VIEWING DEEPER WITH DEEP TISSUE

LOWER
B Y: C ARYL J. S APEPE

The pain you feel today is the strength you will feel tomorrow.

Have you ever had a painful headache, muscle dysfunction, or a tooth cavity that made
you cry and seek for a specialist? Basically, all she/ he does is give pain relievers and
muscle relaxants; remember that these stuffs wont treat the root cause of the pain but
the pain symptoms.
Experiencing chronic muscle tension or injury means that there are bands of connective
tissue. These tissues, also known as adhesions, block circulation processes in the body
(like blood, oxygen and waste product circulation), causing discomfort and swelling, and
controlling your range of movement.
But worry no more. When talking about adhesions, Deep tissue massage would do the
trick on relieving pain and restoring your normal range of movement. However, the
massage can be quite intense and painful, just like what you have experienced at times
of your stressful days . As a Filipino saying goes this way, Mata sa mata; pangil sa
pangil. (An eye for an eye; a fang for a fang.)
The said massage is usually helpful for athletes who got a sports injury or a reckless
driver who is recovering from a car accident. And just to add more pressure on
particular areas of your body, your therapist may use deep finger/thumb, elbows or
knuckle. Want to know why? So, heres the benefits.

1. To Dismiss Stress

Probably, if you cannot withstand the everyday stresses in life, you may feel depressed.
And this includes lack of sleep that contributes to the damage of your mental and
physical health. Remember that massage has the ability to help the mind and body
relax.

2. To Offer Easier Movement

When you hear the word scar, you might be thinking of it as a result from a visible cut.
But, it also occur deeper in the body when a particular area is injured and healed. With
this massage, it can be resolved, promoting greater range of motion.

3. To Relieve Pain

Meanwhile, a research article published in an April 2014 issue of Manual

Therapy, found that deep tissue massage along with self-stretching exercises, reduces
pain.

4. To Lower Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

On the other hand, 2008 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,
published a study that involved 263 participants who were experiencing muscle strain.
After a 45 to 60-minute deep tissue massage, everyones heart rate and blood pressure
were evaluated for further contrast and comparison with the previous results. The final
result showed lower systolic and diastolic pressure, as well as heart rates around 10
beats less per minute.