Massage
At Calhoun Chiropractic we are blessed to have an incredible massage staff. Whether your massage has been recommended by our chiropractors for specific medical outcomes, or you simply want a relaxing respite from daily stress, our therapists can help.
We offer massage for relaxation, medical massage and lymphatic massage.
Massage is one of the oldest and simplest forms of therapy. The basic goal of massage therapy is to help the body heal itself and to increase health and well-being. Massage uses touch through rubbing or kneading of parts of the body to aid circulation, relax the muscles, and help support proper alignment. Even a simple touch has been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce the heart rate. Touch can also signal the brain to produce endorphins, your body’s natural pain suppressors. A good massage is can range from providing an exhilarating sense of well-being and health to a deeply relaxed state both mentally and physically.
An inherent benefit of massage is its individualization. As the massage therapist works your limbs and back they can physically feel areas of greater or lesser muscle tension. They can immediately respond, adjusting their focus and technique to better address the areas that need it most.
There are many health benefits to receiving massage therapy on a regular basis:
- Relieves stress
- Reduces anxiety
- Eases athletic strain
- Improves circulation
- Relaxes muscles
- Decreases pain
- Improves flexibility
- Improves posture
- Lowers blood pressure
- Relieves tension headaches
- Provides deep relaxation
- Can help manage depression or other emotionally tough times
Medical Massage
“Medically necessary massage” is terminology that refers to outcome-centered massage. In general the desired outcome is the relaxation of specific muscles or muscle groups to facilitate and/or supplement other therapies. Our chiropractors recommend medical massage when muscle, tendon, or ligament tightness are preventing the chiropractic treatments from reaching their full effectiveness. Our acupuncturist may recommend massage when acupuncture alone is not sufficiently relaxing, and when increased relaxation would allow for a shorter course of acupuncture treatments.
Benefits of Medical Massage Therapy
Releases tight and sore muscles which can cause ischemia:
Ischemia is means a lack of adequate oxygen to a particular area of body. It is caused by a limited blood supply to soft tissues, and can increase pain and allows for further injury to the tissues.
Helps relieve nerve compression or entrapment:
Pressure on a nerve by soft tissue, cartilage or bone, which can contribute to muscle atrophy, referred pain, paresthesia, and conditions such as pseudo sciatica, piriformis syndrome, pseudo angina, and others.
Deactivates Myofascial Trigger Points:
Trigger points are areas of high neurological activity, which refer pain to other parts of the body. Research has shown trigger points may be responsible for as much as 74% of everyday pain.
Decreases Pain And Inflammation:
Massage can restore suppleness to your muscles, improving overall function. It’s the ideal treatment for releasing tension or muscles in spasm and helps to release toxins such as lactic acid (produced by muscle tissue during exercise.
Alleviates Stress and Improves Circulation:
Proper circulation is vital to continued health. Your blood and lymph carry nourishment to the trillions of cells throughout your body and then carry away the waste to be eliminated from the cells. Massage encourages a better exchange of nutrients at the cellular level and more thorough detoxification. Remember, the future “you” is determined by how well your army of cells regenerate themselves, so this is indeed a critical part of remaining healthy.
Aids in Digestion:
Massage can improve digestive motility.
Increases Flexibility And Range Of Motion:
By reducing hypertonicity and hypotonicity the muscles allow for normal ranges of motion to be restored. This also reduces the forces being applied to the joint capsule and diminishes the potential for joint and disk degeneration.
Calms The Nervous System:
The nervous system is your communication network, sending messages constantly that determine proper functioning throughout your body. Stress can negatively affect the ability of the nervous system to do this job. Each square inch of your skin contains roughly 50 nerve endings – meaning there are as many as five million total touch receptors in your skin constantly relaying messages on to your brain. These nerve endings are soothed by massage, and this contributes to keeping your internal lines of communication open and operational.
Lymphatic Massage
Manual lymph drainage massage (also called lymphatic drainage and lymph massage) is a form of very light massage that encourages lymph flow in the body. It is particularly good for detoxification, edema, lymphedema, and is very important post-surgery, especially if the surgery involved removing lymph nodes.
The lymph system is a slow-moving system of vessels and lymph nodes that is critical for the body’s proper functioning. The main purpose of the lymph system is circulate the immune cells throughout the body. The lymph systen also carries away excess water, cellular waste, bacteria, viruses and toxins.
A therapist trained in lymph drainage massage stimulates the lymph system with extremely light, circular pumping movements. By stimulating the lymphatic system, the therapist helps drain puffy, swollen tissues, supports the body’s immune system, helps the body heal from surgery, and aids in the body’s natural waste removal or detoxification.
The lymphatic system is located directly beneath the skin, so the pumping, circular movements are very light. Manual lymph drainage should have a very soothing, relaxing effect. It can be used on one part of the body (typically an arm or leg), or as a whole body treatment.
Drink plenty of water after a lymph drainage massage to help flush out toxins. Stay away from salt and alcohol after a massage, as they inhibit the body’s ability to flush out toxins.