Massage Therapy After Injury

For active people, injuries are an unfortunate fact of life. Whether we’re talking sore muscles after a hike, a game of golf, or a gym workout, whether the complaint is sports related or the result of gardening or home improvement, and especially if surgery is required, an injury is a setback.
Recovery is a Process, not an Event
Rehabilitation doesn’t happen overnight. Recovery from any injury and returning to a state of optimal, pre-injury performance can take a long time. Getting back to full strength or your previous state can be frustrating. And while the main goal of physical therapy is to increase strength and flexibility, often doctor-prescribed physical therapy ends before the area has been returned to full pre-injury status. Another frustration.
The Good News
The good news is that massage can play an important role in supplementing standard injury rehabilitation. From a sprained ankle to a twisted knee, from muscle spasms to broken bones, massage can provide faster recovery, helping reduce stiffness, restore movement, and provide relaxation, and putting focus on healthy healing instead of soreness and anxiety. For hamstring injuries, for example, the effect of stretching out tightness and loosening scar tissue can aid in recovery. And for back and neck spasms or nerve pain, various types of massage that can be provided by a premium massage chair can help.
What About Post-Surgery?
In the case of post-surgical rehabilitation, the technical procedure is only half of the battle. After the surgeon has completed his or her work, therapeutic massage has been proven to accelerate recovery in a post-operative scenario by keeping all of the working parts limber or stretched out, while helping to repair damaged soft tissue in or around an incision and breaking up scar tissue—even impeding the formation of that scar tissue in the first place before it can compromise muscle function.
More than Relaxation
Americans “are looking to massage for much more than just relaxation,” says Mary Beth Braun, President of the American Massage Therapy Association. More of us now associate massage therapy with stress relief and other kinds of healing. To that, we should add rehabilitation from injuries of all sorts. By increasing circulation to tissues and vital organs, relaxing and oxygenating the injured muscles and isolating damage, massage allows the injured area to become more flexible and heal at an accelerated rate. A quality massage chair can provide these healthy, healing benefits in the comfort of your own home.
Massage Chairs and Rehabilitation
Many sports teams utilize massage chairs not only for relaxation but for injury recovery when a therapist may not be available. They usually choose chairs that are aggressive, deep tissue and therapy related such as the Panasonic MA73 or MAJ7.
“Massage Therapy Helps With Injury Rehabilitation.” LaVida Massage Wellness Center, www.lavidamassage.com.
“MASSAGE THERAPY IMPROVES REHABILITATION AFTER INJURY.” Massageenvy.com, www.massageenvy.com/massage/massage-benefits/improves-rehabilitation-after-injury/.
“Injury Rehabilitation.” California Massage Schools – National Holistic Institute | Colleges of Massage Therapy in CA, National Holistic Institute, nhi.edu/massage-school-programs/massage-therapy-courses/injury-rehabilitation.
Seliger, Susan. “Massage Therapy for Stress Relief and Much More.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/massage-therapy-stress-relief-much-more#1.