The True Cause Of Back Pain Problem
November 29th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
There are numerous causes of back pain, from injury to illness, but the most common cause of back pain is the modern lifestyle.
Your back pain may occur unexpectedly, but the condition that caused it has been slowly developing over time; probably for several years. All our high-tech devices have saved us from an essential part of being healthy - using our bodies in various ways, as it was intended to. When the body has to walk, lift, bend, stretch and twist, it is working every muscle in a natural way, and the body is balanced.
The modern lifestyle has robbed us of this wide variety of movement. We drive cars or catch transport instead of walking the mile or so to the shops or to work. We sit for long hours in our office for work, or we stare at a computer screen for hours at a time. Clothes dryers have largely replaced stretching up to hang out the clothes. We flick a switch for cooking, heating and entertainment.
Good posture has become a thing of the past, when it was taught and practised in schools. This not only helped the children to look great, it also helped the muscles work in conjunction with each other to hold the body in the proper anatomical position. In this position, there was no muscle strain and all internal organs were able to work properly.
Since so many of the activities we do require us to sit and lean forward, the curve of the upper spine is accentuated, the muscles of the chest become shorter, the chin juts forward, shortening the back neck muscles, the lower spine is pushed out of alignment and the abdominal muscles stretch and lose balance. No wonder so many people experience back and neck pain!
When we perform this action over and over again, the changes in the spine and muscles become habit. This can trigger problems to happen like pinched nerves, herniated discs, crushed discs and dysfunctional muscles. Many of the “conditions” that cause us to have back pain are actually the outcome of our lifestyle and posture. But these “conditions” are the result of poor posture and muscles that are out of balance.
When your muscles are out of balance, your spine is pulled out of alignment and this is the base cause of the “conditions” that give you back pain. There are many back pain relief you can do to correct the imbalance which will ease your pain.
Simple activities include: stretch up and back often when working at a desk; walk for 10 minutes a day to use every muscle in your back; be aware of correct posture throughout your day and pull your abdominals in whenever you think to.
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REMEDIAL MASSAGE EXPLAINED
November 29th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Remedial massage is a deep-tissue style massage, therapeutic in nature, designed to heal particular health issues, muscle problems and injuries. Massage therapists know and believe that everything in the body is connected and related - if one part is injured it will in turn affect the whole body.
A person with an injured knee may then favour the ‘healthy’ leg which will throw out the muscles in the hip and back leading to back ache. The tightening of these muscles may then cause an imbalance affecting the neck muscles which may then cause a head ache. So the client may present and complain of persistent headaches when the primary cause of this problem is actually a knee injury.
A remedial massage therapist is trained to not only diagnose what is causing the problem - but to treat it with massage as well. Clients who visit a remedial massage therapist will have a consultation with them before any treatment takes place to find out what is causing the issue or injury. This consultation can take a variety of forms, usually questions and also a series of tests to see how much range of movement the client may have in certain muscles groups. For example if a client complains of headaches, the remedial massage therapist may ask the client to turn their head, to see how far their muscles will let the head turn to see if there is muscle tightness in the neck region which might be causing the problem.
The therapist will also closely observe the client’s posture. In the example above, the therapist might notice the client favouring one leg whilst walking and then find out that there has been a knee injury that needs to be fixed. Remedial therapists also use palpitation of the muscles which is generally just feeling the different muscle groups to feel if they are tight or shortened. Muscle tissue works by contraction. If muscles tissues are so shortened it cannot work properly then sometimes it cannot contract further and is not able to do the work of the muscle.
This can occur from issues such as the repetitive use of the muscle or it can occur from inaction, for example is an arm is in a sling for a long period of time. A remedial massage therapist will then use a variety of techniques to soften, stretch and manipulate the muscle so that it will start to work as it should again. These techniques include trigger point therapy. Trigger points are small, highly contracted areas of the muscle and your remedial therapist will manipulate these regions to release them. Trigger points are often a large source of pain, and releasing them can cause relief from tension and hurt. Sometimes trigger points cause referred pain.
So a trigger point maybe located in the shoulder but the pain maybe referred by the muscle to another region in the back. Remedial massage therapists are trained to diagnose referred pain and also treat the underlying cause. Remedial massage also uses a wide range of other techniques like deep tissue friction that warms and releases the muscles, relaxation massage strokes that soothe the muscles after the deep tissue work, and also stretching.
The therapist may ask the client to do follow up exercises and stretches at home to continue the work. Remedial therapists are qualified to deal with issues such as arthritis, tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, muscular injuries from sport, neck and back pain, headaches and whiplash.
To know more about massage Brisbane, simply visit Ripple Massage’s website at www.ripplemassage.com.au .
Ripple Massage has a team of qualified and experienced remedial massage therapists on staff that will come to you in your home or accommodation.
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