Break the Cycle of Pain With Massage Therapy

This article is a general introduction of four techniques used by Massage Therapists to relieve pain: Trigger Point therapy, Myofascial Release, Muscle Energy Techniques, and "Biofield" Techniques. A trigger point is a hypersensitive nodule or knot within a muscle tissue. When compressed they give rise to pain. The number one cause of a trigger point is acute overload. To treat a trigger point, a massage therapist presses into the point and holds pressure until the tissue begins to relax or melt.

Myofascial Release works on the webbing or sheaths that, like a spandex suit or the webbing inside of an orange or grapefruit, help give shape and structure to the human form. Imagine a spandex suit that has become pinned down and stretched in a certain area. This image conveys the stress that can occur, and the resulting pain and mobility restriction that can occur in the human body when our "spandex suit" is stressed. A massage therapist uses myofascial release techniques to release the stress and thus release any pain or restriction of motion.

Now imagine an energy field that interpenetrates all of life, including our own human body. Biofield therapies address pain on the level of the human energy field. Through light touch on and above the body with such Biofield techniques as Reiki, Healing Touch or Bio-energy Healing, a Massage Therapist trained in these types of techniques, as research indicates, can also relieve pain. The therapist, instead of working directly on muscles and soft tissues, is trained to perceive and work with the network of energy patterns, modulating them and releasing areas of congestion. Somewhat recently, "Energy Field Disturbance" was added to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Problems used by physicians. Hospitals have begun to offer Healing Touch and Reiki as complimentary therapy for the their patients.

Muscle Energy Techniques, commonly used in Sports and Orthopedic Massage, is a type of assisted stretching that serves to resolve triggers points, release the Myofascial network or spandex suit, and release hypertonic muscles. The Pain-Spasm-Pain Theory states that trauma leads to pain, then pain to muscle contraction. Muscle contraction causes ischemia, also known as reduced blood flow. Ischemia causes accumulation of metabolic garbage, which in turn leads to more pain. To break the pain cycle, the techniques of massage have a proven track record. These four techniques listed are just four within the many pain-relieving techniques found in the toolbox of many a massage therapist.