Clinic News

One of the most common reasons people seek alternative healthcare is for headaches. It is amazing how many people suffer from headaches on a regular basis. Individuals often become frustrated with popping pills and not finding relief. Massage therapy can be extremely effective for a sufferer of regular headaches.

Muscle tension is one of the most common reasons people get headaches. Every muscle in the body can cause bizarre-like pain to move to a different area of the body; this is called referral pain. Different muscles in the neck and back of the head can cause pain to move up into the head causing a muscle tension headache. For example, certain muscles in the back of the head can cause a ‘head band’ like pain wrapping around the forehead. Other muscles in the neck can cause a headache to start up behind the eye or on the side of the head. Each muscle has its own typical pattern when it’s too tight. When an individual works a job where they are always in the same position, certain muscles involved in maintaining that posture become tight. After a while, those tight muscles can create tension headaches.

Massage Therapy helps by relaxing those muscles. Treatments specifically for headaches are usually done in thirty minute appointments. In the beginning, it is common for individuals to have to see a massage therapist once a week and, as the headaches ease slowly, following treatments are spread further and further apart as the client’s health improves. It is important for the clients to maintain what massage does for the muscles through stretching on a regular basis. Stretching the neck muscles is extremely important because most individuals will work long hours in the same position and, on its own, massage therapy probably cannot prevent headaches. Home care becomes essential along with what the massage therapist does in order to have any effect on these headaches that people suffer. Consequently, stretching exercises are given after the first appointment so that treatment can be beneficial from the very beginning. If you suffer from headaches, book a massage therapy treatment today.

Summer is officially over and the summer heat has finally left Southern Ontario. With the change of seasons comes the end of some sports and the beginning of others. In the spirit of the Blue Jay’s winning the AL East title this season, baseball and typical injuries involving the sport will be our focus.

As with every sport, repetition of certain movements can cause specific injuries to occur. With baseball, shoulder and elbow injuries are most common due to the constant throwing motion. Most of the elbow injuries are due to tendinitis which is the inflammation of one of the tendons that attaches just above the elbow joint. Tendonitis can also affect the shoulder joint because of pitching or throwing, and may include the tendons of the rotator cuff muscles (Infraspinatus, Teres major and minor, Subscapularis, and Supraspinatus). The long head of biceps can also be affected in this sport, also turning into tendonitis. This is why pitching in baseball is so hard on the player’s shoulder and elbow. The extreme flexibility that a pitcher has in their forearm when throwing causes the elbow to be put in a position where injury is quite common; couple that with the repetitive rotation in the shoulder and injury for every position involving throwing can occur at any time.

Hamstrings are also muscles that are quite commonly injured in baseball. Many players pull their hamstrings because of how the sport is played. Individuals go up to bat after sitting for a long period of time on the bench; their legs muscles are cold from inactivity and without warming up properly, they hit and then sprint full out to run bases as fast as they can. Cold muscles will not perform well and the sudden demand that the players put on their legs can cause muscle strains to occur.

It is important as an athlete to seek out treatment on a regular basis. Regular massages help prevent injuries from occurring. Warming up the body properly before playing any sport will also help prevent tendonitis. When receiving massage therapy, specifically ask your therapist to treat areas that are overworked so that your muscles can find relief from the activities that you ask them to do every day. Regular massage therapy may help make the difference between being able to play long term or suffering an injury. Book a massage today!