Why does Hemel Massage not offer a back massage as a stand-alone treatment?
Sometimes new clients ask us for ‘just a back massage’. They are in need of a treatment because they have pain, they have aching or tight back, neck and shoulders but they don’t see the need for a whole one hour treatment. Perhaps they haven’t got the time or don’t want to pay the price for a one hour treatment. Many places offer a back, neck and shoulder massage in a shorter timeslot, or just a back massage, but not Hemel Massage, and for good reason.
A simple back massage is not an optimised treatment for back pain.
Whilst there are some cases where a back massage will suffice (but we would never do this for a new client) its not usually our recommended way to approach therapeutic massage. In order to get the maximum benefit from your treatment, we will always recommend a one hour massage which won’t be totally focussed on your back.
Here’s why:
Your body is all connected together by your bones, but also connecting us together is soft tissue. Soft tissue makes up your skin, muscles, ligaments, tendons and fascia. These are extremely important as when your soft tissue structures become out of balance, tight or injured, they can impact your body and cause aches, pains, stresses, injuries and immobility.
If you think about your back as a whole, you will realise that your lower back, often where we experience aches and pains, actually comprises of the top of your legs, and your gluteal (buttock) muscles.
The muscles at the side of your back are actually your abdominal muscles.
Therefore, if your legs are tight from exercise or from having a sedentary job where you are sitting for long periods, this can ‘pull down’ on your lower back or hip/pelvis area making the back muscles feel tight and achey.
Tight hamstring muscles are one of the top causes of back pain that we see here at Hemel Massage. The hamstring muscles run through the back of each thigh from the hip down to the back of the knee. It is clear, therefore, if these are tight, they will impact your back in some way.
Likewise, if your Iliotibial band (ITB) which runs along the outside of your thigh from the top of your pelvis to the top of your tibia (calf bone) becomes tight, it can cause sciatica, buttock pain, lower back pain and knee pain.
Weak abdominal muscles cause hip flexor muscles to tighten (these are at the front of your pelvis) and can cause the curve of your back to increase which in turn upsets the whole balance of your body.
Your body is all connected, the cause of the pain may not be where you feel it!
Massage therapy relaxes muscle fibres and works on the other soft tissue structures in the body. However a lot of the cause of the pain isn’t actually where the symptoms of the pain are. For example, with back pain associated with tight leg muscles, it is imperative that these muscles are worked on, often before the actual back muscles are treated.
If we can relax, stretch and loosen the tissues around the area of pain, then that will ease the tension and imbalance, and reduce the pain.
So don’t be surprised if you come to Hemel Massage with back pain and we massage your legs as well. It’s because it’s the best thing for your pain!
Read more about the types of massage we do offer. To book a treatment with Hemel Massage, simply choose a 60 minute appointment on the booking system and we’ll make sure you get just what your body needs with a tailor made treatment for relaxation, stress, pain or wellbeing.
