BACK PAIN CLINIC
Most online testimonials, reviews, and stories are full of anecdotes about feeling refreshed and healthier after receiving a massage. You may find your experience to be quite different. You may feel back pain and soreness after a massage. You may even feel sick. Is there something wrong with you? No, absolutely not. It doesn’t necessarily mean you received a bad massage, either. So, why do you feel sore after a massage? Here are some reasons for post-massage pain and tips for preventing and treating it.
Don’t Call Your Massage Therapist Just Yet
If you’re feeling bad after a massage, there’s no need to freak out and make a new appointment with your massage therapist. You also don’t need to search for a new therapist, since it may not have been a bad massage. You may simply not be used to the intensity of the massage.
Getting a massage is just like working out. In order to relieve tension in the back and shoulders, the muscles need to be worked out. Sometimes this can be too intense for your muscles, which are not used to the stress. This leads to soreness the next day.
Why Do My Muscles Hurt?
There are also other reasons you might feel pain after a massage. These include:
- Neurological sensitivity: This is when your central nervous system receives more input than it can handle. Pain may indicate that you are sensitive to so much information and sensation.
- External stressors: You may be dealing with mental, emotional, spiritual, psychological, or physical stress, other than the issue that you are trying to resolve with the massage. Stress has very real physical effects on the body, so the extra stress may be simply too much for the massage to relieve.
- Inflammation: If you have an existing injury, an intense massage, such as a deep tissue massage, could irritate it. This inflammation causes your soreness and could lead to an infection, which makes you feel sick.
Prevention of Next-Day Soreness
Taking it easy and taking care of yourself can help you prevent soreness after a massage by helping you avoid unnecessary stress. A chiropractor can also help you prevent and deal with soreness and other ill effects. Dr. Rick Still at Family Chiropractic Care in Longview, Washington, can treat all kinds of back pain, including the soreness that results from getting a massage. We also offer massage therapy, so you can know you’re getting a quality massage the first time around. We can teach you corrective exercises to aid physical therapy, rehabilitation, and various types of injuries and pain. Contact Family Chiropractic Care today for your massage therapy needs.