Back in time before all of medical modern advances, before medicines, drugs, needles, and surgery. It was common for individuals to treat themselves to frequent massages, for relief of many aliments.

Massage is the a basic instinct that people used as a natural remedies. This basis need to touch is comparable to our innate fight or flight instinct. Health practitioners believe that massage has powerful healing properties no matter how soft or deep.

Massage has developed greatly over time! There are in fact many different types of massage techniques but we have listed four of the most commonly used methods from our own office experience.

SWEDISH MASSAGE works the whole body using a tapping, soothing and kneading strokes to relieve tension and heal sore joints. Swedish massage is superficial and have basic strokes; effleurage or stroking; petrissage or muscle lifting and grabbing; friction or use of fingers and thumbs working the deep thick muscles; tapotement or chopping tapping or beating movements; and vibration for finger pressed firmly on the muscles, then the area is stimulated quickly for several seconds. The effleurage and tapoement strokes are the most popular.

DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE targets chronic tension in muscles that lie far below the surface of your body. You have five layers of muscle in your back, for instance, and while Swedish massage may help the first couple of layers, it won’t do much directly for the muscle underneath. Deep muscle techniques usually involve slow strokes, direct pressure or friction movements that go across the grain of the muscles. Massage therapists will use their fingers, thumbs or occasionally even elbows to apply the needed pressure. This method is best used with certain long standing injuries which seem to be persistent and require a bit more to release spasm.

SPORTS MASSAGE was developed to help people train better and recover quicker. If you are a world class athelete or just a weekend warrior this massage may be best for you. This massage is like a Swedish and Deep tissue massage using both strokes to help the athlete. Pre-race massage warms the muscles and increases circulation. After a game or race, this massage helps rid of toxin build up in the body and quicken the recovery time.

NEUROMUSCULAR MASSAGE is a form of deep tissue massage that is applied to individual specific muscle group’s muscles. It is used to increase blood flow, reduce pain and release pressure on nerves caused by injuries to muscles and other soft tissue. Neuromuscular massage helps release trigger points, and muscular adhesions (areas which form due to micro traumas) and can also “refer” pain to other parts of the body. Relieving a tense adhesion or trigger point area in your back, for example, could help ease pain in your neck, shoulders, low back, etc. This technique is especially beneficial when used with spinal manipulation and adjunct forms of physical therapy.

Want to find out more about massage and chiropractic treatments, then visit Dr. Dirk Kancilia’s site on how to choose the best spinal decompression in Rancho Bernardo for your needs.