Massage as a part of a treatment plan goes pretty much hand-in-hand with neck pain, reduced range of motion, stiffness, strain, headaches, and more. A variety of conditions can prompt a Physician or a Chiropractor to prescribe massage to help alleviate such symptoms. At Ballaura Wellness Spa in Olympia, Washington, one of the most cited problem areas from clients is the neck. In this blog post we discuss several conditions of the neck that massage can help reduce the symptoms of.

Muscle Strain

A muscle strain is a tear in either the muscle or the tendon. Muscle strains are well known to be relieved by massage. Massage helps loosen tight muscles and reduce pain, both which are aspects of a muscle strain. It also helps bring blood flow to the area which is essential for the healing process to help facilitate the tissue to grow back in a healthy manner. Massage is also beneficial at breaking up scar tissue which forms after any sort of injury like a tear.

Tension Headaches

Those who suffer from tension headaches know that they can be debilitating and irritating to deal with. Tension headaches feel like a tight band is being pulled around the head and can be caused by a variety of factors including poor posture. This is a common alignment of those who work at desks or computers all day or even by sleeping in the wrong position overnight. Massage can help target the muscles that are tight by bringing blood flow and relaxing the muscle. It even reduces stress, another factor for tension headaches. Many clients will report having a tension headache when they walk into a massage and have it be gone by the time their massage is over. Talk about relief!

Cervicalgia (Neck Pain)

Cervicalgia is the fancy term used by physicians to diagnose neck pain in clients. Symptoms include tightness, aches, and pain in the neck and shoulder region. It can even feel like an electric shock is going from the neck down to the arm! Massage relieves these muscles by bringing blood flow and by reducing tension. Certain neck muscles can be so tight that they compress nerves and blood flow down to the arm, which can cause the electric shock like feeling. Massage release the muscles and opens up the pathway back down to the hand again.