The massage therapy it is a rehabilitation technique that has multiple purposes, including that of reducing muscle contractures, very often the cause and consequence of pain.
Even if in itself it has no particular contraindications – massage therapy is considered “the oldest medical and therapeutic act in the world” – it is good to know the techniques and for which conditions it is particularly suitable, and when it should be avoided.
We talked about it with Dr Patricio Spallarossaphysiotherapist in Humanity Medical Care.
What is massage therapy?
The massage therapy it is a manual rehabilitation technique, perhaps among the oldest in the world and certainly represents one – if not the first – of the most primitive and instinctive therapeutic acts.
Massage therapy is all about touching with manual maneuversto date well codified, one or more body segments or districts, and which has the purpose of inducing some therapeutic effectssuch as the pain reduction or the normalization of muscle tone.
Due to its instinctivity and immediacy, massage therapy represents one of the first therapeutic means that we have available, both as self-treatmentboth as a method to induce a sense of calm and peace in other people. We think of a parent who massages the back or belly of a newborn to calm him down or to reduce the pain of “colic”, or even of the instinctive gesture we make when we get “a contusion”, that is to touch, protect and massage the lesa to reduce the pain…and it works.
The massage therapy it has no particular contraindicationsand indeed it can have beneficial effects even in the long term, especially when it is included in a correct rehabilitation process.
Massage therapy: who is it good for and what benefits does it bring?
Massage therapy can be done at any age. The massage, in fact, is indicated for
- the care of muscle pathologies of type tensive, contractual oh you postural disorder;
- reduce edema e swellingsif we think about the lymphatic drainage massage;
- get visceral therapeutic effectsincluding the reduction of abdominal pain or even to encourage bowel movements.
Massage maneuvers are also used to reduce pain tension effects Of surgical scarsespecially after interventions involving large cuts (think of thehip replacement surgery and of the knee, major abdominal surgery or major removals of oncological area, first of all mastectomy).
Going back to the therapeutic effects of massotherapy, easing pain and easing muscle tension, massage is able to reduce pain and determine a general relaxation effect even at a psychic level.
Massage therapy brings long-term benefits: the therapeutic dose varies according to the patient’s clinical picture and is personalized during the treatment itself.
Massage therapy and other associated therapies
Different can be associated with massage therapy therapyas predominantly type treatments manual or osteopathic, physiotherapy and manipulationsor even therapies injective-infiltrativeas the mesotherapywhich uses pharmaceutical specialties injected immediately under the skin to stimulate the effect of massage therapy.
Physical therapies can also be associated, for example the tecartherapy which, by combining the massage technique with the action of a weak radiofrequency field through the handpieces, also has an anti-edema and antiphlogistic effect, excellent for massage therapy.
Massage therapy and rehabilitative therapeutic exercise treatment can also take place in the same session. When looks prevail myotensive contracturemassage therapy is often more effective than osteopathic techniques or chiropractic manipulation.
Do you feel pain after the treatment?
Rarely; therapeutic massage in almost all cases returns a feeling of well-being e you relaxation. It may happen that, at the first massage session, you feel pain; this depends above all on the sensitivity of both the patient, who must get used to the touch and dexterity of “a stranger” and the manual and technical ability of the physiotherapist himself who, if the treatment is carried out too intensely, can cause a momentary exacerbation of the pain . However, this is never a contraindication.
The only ones contraindications to report for which massage therapy should be avoided are:
- type affections infectious skin
- the portions of cute forest
- limbs or segments in which they are present fractures
- the presence of suspicious masses.