Category Archives: Chronic Pain

Massage can Help Patients Being Treated for Cancer

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One benefit of massage is that it brings a feeling of well-being and relaxation which can help with the stress, anxiety or even depression associated with dealing with cancer treatment. Massage increases the body’s production of endorphins which elevate mood and flushes the waste product, lactic acid, out of muscles.

Massage also relieves pain and stiffness, increases mobility and reduces pain.

The National Cancer Institute found that more than half of their cancer centers offer massage as an adjunct to traditional treatment especially for those patients who suffer from fatigue.
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Do You Have Pain in Your Shoulder Blade?

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There are many causes for shoulder blade pain, including activities that make the muscles in the chest tight. When that happens, the muscles in the back lengthen as a result.

Either way, neuromuscular massage can relieve the pain by allowing the muscles to regain their natural posture.

1. Sleeping on the same side every night.
2. Carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder or the other.
3. Sitting at the computer with your arms outstretched can tighten the muscles in the chest.
4. Holding a small child with the same arm, or resting on the same hip.
5. Overworking your pecs at the gym.

If you have been doing any of these repetitive activities and are feeling pain around your shoulder blade, schedule an appointment.

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Treatments for Plantar Fasciitis

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Unfortunately, because plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia ligament, most doctors will prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) as a first treatment to reduce inflammation in the ligament.

While these drugs may ease the pain, they do not treat the cause of the inflammation.

Physical therapists often recommend stretching exercises for the Achilles tendon and night splints that can stretch the calf and the arch of the foot.

These treatments also relieve pain temporarily, but seldom treat the cause of the inflammation.

Steroid injections risk weakening the plantar fascia ligament, and surgery has risks and complications.

The best, first line treatment for plantar fasciitis is neuromuscular massage to loosen tight calf muscles that put strain on the plantar fasciia. This treatment has very little risk, and huge rewards as it often stops the pain for good.

Don’t live with pain in your feet. Give us a call and come in.

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Symptoms that Are Not Plantar Fasciitis

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If you are having foot pain at night, the cause is most likely not plantar fasciitis, but rather arthritis or tarsal tunnel syndrome, where the nerves running through the tarsal tunnel are entrapped.

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Symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis

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Most people with plantar fasciitis experience pain when taking their first steps after being still for a long time, such as first thing in the morning, or after sitting for extended periods.

The pain and stiffness tends to lessen after a few steps.

The pain tends to be the most intense when climbing stairs after standing for a long time.
Some people describe the pain as a sharp pain in the heel, while others describe it as a burning pain or an ache extending outward from the heel.

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Causes of Plantar Fasciitis

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The people most likely to get plantar fasciitis are those who:
* are on their feet a lot (athletes, soldiers, store clerks)
* have high arches
* have excessive pronation (the feet roll inward when you walk)
* stand or run on hard surfaces for long periods of time (triathletes, chefs, store clerks)
* are overweight
* wear shoes that do not fit well or are worn out
* have tight Achilles tendons or calf muscles (the most common cause)

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Plantar Fasciitis Myths

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Plantar fasciitis is not caused by heel spurs. A heel spur is a small bone growth on the calcaneus (heel).

Only one out of every 10 people will ever have a heel spur, and only one out of 20 of those people will feel heel pain because of it.

Plantar fasciitis has many causes, but the most common–tightness in the calf muscles–can be treated by neuromuscular massage.

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What Can Neuromuscular Massage Treat?

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Excess tension in muscles causing pain.

Restricted blood flow which delays healing.

Restricted range of motion in the joints limiting activity.

Compression of structures upon nerves causing sharp pain.

Postural distortion caused by overuse of muscles on one side, and underuse on the other.

Referred pain where trigger points of high electrical activity sends pain to other areas of the body.
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The Difficulty with Treating Recurring Headaches

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The biggest problem with treating ongoing headaches is getting a proper diagnosis.
There are more than 300 recognized causes for headaches, and just over half of the people who suffer severe headaches are properly diagnosed.

Many sinus headaches are really migraine headaches with underlying muscular causes that can treated with neuromuscular massage.

Some tension headaches are so severe that they’re misdiagnosed as migraines. Using migraine medicine won’t treat the underlying cause of these headaches, but neuromuscular massage will.

Many adults suffer from stress headaches that are the result of muscles in the back of the neck and scalp tightening which can be relieved by neuromuscular massage.

It is important to get a proper diagnosis for severe headaches to rule out any possibility of tumor or other life-threatening condition, but before you resort to a new regimen of drug therapies, consider seeing a neuromuscular massage therapist first.

If You’re Getting Physical Therapy, You Should Also Get Neuromuscular Massage

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If you’ve been injured, or have disabling pain in your lower back or elsewhere, or joints from arthritis, neuromuscular massage can help restore felxibility to the tissues, build strength in injured tissues, help your balance and coordination, and extend range of motion.

Physical therapy and neuromuscular massage are good complementary therapies.