Why your Physiotherapist Will Want To Include Massage In Your Treatment Plan
Physiotherapy, alongside other therapies, can help to relieve pain, treat a condition or injury and prevent related problems in the future. For the best results, therapists will use a number of therapies, including massage.
What role, then, will massage play in your physiotherapy treatment plan?
1. Pain Management
You may register some pain during your physiotherapy sessions and more so during the early sessions. There is just no way to work around it, and you have to endure and work through this pain.
Massage therapy has the benefit of increasing your pain threshold and altering the level at which you perceive pain. With time, you will be attending your sessions without worrying too much about any pain. It's also great for alleviating inflammation in the joints.
2. Stress And Anxiety Relief
A calm mind will go a long way into ensuring that you get the most out of your physiotherapy sessions. A mind-block brought on by stress and anxiety may very well be the very thing that stands between you and a full recovery.
That said, a good rub down can help to relax your mind and ready you for other activities, such as exercise. You can also explore other options to help calm your mind.
3. Relaxing The Body
Massage relaxes not just the mind, but it also relieves muscle tension to relax the body. Manual manipulations of the muscles will release stiffness and improve their elasticity. This relaxation helps in speeding up the repair and recovery of damaged tissue. It also makes the body more flexible and helps the body to achieve a range of motion, which is an integral part of the rehabilitation goal of physiotherapy.
4. Improved Circulation
Massage stimulates both lymph and blood flow, both of which will help you achieve better and faster results from your physiotherapy. Improved blood circulation ensures that your muscle tissues receive the oxygen and nutrients they need to heal properly and more speedily. Similarly, improved lymph flow will help to remove toxins from your system that would otherwise only make your muscles and other body tissues unhealthy.
Massage may or may not be a part of your physiotherapy treatment plan. If it is, how often you will require the massage will also depend on several factors. You will get to enjoy a relaxed body and mind, pain relief and better circulation, all of which will help you with your recovery journey. Speak to a physiotherapy professional for more information.
