How Deep Tissue Massage Can Help With Neck Pain

Neck pain and stiffness can make it difficult to work, especially if you work on a computer several hours each day. Your neck pain might be from an auto accident, fall, or just bad posture. A chiropractor might offer treatments that help speed your recovery and reduce the pain. One treatment that might help is deep tissue massage. Here's a look at how it works and how it can help neck pain.

The Cause Of Neck Pain And Stiffness

If you've had an injury that gave a jolt to your neck, there could be swelling and tiny tears in the fascia and other tissues around your neck. Your spine might even be affected and cause pinching of the nerves that leads to pain. In the case of a chronic injury caused from poor posture while working or sleeping, you could develop muscle strain because of weak muscles or muscles that are under too much repetitive stress. The irritation on the nerves and tissues in your neck lead to acute or chronic damage that causes stiffness and pain.

How Deep Tissue Massage Works

Deep tissue massage works only on the tissues such as fascia and muscle. Chiropractic adjustments are needed in addition to massage if your spine is affected. During a deep tissue massage, the deeper layers of muscle and fascia are manipulated to increase blood flow, improve oxygenation, and break apart scar tissue. Because your neck is a delicate area, care is taken to avoid further injury during the treatment by aiming the massage at very specific points on your neck, shoulders, and back.

A deep tissue massage generally begins with a gentle massage that relaxes all the muscles in your neck first. This alone can increase blood flow and get your muscles ready for more intense treatments. While you probably want to see a chiropractor and begin treatment as soon as possible after your accident, your initial treatments might consist of relaxing massages until your body has begun healing. These massages can also help reduce the pain you may feel initially after an acute injury.

Once you're ready for deep tissue massage, the trigger points are identified on your neck. These are tender areas found by pressing on your neck, back, and shoulders. Once they're found, deep pressure is applied on them with a massage tool or finger one spot at a time. This pressure breaks up the tiny scars that interfere with healing and that cause pain when you move your neck.

Deep tissue massage can be painful, so you need to let the therapist or chiropractor know when you're feeling too much pain since the treatments should stay within a pain limit that is easy to tolerate. If you've had neck pain for a long time due to chronic problems, then you might need several treatments as well as chiropractic adjustments to restore normal function and health to the injured tissues.