Massage Therapy for Back Pains

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In our one-way-of-life global world, back pains have become one of the most common complaints after colds and flus.

Lower back pain or lumbago occurs most, but mid and higher back pains extending to the shoulders and neck are certainly not uncommon either. Pains may be caused by a limited or combined musculoskeletal issue, a variety of diseases and disorders, (repetitive) strains, sustained postural anomalies, stress and anxiety, or pregnancy, just to name a few causes.

Interesting enough, when you look at sample pictures of massages, in many cases you will see someone lying on the stomach while having a therapist massaging the back. And indeed, I think that the first thought about having a massage is someone who massages your back. In any case, one of the most popular ways of getting relief of back pains is taking back massage treatments.

Nevertheless, stand-alone back massages are basically non-existent as a complete massage modality. And although treatment offerings are plenty to be found commercially, the better approach to resolving back pains would be having a whole-body massage.

The reason for the latter is that back pains are not necessarily treated or solved by manipulating back muscles or the spine. For instance, back pains quite often have their origin in tight abdominal muscles, tight leg muscles — notably the hamstrings — tight buttocks, or tight neck muscles. Hence, tackling back pains needs a holistic approach, one that typically involves full-body treatment.

The massage techniques used vary significantly all depending on the specific massage modality used, which can be almost any kind, such as Swedish Massage, Chi Nei Tsang Abdominal Massage, Sports Massage, Thai Massage, Lomi Lomi, or Chinese Massage, among others.

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