Knots In Your Back - How Massage Therapy Gets Rid Of Muscle Spasms In Your Upper Back

My client said the pain in her back was bad. She had been to a chiropractor three times and it didn't help. She called hoping I could help.

I am a huge fan of natural therapies and massage is an absolutely awesome natural therapy! It can definitely help get rid of the causes of muscular pain but it does depend on the therapist's training. The therapist must understand how to get rid of whatever is causing the pain.

When my client got on the massage table and placed her face in the face cradle I could actually see that one side of her back was enlarged. Usually you cannot see a spasm although you may be able to feel it but this one was a whopper.

There was a lot of tenderness under the swelling. The tight muscles felt like banjo strings. They were very painful.

I started assessing her back and neck with my hands. I asked my client to let me know what areas hurt. I decided to "surround the dragon."

The dragon is the pain. You surround it by releasing the tissues outside of the area first.

My client told me she had tried a new twisting motion during a certain activity that she enjoys. The muscles on either side of your waist are the twisting-tilting muscles so I checked them.

On the same side as her upper back spasm, those waist muscles were tight and tender so I released them with finger pressure.

You see, everything on your body is attached. Tight muscles somewhere else can pull on another area and cause pain or spasm.

I treated the muscles on both sides of her spine, the upper shoulders and the muscles on the opposite side of her pain under the arm pit. I worked on the knotty area (the spasm) and I wrapped up with the muscles on the upper chest, front of her arm and breastbone.

I showed her some simple movements to strengthen the muscles of her back and how to improve her posture.

She felt much better an hour after she arrived.

If someone just blasts away on your muscle knot there is a really good chance that it won't help at all. The poor muscle may just get even more inflamed.

But by surrounding the dragon and getting rid of the most likely causes of your discomfort you have a good chance of taming that "dragon."