and this is especially if the type of injury is a deep muscle strain.
Deep tissue massage has therefore proven to be quite necessary when you obtain an injury. It leads to many benefits some of which include increased healing, fast and efficient recovery, and an increased range in movement, which we can also term as core flexibility. Increased healing is a result of stimulated blood flow, which in turn helps blood, oxygen, and nutrients to reach the damaged areas. Finally, a professional therapist with a license should do this type of massage.