True story:
I became fascinated with Massage Therapy after a car accident. Auto insurance covers massage therapy, so I pursued it as a form of injury treatment. I was experiencing horrible pain radiating around my left ribcage.
I received many hours of massage to the area, and always experienced great relief-for about two hours. Finally, after several months of trying every type of Massage Therapy in existence, I was referred to a practitioner who took a moment to assess me.
“Your pelvis is way off.” My massage therapist stated…
“My pelvis doesn’t hurt.” I replied..
Well, when my vehicle was slammed sideways, my seatbelt pulled my hips into a severe rotation, and my upper torso had been twisting the opposite way to compensate. The therapist performed some specific techniques to level out my pelvis, and my rib pain went away completely within two treatments.
The longer I work on bodies, the more I know that in almost all cases, people aren’t feeling the primary pain, they are feeling the secondary pain. More examples: tight pecs cause horrible upper back pain, nerve impingements in the neck or chest cause carpal tunnel-type symptoms, tight hip flexors cause upper hamstring pain, imbalanced quads cause knee pain, and the list goes on and on.
Clients on my table are constantly shocked at how much a seemingly unrelated area hurts, only to get great relief to their chief complaint when the primary area is treated.
Injury assessment and the ability to correctly identify the cause of pain takes experience, intimate anatomical knowledge, and advanced training. Treating the cause of pain and eliminating symptoms, rather than simply “rubbing where it hurts” is precisely what defines Therapeutic Massage. Pain relief is what I was desperately seeking as a car accident victim years ago, and providing it is my passion today as a Therapeutic Massage practitioner.
If you’re hurting and in pain, consider visiting your local massage therapist. There may be more to your pain than you thought.
Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com
