Franklin Spa Massage

Deep Massage
How often do I have to have a Deep Tissue massage?

I’ve been having some upper Back Pain/tension by my left shoulder blade lately. I’ve noticed that the pain is most aggravated by me sitting at the computer all day at work. I went in today & got a deep tissue massage & she worked the heck out of it but it still seems like I’ll have to go back. My question is: How long can I expect to have to go to the massage therapist until I am better?

Your solution can be simple with a little concerted effort for change. More than likely your all day, in a chair, in front of a computer posture is your chronic, primary cause. Add a little stress from whatever, a little dehydration from caffeine, alcohol, lack of sleep, over-exertion or whatever, and you have a recipe for long-term problems. The massage therapist, if trained well enough, should know that the upper back and shoulder tension is a result of your chronic, daily posture. Massage done to the muscles in the upper back will probably have limited results unless you challenge your postural habits. I’ll try to make this brief, but sensible at the same time. Many office employees force themselves into our ever popular “institutionalized position” of sitting, with head, neck, arms and shoulders in a ‘forward’ holding pattern. What this does is shorten all the muscles in the anterior thoracic region (abdominals, pectoralis major & minor, anterior deltoid, biceps, scalenes & sternocleidomastoid; go ahead and look these up to know where they are). As these muscles shorten, they create an opposite affect on the muscles of upper and lower back, posterior shoulders & posterior neck: lengthening, fatiguing and in essence overworking and ‘cramping’ these muscles. Your symptom is tight upper back. More than likely your cause is too short of muscles in the chest, anterior shoulder, biceps and anterior neck. Your muscles in your upper back are more than likely tight because they are already overstretched. [I know, it is opposite of what you would normally think]. This is why stretching of the upper back has limited results because you are trying to stretch and already overstretched set of muscles. For some complementary results to your massages, you need to do daily stretches for your chest, anterior neck, biceps and abdominals to balance your posture again. If you are spending 8 hours a day training your anterior muscles to be short, then you need to balance that with movements, stretches and strengthening in the opposite direction. Ask your MT to work on your pecs, biceps, scalenes, abdominals and diaphram, along with the attention to the upper back. If she seems puzzled by this request, or is unable to follow through, then find someone who is better trained to address these issues. It will save you time, money and frustration as weeks and months go by. Best wishes

Deep Massage

Whats the difference in a deep tissue and a relaxation massage?

I’ve been ttc for almost 2 years, and the stress has be so tense, nothing I’ve done helps! Hot showers, hubby giving his 5min massage, yoga, nothing.

Deep tissue is the only way to get relief. A relaxation massage will give you temporary relief to a degree, but lasting deep relief, deep tissue is the only way.

By applying add’l pressure the muscles are treated to release toxins that are in the muscles. The toxins are actually causing most of the soreness. After being released, you need to drink plenty of water (I try to drink 48 oz of water after a massage. and the next day you may be a little sore from the treatment, but still less than the soreness you had before. After the first day (if you drank your water) you will continue to be relaxed and won’t have the soreness in the muscles.

If you keep having massages regularly, you won’t be sore after a massage, it will be easier on your therapist and you will be feeling great everyday.

Deep Tissue Massage with Robert Byrnes – Part II