Is Massage Good for Arthritis?
Commonly you can say Arthritis is a disease-causing painful inflammation and stiffness of the joints. Swelling at the affected areas, and decrease your normal motion are the two most visible symptoms of arthritis. The symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe; they might come and go but may get worse over time. As a result, the chronic pain will take you to stage where it make difficult for you to walk or climb stairs. Keeping this in mind you should not ignore it and go for treatment as early as possible.
There are many ways to fight against this painful experience, going for meditation, taking painkillers and more so. Among them, MASSAGE is one of the fine options. This not only helps you to get relief from pain but also works to reduce the problem to the lowest level. Let’s see if this claim is true or not.
What is the Common Idea of Massage?
Generally, massage means manipulation of the body’s skin muscles and connecting tissues, using hand or also with some kinds of mechanical tools applied on your body surface. You may take massage from an expert or a massage therapist. Even, you may massage all but yourself using your hands or massage tools.
How Massage Works
Experts say that massage often works significantly to reduce pain and stiffness, easing anxiety, improve joint movements and provide more restful sleep. Massage is nothing but some types of the pressure applying on your body surface. The moderate pressure stimulates the pressure receptors under your skin that carries the signal to the brain to alleviate pain and release stress-reducing neurochemicals like serotonin.
Massage and Arthritis
Some research and recent studies reveal that regular use of massage therapy on muscles and joints led to improvements in pain, stiffness, the range of motions, hand grip strength and overall functions of joints. But as we know that, arthritis can occur at the joints of anywhere in your body, so it needs different types of massage for the different location. Here they are-
Swedish Massage
Swedish massage is the most common type of massage which involves long and fluid stroking of muscles and tissues to reduce soreness and stiffness in the muscles and joints. And also improves blood circulation to control anxiety.
This type of massage includes five different strokes. Like- effleurage (Sliding hands across the skin), petrissage (Kneading of muscles), tapotement (Rhythmic tapping of fingers against skin), friction (moving across fibres) and vibration (Shaking of the body). According to the therapists, all these are proven good for arthritis problem at various points of your body.
Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage is adapted to control the severe pain in the muscles and connective tissues.
This can work on both top and deep layers of muscles when you require intense massage and your therapist needs pressure for that reason.
Hot Stone Massage
Hot stone massage is a unique massage therapy where hot stones are placed on your back as you lie on your stomach. The hot stones provide soothing heat to the muscles and tissues, releasing tensions and promoting relaxations.
Identically, sometimes massagers knead your muscles by hands to provide the same effect what you get from the hot stones.
Ayurvedic Massage
Ayurveda is the ancient and traditional Indian health philosophy that blends yoga, massage, meditation, and herbs.
Some Ayurvedic massage techniques using various aromatic oils can do a wonderful job to heal your various pains including joint pains effectively.
Thai Massage
Thai massage is a combination of yoga and massage. Here you need to place yourself in yoga-like position before taking a massage.
This is an effective way to release tensions from your muscles and joints to provide flexibility.
Myofascial Release
This is a type of massage to relieve pain from the connective tissues that surround muscles, blood vessels and nerves.
During this massage therapists use to roll your skin back and forth on the back, legs and other areas of your body, especially the joints to provide you much-needed comfort.
Reflexology
Reflexology is a technique of massage based on a belief that pressure on a particular area of your hands and feet may spur healing to the other parts of the body.
This not only heals pains but also works to reduce stress and anxiety.
Shiatsu
Shiatsu is a Japanese massage technique widely followed in the USA. Here therapists use to apply pressure at a particular point of your body with his or her fingers and palms in a continuous rhythm.
This helps you to get relief from the joint pains, especially from the neck areas. Apart from that, Shiatsu restores the health energy in the body to give you the healing touch from any kinds of pain.
Anma
Anma is another Japanese massage technique which works as kneading muscles and soft tissues. This kind of massage is based on an idea that an energy flow in the boy can create a blockage which may cause illness and pain. It is believed that Anma improves the natural ability of your body to heal itself from any kind of pain by massaging the muscles and tissues.
Trigger Point Massage
Trigger Point Massage is a kind of massage that works on a specific point of your body by applying pressure or vibration.
Trigger points are the points in the muscles where knots may form, and this pinpoint pressure is designed to relax those knots and ease pains.
Self Massage
Every time you cannot expect a therapist at your doorstep to give you the much-needed massage. So you have to take charge of yourself sometimes to get relief from pain. You can consider it as self-massage. Self-massage is kneading your own sore joints, muscles using your hands or massage tools. Especially a device can provide you best massaging experience offering heat and vibration. Mostly, the self-massaging find difficult to work at hard to reach areas, especially at the back. But it works well for sore feet, knees, calves, hands, neck or arms.
Massage is not medicine. In fact, the medicines are yet to find which can cure arthritis. Those available are unable to give the desired result except a relief for some days. But taking regular massage provides you wonderful experience, at first it does not increase your pain or anxiety and secondly tries to keep your muscles and joints in the right order so that no pain could occur further is it arthritis or something else no matter.
