Massage - Its Benefits and Limitations

As a massage therapist 90% of my attention is taken up by reducing the tone of the muscles defined by Janda in his uppercross syndrome. These muscles are the upper Trapezius, Levator Scapulae, occipital extensors and Scalenes. It seems to me that there is a generalised muscle imbalance with the vast majority of the population. Why are these particular groups of muscles prone to tightness? Great question. Theories differ; some suggest that it the passage of our airway that define our neck to protrude more, our shoulders to hunch up more in order to maximise the amount of oxygen we take in. Another theory suggests that the muscle fibres of those hyper tense muscles are predominantly Type I fibres and are of a more tonic function then their antagonists such as the lower and middle Trapezius which constitute relatively more Type II muscle fibres and a more phasic function. After spending a full hour battering away at the calcified and osteophytic tendon attachments of the Levator Scapula it is sometimes possible to release the scapula from its hunched up position. The client goes home a totally new person. Of cause all of this is temporary, which is the problem of massage- it is a short-term solution. If you really want to solve the problem, the client must regularly activate those inhibited antagonist muscles such as the middle/lower Trapezius and Latissimus Dorsi through exercise or active postural change. The client is very welcome to come back every week for another bruising but it is ultimately more satisfactory if the client takes it upon themselves the responsibility of maintaining their body’s wellbeing. At Massage Muswell Hill we try our best to teach the client postural changes they can use in their day-to-day life. The client can also book an independent session whereby each muscle group is tested and muscle activation is used to reinforce those muscles that may be inhibited by overactive synergists. All these approaches offer the best chance of the client not having to come back each week for their muscles to be pounded back into their proper position and would also free up my available appointments for more cerebral cases. In conclusion the epidemiological benefits of having a population that is suffering from the same hyper tense muscles is that the solution can be a crude panacea. Simple exercises, postural change and a better body awareness are the way to reduce these muscle imbalances. And luckily these changes are a one fits all approach. My next article will focus on how these changes to posture are made.