Jennifer

Exercise is an important aspect that we should all be doing to stay healthy. Many people take up running as an inexpensive way of staying in shape. You might have signed up for a ‘Couch to 5K’ race and are motivated to hit the pavement. Little did you know that your lower legs would stop your progress at 3KM every single run. You try to push through the pain, but your legs feel like they are burning and numbness starts to set into your toes. What happens when the exercise that is supposed to be good for you is causing you pain? Different types of pain with activity can occur due to poor biomechanics, lack of stretching, or because of a muscle imbalance. Pain in the lower leg, predominately the shin area, could indicate the beginnings of compartment syndrome.

Compartment syndrome usually only bothers you with activity and tends to act up at the same time or distance into that activity on each occasion. The increased blood flow to muscles that occurs with exercise increases the size of the muscles, therefore also increasing the pressure. The compartment of the front of the leg, where the affected muscles are located tends not to be large enough for the swollen muscles which can cause pain.

Massage Therapy can help! Massage can help lengthen the muscles being affected and reduce the areas of muscle thickening. Massage can also help stretch the layer of ‘fascia’ (the layer surrounding the muscles) which can help reduce compression on the soft tissues of the compartment. Massage along with proper stretching and warming up the muscles prior to exercise can all help with the healing process. If you are having leg pain, Book a massage today!

There are many muscles that make up the neck and help to hold your head up from the moment you get up in the morning until you lay back down at the end of the day. These muscles can often be overworked and can also cause headaches. The suboccipital muscles are little muscles that attach from your first few vertebrae of your neck to the back of your head and are used to help stabilize and hold your head up every day.

These muscles can get severely overworked due to poor posture. This posture is often associated with a forward head carriage that can be caused by computer or desk work. When your neck and head are held forward, the suboccipitals are needed to tilt your chin up so that you can read a screen and perform your office work daily. This posture can often cause headaches. These headaches may feel like a band wrapped snugly around your head and you can feel the pain from your temples and forehead to the sides of your head, above your ears, and to the back of your head where your suboccipitals are located.

Stretching is super important to do to help relieve muscle tension and headaches; however, these little muscles are very difficult to stretch properly. Massage therapy is a great way to help relax this area. A therapist is able to target the small muscles in the back of the head to help relieve headaches and neck pain or to prevent them from occurring. Book a massage today!