Back Pain Relief
Cure Back Muscle Pain with Massage Therapy
Back pain relief is sought after by many people. Massage therapy for back pain is an effective way to cure back pain. Low back pain is the most common form of back muscle pain. Three out of four people experience low back pain at some point in their lives. It is one of the most common reasons that people call out from work.
The back is a complicated structure with many parts that can get injured. There are twenty-four small bones in the back called vertebrae. Each vertebra is cushioned by a sack of viscous fluid called a disc. The vertebrae are held together by ligaments. The back is also filled with muscles and nerves.
Each of these elements in the back can get injured and cause pain. There are many conditions that present as back pain.
muscle injury
slipped or herniated disc
sciatica
arthritis
osteoporosis
skeletal problems like scoliosis
kidney infection or damage
cauda equina syndrome
spinal infection
cancer in the spine
If you have persistent back pain and think it might be one of the more serious conditions listed, you should definitely get checked out by a doctor.
We use our backs all the time, and, most of the time, we use them incorrectly. You can lessen your risk for back problems by having good posture, especially when lifting. People who sit all day working at a desk also tend to have problems with their back. Taking frequent breaks from sitting helps. You should also make sure that when you're sitting, you sit with your back straight yet comfortably relaxed.
When back pain does occur massage can help relieve it. Pain caused by tension in muscles and nerve entrapment can be treated affectively with massage. Neuromuscular therapy and deep tissue massage are the most popular kind of massage for back pain, but all modalities of massage can help soothe aching muscles and provide back pain relief.
Self-Massage for Back Pain
If you have lower or upper back pain, here are some simple methods to help you cure your back muscle pain. Whether you have low back pain or upper back pain, if the pain is muscular you can manage it with self-massage. Let's talk about upper back pain first.
Upper Back Pain Relief
Pain in your upper back is most commonly caused by your rhomboids. The rhomoids are thin muscles on your back. All muscles have opposing muscles. The muscles that oppose each other work together to hold your body up straight. In the case of the rhomboids, the opposing muscles are the pectoralis muscles (your chest muscles). When the pectoralis muscles are too tight they cause the back to round, stretching the rhomboids tight. When the rhomdoids are stretched tight blood and lymph don't flow through them and they start to ache.
Notice your posture. Is your upper back rounded? Are your shoulders pulled forward? Can you guess what you need to do to give yourself some back pain relief?
Start out by massaging the pectoralis muscles. Those are the large muscles on your chest. Near your armpit you can reach the fingers of your opposite hand under the muscle and with your thumb on top squeeze it. Your armpit itself should not be massaged so be careful. Stay toward the front edge of the armpit, just where the muscle attaches. Do that a few times. Cover as much as the muscles as you can like this. Then starting at your collarbone use your fingertips to do circular strokes and cover the entire muscle like this. Do this on both sides. Once you've done that stretch the muscle out.
You can stretch your pecs by standing in a door frame. Put your arms up at 90 degree angles so they are on the door frame. Now just lean forward to stretch your pecs.
You may also want to loosen up your shoulders by squeezing the meaty part of the upper trapezius where the neck and shoulder meet. You can squeeze that and just let it naturally roll out of your grip.
If you have low back pain there are a lot of things that can contribute to it. Some of the contributing muscles are quite deep and should only be worked on by a professional therapist. There are some simple solutions you can try first though.
Low back pain relief can be achieved simply by keeping your thighs and glutes loose. Let's look at the thighs first.
Sometimes the muscles in the front of your thighs called the quadriceps get very tight. These tight quads pull on the pelvis causing it to tip downward slightly. This tilting can in turn put pressure on the low back causing pain. Massaging your quads is a simple enough task. Petrissage, a kneading stroke, is usually the best way to massage the quads. Knead your quads thoroughly then stretch the muscle out.
Tightness in your gluteal muscles (the muscles in your behind) can also cause low back pain. A tennis ball is an excellent tool to have for massaging your gluts. Get a tennis ball and stand near a wall. Place the tennis ball between your glute and the wall. Now lean against it. You can shift your body to move the ball and control how hard you lean against the wall to control the pressure. When you find a trigger point use the trigger point therapy instructions.
I use these techniques at home to find back pain relief. They work great for me. Try them out and see what you think.
Want More Help?
On this page we've looked at the anatomy of back pain a bit and some basic things you can do to help relieve it. Depending on your situation, this information may be enough for you to get rid of your pain. If you situation is more severe it probably isn't enough. There are tons of books on the market about back pain and lots of people who say they can help you. Some work and some don't. I've seen a lot of products that can help get rid of the pain. Of those the best one I've seen is the one offered by the Healthy Back Institute. If you're interested check out there product. You can find it here.
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