Your physiotherapist may have given you a range of exercises to help you get over an injury or manage your pain. However, you'll still see them regularly for in-clinic physiotherapy sessions.
In some cases, they may use these sessions to target your pain, discomfort or injury in other ways. For example, they may want to give you a deep tissue massage.
How does this kind of massage therapy work, and how will you feel afterwards?
What Is a Deep Tissue Massage?
Like any massage technique, deep tissue work helps relieve muscle problems. So, for example, it can help relieve pain and tightness. It can work as part of a treatment plan for an injury or to restore mobility.
This is a more intense and physically strenuous massage than the norm, however. Physiotherapists exert more pressure so that they can reach deeper into affected tissues. Rather than just using smooth strokes of the hands, they use their fingers, thumbs, knuckles and even their elbows to target specific areas. They work harder to go deeper.
How Will You Feel After a Deep Tissue Massage?
While you're likely to feel a bit more relaxed, pain-free and mobile after a deep tissue massage, you may also take some after-effects away with you after the session. After all, you've just been through an intense process.
In some cases, you may feel a little discomfort. The areas your physiotherapist focused on may feel a little tender and sore. Even though the massage will have loosened up some areas, others may feel a little tight for a while.
It's not unusual to feel fine on the day of the massage but a little uncomfortable the day after. This is kind of the same as taking exercise — you won't necessarily feel the effects of the massage immediately. Typically, any discomfort you do have shouldn't last more than a day or two.
If you're having an intense session, your physiotherapist may give you some advice on what to do afterwards. It's important to follow this advice, as it will head off potential problems. For example, they may ask you to ice the affected area periodically over the next couple of days. They'll tell you to drink plenty of water to flush toxins and waste products out of your system.
If you're scheduled to have a deep tissue massage, talk to your physiotherapist. They can tell you more about what to expect and how to look after yourself afterwards.
Share18 February 2020
Hello there! Welcome to my blog. I would like to start by telling you a story about something that happened to me many years ago. I was working in Sydney at the time as an investment banker. The hours were long and I would party every weekend to de-stress. I put on a lot of weight and began to have problems sleeping. I didn't pay much attention to the problems, as I thought I was invincible. However, one day I collapsed at work. At the hospital the doctors saved my life. Since then, I have become very interested in health and medical matters.