Does soft tissue massage therapy actually help?

Question

That is, for a problem such as a posture. Is it really necessary?

Answer 1

I have one massage once a week as I have Arthritis. I find it excellent to relieve tight muscles, help to relax me and increase my pain threshold. For posture I did a course: nine months, once a week Pilate's and that really straightened me up.

Answer 2

There are different ways to correct posture: Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Surgery, Physical Therapy, Pilates, Yoga, Rolfing, Massage, and probably several other approaches of which I am unaware. In all of these, the common denominator is soft tissue (i.e. muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, nerves). With chiropractic and osteopathy, the realignment of joints through adjustments help "free" some restrictions that have developed at the joint levels. Oftentimes the soft tissues that surround these joints may have either created or maintained the restriction of the joint. What soft tissue manipulation (massage, exercise, stretch, etc.) can offer is a positive change in the reflexive pattern being held in the muscle, fascia, etc. Once this pattern is interrupted, then retrained, the function of the soft tissue improves. This does not mean all massage will improve posture. A well trained therapist, understanding in-depth biomechanics and muscle imbalances, who is able to affect change in the appropriate muscles, can definitely help postural challenges.

And as far as being "necessary" it all depends on the urgency of the postural change. If you need to change your posture to help decrease debilitating pain, then most people would deem it as necessary. If you are not experiencing pain and your posture is not being highly challenged by your daily activities and you are otherwise in good health condition, then it may or may not be immediately necessary, depending on how much value you put into it. There may be other approaches (self stretch and exercise) that can be equally or even more effective.

Answer 3

Soft tissue massage helps with some problems, but not with others, Laura. It helps with some muscle and circulatory problems. It will not help with bone problems or most diseases.

Massage helps in two ways. It encourages the body to release a type of chemical called beta endorphins into the blood stream. This chemical helps reduce pain and stress. The other way in which massage helps is to relax the muscles. When muscles are tight, it is difficult for the blood to circulate well. Toxins build up in the tissues. These toxins are responsible, in part, for the cramping and discomfort you feel after a long run or strenuous exercise. Relaxing the muscles allows your blood flow to flush these toxins from your system. There is also a form of massage that should only be practiced by someone with specialized training. After warming up a muscle by rubbing it, a massage therapist can apply pressure to a trigger point. This hurts, but after the pressure has been applied for a short time, you can feel the muscle twitch a few times, then relax. If your muscles are severely cramped and knotted, the relief is well worth the brief discomfort of the pressure on the trigger points.

There are also psychological benefits from a massage. A good massage can help you relax and feel better.

Answer 4

Yes, as long as it is not a 3rd degree bony deformity condition such as scoliosis or osteoporosis....etc. even then its hard to say for sure that massage can "cure" an antalgic posture, just because there has been no research done to support these claims there is no money in massage research because of FDA regulations( i.e drug companies cannot profit from this research so why would these companies spend millions of dollars on research?) as well as massage research being very difficult to have a control due to many diffrent variables you have to take into concideration with this type of research) but in my opinion it can be very helpful along with the right exercise and stretching.

Answer 5

you mean deep tissiue massage? That will make you sore as hell. Massuage helps to losten muscles and increase blood flow. To be so rough makes you sore. There are many types of massages and you can google them.