Massage: Helpful or Detrimental?

Everybody likes a good massage from time to time. Even just having your shoulders and neck rubbed feels amazing. Massage has been preformed by many different cultures, over many lifetimes. It is something that is ingrained within society as the place where you go to relax. And what isn't relaxing about it? Soothing music, candles, wonderful smells, and hands that seem to know where all your tension is. While that all feels great, and does decompress the musculature and fascia, are there consequences to what happens on the table?

Short answer, yes, there are. Let's take a look at an example below.

Let's say you feel a lot of tension around your mid to upper back. Commonly referred to the trapezius and rhomboids. The upper traps tend to be tonic, or compressed, especially in people who sit for long periods of time, i.e. students, office, workers, etc. While the upper traps are working, the lower traps and the rhomboids are outstretched. On the opposite side of the body we have the pec muscles. Very powerful, yet overactive muscles in a lot of people, who again tend to be seated more often than not. When the pec muscles are compressed they will stretch the rhomboid, as this is its antagonist, or opposition. If the pec is continuously working, the rhomboids will have to continuously stretch. The sensation you feel in the mid back is that of a "knot" or some refer to it as tension. But what the sensation actually is is your body telling you the muscle is pulling apart too far. But in our ignorance, we ask for a back massage. What good is decompressing a muscle/area if that are is already opened up? There is not point to it other than the perceived feeling of relaxation. All you really did by massaging that area is turning off the muscles that need to work more.

What really would need to get massaged in the example would be the pec muscles. If the pecs were to decompress, the rhomboid would have space to contract, rather than continuously having to be stretched and torn apart. But, the equation does not stop there. If we just massage an area, does it make a permanent change? Not at all. In fact, you will be weaker and more susceptible to injury. The musculature and the neurological system will kick into old habits and put you immediately back into your old postures, as there is no resistance against what was just massaged.To prevent this from happening, we need to work the areas that are out stretched, and re-tension them to a more optimal point. Coming back to the example, we would need to re-tension/work the rhomboids to allow the scapula (shoulder blade) to flatten out on the back, allowing the humerus (arm bone) to be placed completely neutral in its socket.

So the equation is as such. Releasing the compressed areas + re-tension and work the weak/overstretched muscles = change within the body.

Although this equation may seem pretty basic, we need to take into account the entire body. The example given is just one tiny fragment that needs to be addressed. The rest of the body has dysfunctions which will continuously give you pain until truly addressed. So next time you go for a massage, make sure you are going to a therapist who is competent with massaging the entire body and knows how to assess your body for compression. After said massage, you need to be ready to get some work done through precise exercises, as to not go back to your old postures.

Again, if you are going for massages just to relax, you will continuously be driving the problem deeper and deeper. For true change to happen, work must be involved.

I hope this article finds you well, and I hope this knowledge will give you a little bit of insight as to why massages are only a temporary crutch. I will post more on the topic in the future. If you like this article, please share it with your friends and families. All this knowledge should be understood by all, as it will help everyone deal with their issues in a progressive way.