A Reader's Question: Pre or Post Dance Masssage?

A reader asks:

"Hi Alice, is it best to get a massage the week before a dance weekend or the week after?

Love the blog!

Thanks Alice.

Pam"

Well, shoot! How about both?

Lots of people like to opt for massage after intense physical activity. It feels particularly good at that time and can help speed recovery. Soreness and fatigue will pass more quickly. Post activity massage will help your muscles to recover more thoroughly so that the tightness will not linger. However, those in the know realize that massage before intense physical activity is a great way to prepare your muscles. They'll be loosened up, the tight spots will be minimized, and you'll be able to dance (or do whatever else you're doing) with more ease. You'll be able to dance longer without getting tired, sore, and stiff. You'll be less likely to get cramps and have less post exercise soreness. You'll have more stamina and energy. You'll recover more quickly afterwards.

In a nutshell: post-activity massage will feel good and speed recovery, but pre-activity massage will not only speed your recovery, it can improve your performance, prevent muscle problems from occurring, and leave you with less to recover from! And it still feels good!

If you can have only one, I'd go for the pre-activity massage. But really, why not have the best of both worlds and do both before and after? Your muscles will be glad you did!

By the way, be sure and check back again. I'm planning on writing about the Care and Feeding of Dancers' Feet!

Thanks for your kind words and be sure and tell your dancer friends to pay a visit to Ask The Massage Therapist!

A Reader's Question: Stiff Neck

A reader asks:

"I am not sure where to post my question. I am attending a massage school and have a student therapist. I generally have stiffness around my neck from sitting at a computer all week. What should I ask my student therapist to do to release the tension from my neck and shoulder area?"

Thanks for asking your question! And yes, you posted it in exactly the right place.

I'll do my best to answer specifically what your student therapist can do to help your neck. I'll also include some suggestions of things you can do to help minimize the strain on your neck outside of the massage room.

First, you have to understand that a student is a beginner and is not going to have the skills that a more experienced therapist may have. Their palpatory skills are not going to be as well developed yet. In addition, there are advanced techniques that should only be taught to experienced therapists. However, there are still things a student therapist can do to help a person with a stiff neck.

A word of caution: all massage on the neck described here is to be done on the muscles on the back of the neck. The sides and the front of the neck should be avoided unless the therapist is experienced and has been specifically trained to work in these areas.

With the client face up on the table, the therapist should begin with some gentle effleurrage (gliding stokes.) The neck may be gently tractioned (stretched) during the up stroke from the shoulders to the head. The effleurage in this case may be done in one direction (from the shoulder to the head) or alternating both up and down.

After some effleurage, the therapist can begin circular friction with the pads of the fingers on the muscles on either side of the back of the neck. Both sides can be done at the same time, with the fingers on either side of the neck, and can be done both up and down the neck. Depending on the size of the client's neck and the therapist's fingers, there may be room for only one or two fingers. Remember, when doing friction the pads of the fingers are rubbing the skin over the muscles underneath; the fingers are not gliding over the skin. One of my clients liked to call this "scrubbing the ickiness out." Friction should be done firmly but gently. Done correctly, this should cause no pain to the client.

Finish with a few more gliding strokes and then turn the head gently to the left. Use some gliding strokes down the right side of the neck (remember, you're concentrating on the back of the neck) and then begin to thoroughly friction the posterior muscles on the right side of the neck with the pads of the fingers. The client should be feeling the muscles relaxing. They may feel as if they are warming. Finish with a few strokes of effleurage and then repeat for the left side.

When both sides of the neck have been thoroughly massaged, return the neck to the center. Use the pads of the fingers to circular friction the suboccipital muscles along the base of the skull. You can start with both sides at once, using both hands, and then concentrate first on one side, then the other.

Finish with a few more strokes of effleurage and then have the client turn onto their stomach to massage the shoulders.

Standing on the client's left side, facing the body, reach across the body and use continuous effleurage off the right shoulder. Beginning with the hands at the midline, one on the upper trapezius and one hand positioned just medial to the shoulder blade, push one hand off the shoulder, then the other, back and forth with each hand following the other in continuous gliding strokes. After a bit, begin using circular friction with the heel of the hand. Your left hand will be frictioning the upper trap, your right hand will be frictioning over the shoulder blade. When the tissue begins to warm, begin to use the pads of the fingers to friction in more detail along the edge of the shoulder blade, the attachments along the spine, all of the muscles of the area. In areas that are particularly tight or sore, give them a little extra attention. However, don't overdo it.

You can return to some more general circular heel of the hand friction, finish off with some gliding strokes, and end with some vibration. Rest the hand on the shoulder and gently shake back and forth for a few seconds. Repeat the entire treatment for the left shoulder.

Remember: pressure should always be within the client's comfort zone. This treatment should feel good to the client and should not cause any pain. Do not overtreat. This entire treatment should not take more than 15 minutes: no more than 5 minutes on the neck and on each of the shoulders. Overtreating will cause the muscles to tighten back up and create too much congestion in the area.

After treatment, the muscles should not be treated again for at least 48 hours. The ideal would be to repeat this treatment every other day for 10-15 treatments. If you can do it two or three times a week for a couple of weeks, you will get the most progress and will probably start seeing longer lasting results within a week. Short, frequent treatments are more effective than longer, infrequent treatments. You are trying to retrain the muscles so that they will not go back to the way they were. When the desired results are achieved, then you can taper off the treatments. Periodic "tune-ups," perhaps once a month, would be a good idea if needed. After all, since you are probably going to continue to sit at the computer, you'll need an ongoing plan of maintaining your muscles so you don't end up back in the same situation.

Outside of the massage room there are steps you can take to help maintain the health of your neck. If you must be at a computer for long periods, get up and walk around and stretch every 20 minutes. Set a timer so you won't forget. Avoid leaning your head forward for extended periods or turned to one side for extended periods. Rearrange your computer desk for better body mechanics if you need to. Make sure you have low back support when sitting. When we sit, the curve in our low back flattens out and forces our head forward, straining the neck muscles. A low back support that helps maintain the lumbar curve will help to sit more vertically, lessening the strain on the neck.

Let me know how this works for you!

P.S. If you found this helpful, will you do me a favor? Tell your other massage student friends and ask them to visit this site. Help me get the word out so this site can be a resource for others, too! Thanks!

How To Contact Us

If you have a comment or a question about massage therapy in general or about a point raised in a particular article, please leave your question or comment in the "Comments" section of that article or in the section "Ask Your Questions Here!"

However, if you need to contact me personally, send an email to:

askthemassagetherapist [at] gmail.com

Of course, I've spelled out the "at" symbol in an effort to foil the bots that roam the internet harvesting email addresses so they can spam them. Be sure to use the appropriate symbols for "at."

I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks,

Alice

Back Pain: Part II Muscle Strain

Perhaps the easiest type of back pain to resolve is simple muscle strain from overuse. Most of us have experienced this at some point in our life. We may have spent too much time working in the yard on a nice day when we haven't been accustomed to the activity. Perhaps we've been sitting too long at the computer, in meetings, or on a long car ride. Fatigue and overuse take their toll and we find ourselves feeling stiff with a dull, nagging ache.

Such a simple strain can respond well to rest and perhaps modest use of non-prescription pain relievers. It often will resolve itself in a day or two, although the symptoms may linger for longer periods. If this common back ache will pass with time and rest, why use massage therapy?

There are two very good reasons to use massage therapy at a time like this. First, massage therapy can speed recovery. Second, recovery can be more thorough with massage therapy.

Let's look at the advantage of faster recovery: Life keeps coming at us and back pain can interfere in our ability to live fully. It may keep us from doing the things we want or need to do. Even when we are functional, feeling sore and stiff can distract us and drain our energy. Let's face it: being in pain and feeling stiff is no fun. It makes us feel tired, old, and cranky. Why spend any more time in that state than we need to? Life is difficult enough without adding unnecessary strain.

Massage therapy can hasten recovery and return us to being fully functional more quickly. When we are unburdened with unnecessary tension and pain, we move with ease and regain our natural energy. Who wouldn't want that?

In addition, massage therapy can promote a more thorough recovery. Muscles are like elephants: they never forget. Even after the obvious signs of strain pass, there is often tension that lingers in the muscles that is not obvious to us. Although this low-grade tension is tolerable, it erodes our ability to move freely and saps our energy. That chronic low-grade tension is actually work! Your muscles are wasting energy staying tense while they aren't accomplishing anything but adding to your feeling of stiffness and vague fatigue. This state can persist for years. We don't know it, but it's there, making us feel tired, stiff, and distorting our posture. In some cases, the muscles finally give out and go into spasm, leaving us wondering why a simple task such as taking out the trash caused our back to "go out."

Massage therapy can help "erase" the memory of that muscle strain and assist muscles to return to a more normal, fully functional state. By relaxing the muscles and restoring them to their natural state, chronic tension is eliminated. The low-grade stiffness and fatigue that could have plagued us for years is replaced by a natural ease and energy that should be our normal state. The likelihood of a simple task, such as taking out the trash, becoming a major incident is reduced.

It is much easier to stay well than to get well. By using massage therapy to get well quickly, we will stay well more easily.

Your Testimonials Can Make A Difference!

Have you experienced a particular benefit from massage therapy, either at my hands or at the hands of another therapist? Would you be willing to share your story? By sharing your experience, you could make a difference in someone else's life.

If you have found relief from pain, either chronic or acute, please tell us. It might help someone else find their own way out of pain.

If you are an athlete who has improved your performance, recovered more efficiently from an injury or a competition, or found massage therapy an important part of your training, sharing your experience might help another athlete achieve their goals. If you are a performing artist who has appreciated what skilled hands can do for you, let others know about it.

If you have found relief from the stress of everyday life and the sense of well-being that massage therapy can bring, let others know so they can experience it for themselves. If you are someone who just enjoys feeling good and likes getting a good massage, let us know about that, too. Feeling good is reason enough.

How do you post your testimonial? It's easy! At the end of this article you will find some small gray print. You'll see the word "comments" or "post your comment." Click on that and it will take you to a box that says, "Leave your comment." Write your comments there and click "post." Your comment should show up after the article pretty quickly.

I really do believe that helping to alleviate pain and creating a sense of well-being in people is one small way to make the world a kinder, gentler place. Help me to help others by telling your story. I appreciate the encouragement and support I've received over these many years from each and every one of my clients and others who have shared their experiences with me along the way. Thank you to all of you.