Massaging the hip area to relieve low back pain

My regular clients know so well that I tend to spend quite a bit of time on the hip area, when the reason they come to see me is lower back pain, sciatica or leg pain. Trigger points or muscle knots in the gluteus medius and minimus in the hip are a common cause of stubborn and strange aches and pains both locally, as well as referring pain to surrounding muscles, and yet they are often under-diagnosed.

What is Hip Pain?

Hip pain is a common symptom that can indicate a number of different underlying conditions that may affect the joint and its surrounding structures. Because of where the hip bone is located, it’s a common place for injury and trauma to occur that can lead to several different and occasionally long lasting problems above in the lower back and below into the legs.

With so much stress placed on the hip by the body in everyday situations, the area sometimes never gets the chance to heal, meaning that symptoms can continue to present themselves for weeks or months without treatment. If you’re suffering from hip pain and it doesn’t show any sign of relenting, ascertaining the cause is crucial to helping your body recover.

The Cause of Hip Pain

Arthritis, injury, over exertion through physical activity or poor posture are the most common causes of hip pain, each affecting the joint and surrounding area in a different way. Identifying the reason for your pain is the first step to correcting and healing the problem.

Hip Pain Relief

Hip pain can start off as a dull annoyance but, if left untreated, can become a serious problem leading to a loss of mobility and severe pain. Knowing the underlying cause of your pain is the crucial first step to correcting and healing the joint.

Massage therapy is the perfect way to loosen the muscles and alleviate pain in the short term. Strengthening the area through exercise and a focus on physical fitness and wellbeing can help prevent injury from recurring and is an important final step to eliminating pain permanently.If your hip pain is persistent and affecting the way you want to lead your life, visit me and let me help you to break free from pain. I’m not just interested in short-term fixes; I’ll identify your condition and provide the appropriate care to ease your suffering permanently.

Correct – Relax – Strengthen

I believe in supporting good health and providing permanent solutions rather than temporary fixes. Through addressing muscular imbalance and dysfunction with a mix of advanced massage therapies to relax and stretch tight and painful muscles alongside a strong focus on strength and fitness training to help strengthen the body and prevent pain from returning. You will experience improved posture, an ease of suffering and achieve a healthier lifestyle. 

Contact me for a holistic approach to your well-being and break free from pain.

Sports Massage Should Be Part Of Your Fitness Regime

If you are getting out there and exercising this winter, good on you! Perhaps you are in training for a marathon. But remember that sports massage should play an important part of your regime, whether you are an athlete or just increasing your activity levels. Massage has a number of benefits both physical, physiological and psychological for everyone. However, sports massage can help maintain the body in generally better condition, prevent injuries and loss of mobility, cure and restore mobility to injured muscle tissue, boost performance and allow you to keep exercising for longer as you age. Massage as part of your exercise regime has numerous benefits. The stroking movements in massage suck fluid through blood and lymph vessels. This is especially important in tight or damaged muscle tissue, as a tight muscle will squeeze blood out like a sponge, depriving the tissues of vital nutrients and energy to repair. Deep massage causes the pores in tissue membranes to open, enabling fluids and nutrients to pass through. This helps remove waste products such as lactic acid and encourage the muscles to take up oxygen and nutrients and recover quicker. Massage stretches muscles in ways they may not normally be stretched, and can help break down scar tissue which otherwise may cause inflexibility and areas prone to pain and injury. Hard training can make tissues hard and inelastic, all the stretching in massage helps reverse this. All these benefits also help us non-athlete types keep our muscles in top form. Massage can also be great for chronic diseases, specifically arthritis, osteoporosis, postural problems, stress, anxiety, depression, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and inflammatory disorders. Wellness Massage Therapy has a skilled therapist who specializes in sport and remedial massage and can work with those of us who are fitness freaks, light exercisers, ageing or facing any of the above conditions.

Why Everyone Would Benefit From A Regular Massage

Why Everyone Would Benefit from a Regular Massage

Although massage has been practiced for thousands of years, it is not until fairly recently that the general public has become aware of its many benefits. While those with muscular aches and pains often sought out a massage therapist to help them, it has now become apparent that the regular use of massage can promote both physical and mental health for everyone. Massage is not a luxury; it might almost be considered a necessary part of everyone’s lifestyle.

Dealing with Our Stressful World

The fast, often frenetic pace of the modern world leaves many of us feeling frazzled and stressed out. The elevated rate of depression and other mood related issues is reflected in the millions of prescriptions written every year for drugs to try to mitigate these mental problems. Often, people find it difficult to simply relax and enjoy life.

Stress can result in such negative effects as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, obesity, headaches, muscle pain, and insomnia. All of these are conditions that can seriously impact health. When we are stressed, our body releases cortisol. This hormone helps us to run faster or fight better, which is of use when running from a hungry bear or when your child is in danger. Under normal circumstances, the level of cortisol in the blood drops as soon as the crisis is over. However, in today’s stressful atmosphere, often the crisis is never over. Fortunately, massage is an excellent way to counteract stress and anxiety.

Massage therapy helps to release the body’s natural stress relievers – endorphins. These neurotransmitters are instrumental in producing a feeling of calm and well-being.
Simply being under the hands of a massage therapist causes the body and mind to relax; it’s not uncommon for those experiencing a massage to actually nod off.

Massage for Handling Aches and Pains

Although stress is a great contributor to muscular pain, there are numerous other ways that our bodies can be damaged and require the services of a massage therapist. Injuries incurred while participating in sports or work can cause pain not only in the muscles, but also in the ligaments and tendons.

Sprains are damage to the ligaments holding a joint in place and result in swelling, pain, and difficult in using the affected limb. Massage helps in healing sprains by bringing more blood to the affected area to speed healing, as well as helping to drain away excess fluid that has accumulated as a result of the injury.
Strains represent damage to muscle tissue. Overworked or overstretched muscles can experience tears in the fibres, causing pain, knotting, and stiffness. Your massage therapist will apply the proper technique to loosen up tight, stiff muscles, and the endorphins released during massage will help with pain reduction.
Exercise is instrumental in keeping both the body and mind strong, but it’s also very easy to overdo it while exercising – especially in the case of those who are engaged in bodybuilding. Both regular and deep tissue massage can help relieve pain and promote healing.

Is a Regular Massage Right for You?

The nice thing about massage is that it is never wrong. Not only is massage therapy perfect for dealing with stress and assorted aches and pains, it also bolsters the immune system to keep you healthier. The flexibility of the joints increases and more oxygen is delivered to all parts of the body (including the brain) as circulation improves.

Many people will use massage once or twice when dealing with a specific problem, and will come away feeling refreshed and revitalized. But, why wait until there is a problem to see a massage therapist? Scheduling a weekly or biweekly massage can help to keep you feeling better all the time – less stressed, more alert, and less likely to suffer from painful, tight muscles.

What it basically comes down to is this – regular massage by a massage therapist is one of the best ways to promote both mental and bodily health for everyone.

What is Hot Stone Massage?

Evidence of stone massage dates back to before written history, in fact to over 3000 years. Ancient civilizations believed that hot stones were beneficial for cleansing the body, relaxing the heart, grounding the soul and soothing the mind.

The treatment originates in ancient India and China and more recently, the North American Indians living in the southwest states. The traditions and healing rituals, in which the stones were used, including laying the stones in patterns on the body, carrying or wearing stones for health and protection, using stones in the diagnosis and treatment of disease or during ceremonies such as sweat lodges or in medicine wheels. Some native healers used heated stones to ease the discomforts experienced during menstruation, or applied cold stones to impede blood flow after giving birth.

The Roman Empire was noted for their creation of Roman baths. Many of these rituals still exist today in the form of hydrotherapy practices and the use of saunas, hot immersion baths and marble stone / cold pools. More recently, it is thriving today in many healing centres and spas throughout the world.

How does it work? 

Hot stone massage combines the benefits of Hydrotherapy and "Thermalism" or "Thermotherapy" (the use of heat applications) with massage strokes using stones to create a deep, relaxing and healing treatment.

Using the heat of the stones to warm the skin allows the skin to absorb moisturizing and therapeutic oils, while at the same time preparing the musculature of the body so the therapist can work into deeper muscle layers.

It is generally accepted that one stroke of a heated basalt stone is equivalent to 5-10 strokes of the therapist's hand.

Benefits of Thermotherapy include:

• Increased local circulation

• Improved blood flow to surrounding tissues

• Greater ability to transport toxins and waste products from the area

• Hot stones provide a fantastic tool creating a sense of depth to the massage.