Therapeutic massage can relieve shoulder pain

Kathy Winchell By Kathy Winchell
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on December 15, 2009 at 9:00 AM

QUESTION: Sitting at a desk all day at work, I consistently have neck and shoulder pain. How can issue-specific therapeutic massage help me?

ANSWER, from John Earl, certified massage therapist for the Genesys Athletic Club:  Issue-specific therapeutic massage can help you by targeting muscles that directly and indirectly are involved in your pain.

Not all massages are the same. Some are designed to relax the mind and pamper the body, while others are designed to resolve physical issues that cause pain. Genesys Athletic Club offers both.

Your body is a series of opposing tensions, and your muscles constantly are working with each other and against each other to facilitate movement and posture. Sitting at a desk all day, for example, contributes to weakness and bad posture. Even the position of your computer monitor and your mousepad can contribute to this problem. Over time, bad posture causes some muscles to become tense as they struggle to hold the body in position.
With issue-specific massage, communication between the massage therapist and the client is crucial; before the massage begins, a brief consultation takes place so the therapist can begin to determine possible causes of pain and tension in order to formulate a plan that will work for the client. This process continues throughout the massage.

In an issue-specific massage, the therapist will massage tense muscles to relieve the pain caused by tension, and then massage and stretch the opposing muscles to help reduce the pull that contributes to the tension and pain.

This type of massage can benefit everyone — from office workers to people who conduct repetitive movements in their job to athletes.

John Earl

Earl, John_color_2009.jpgJohn Earl
is a certified massage therapist for the Genesys Athletic Club. To learn more about issue-specific massage and how it can help you, call Genesys Athletic Club at 810.606.7300.