Massage therapy continues to be a proven way to improve many types of neck and shoulder pain, and is often one of the first ways people explore when they experience neck pain or discomfort.
Believe it or not massage and your massage therapist can help get rid of neck pain. In fact, nearly 1 of 5 sessions of massage are booked in order to resolve neck and neck pain symptoms.
There are several ways that massage can help, but the most common four ways that massage can help any particular variety of neck pain are as follows:
1. Massage for Stiff Neck
While a painful or stiff neck can be annoying it usually isn’t a cause for panic. If the stiffness gets more extreme, however, it can lead to a sensation of the neck being “frozen” in place, limiting movement and significantly affecting your daily activities and quality of life.
Fortunately, massage is one of the alternative medical approaches for treating neck stiffness. Massage has proven to improve both neck mobility and reduce the neck pain you may be feeling.
2. Massage for pinched nerves in the neck
A pinched nerve is typically caused by pressure or blockage placed on the nerve by either joints, additional muscles, or other possible structures penetrating the area. Muscle tension and inflammation may be the cause of this pressure. Impingement in either the nerves – located in the shoulder – or disc herniation in the neck and area can both lead to nerve pain in both the neck and shoulder even leading down into the lower arm or hand.
Massage therapy can be a great choice for relieving that inflammation or releasing the pressure of the impingement, and thus reducing nerve pain and pressure.
3. Massage for pinched nerve in the shoulder
Massage has a positive effect in reducing chronic shoulder pain as well.
Issues from nerves in the shoulder area – typically coming from the large nerve bundle called the brachial plexus – can often translate as pain in the neck too, leading you to believe that the neck is the origin of the pain but in fact the impingement is further down the chain. A massage therapist will be able to help you track down the source of the pain so that you can find relief, whether it’s coming from the neck or the shoulder.
4. Swedish massage for neck pain
Swedish massage works to lengthen and relax muscles and tissues, making it a great choice for those suffering from neck and/or shoulder pain and shows improvement for both neck pain patients receiving regular massage. Patients receiving Swedish massages were able to reduce any previous pain medications more than participants who did not receive massage.
It doesn’t have to be such a pain in the neck, call us to book today!
-Shannon Lapointe, RMT