Common Massage Questions - Coach Cyndee, LMT

In my last blog post I talked about question I get on a regular basis regarding personal training and weight loss.  I am also a Licensed Massage Therapist and I get lots of questions regarding massage so here are a few common questions I get: 

• What can I do for my lower back pain?  This is common because a lot people have nagging lower back pain that doesn't really go away. Often times people move a certain way and tweak their back and cause sever pain.  Some times clients have had diagnostic tests to determine if there is any serious problems.  In the case of bulging disks or degeneration of the disk, I can't fix that but I can provide relief from tight muscles around the area.  I typically tell people with this problem to make sure everything else around the area is strong and flexible.  If you work on strengthening your body and keeping it flexible it's likely to help the problem and help you manage your pain.  So you can do the strengthening and stretching on your own and as a massage therapist I can also help you manage the pain with regular massages.  The key is to stay on a schedule and don't just come in for massage when you're in a lot of pain.   If you don't have an underlying condition and suddenly have back pain it's likely you've pulled or strained a muscle.  If things are tight and weak then even the smallest movement can sometimes trigger this and many times this is  what I see.  A client will tell me they bent over to pick up something as small as a pen and then suddenly they were in a lot of pain.  This is not from that specific action (picking up the pen).  This is from months of not listening to signs from your body that it needs some work.  Many things have probably led up to this particular movement triggering your pain.  When someone has this type of pain I don't like to do massage until the serious pain has settled down and I know there is no major injury.  Usually with my schedule I can't get people in right away anyway but if someone is suddenly in a lot of pain I don't want to work on them until after a few days or a week goes by and the pain has settled down.    Once that happens I can access the situation better and see how they are moving and figure out what the problem is.  If the pain doesn't seem to be getting better in a a week or so I always suggest going to see a doctor.  This problem usually occurs because people have neglected their body for a period of time.  They probably had small signs that things were tight and not moving right but they didn't listen to their body.  I always suggest regular massages on a specific schedule to prevent this.  This person is probably not doing specific strengthening, stretching and self care on a regular basis.  I suggest getting regular massages, doing regular strength workouts, and doing regular stretching  to help prevent this.  If something is acute and happens suddenly then ice is usually the best thing to use.

•  What is the best pain relief cream I can use?  This is really individual because everyone finds
  
  one they really like.  I have a few that I have found to work better for me and most of my clients really like.  Most of you know I use and sell the doTERRA products.  Obviously I wouldn't use them or recommend them if I didn't think they were the best!  They have a product called Deep Blue which is really great.  The rub is good but the pure oil is amazing and you just need to use a little bit of it for it to work great for pain relief.  The unique and effective ingredient in the Deep Blue is an oil called Blue Tansy.  I also really like the CBD clinic level 5 pain relief ointment.  This product is really great and you can really feel the heat from the menthol.  Both the Deep Blue and CBD Clinic products I sell at the salon that I do massage at, Jouvence.  I also like a product called Magic Stuff H.  I found this product at a small race I did in Utah, which is where this product is made.  I like this so much that I tried to make it myself using all the same essential oils that they use.  My batch turned out pretty good but it was a lot of work to make the product because it uses so many oils.  Here is a link to their site:  Magic Stuff

• What can I do about my leg cramps at night? This is tough because most times there is something going on that is not really massage related and is more medical related.  I typically ask if they've talked to their doctor about it and always tell them to discuss anything they do
  
  with their doctor.  I talk about hydration which is important in feeling good in general and may or may not be part of the leg cramp problem.  Leg cramps can be caused by so many different things its hard to give someone a quick answer.  If the client is older I usually talk about medications that can deplete some of the minerals and possibly cause this.  I tell them to talk to their doctor about supplementing with a multi-mineral.  As an athlete I've always taken Mezotrace multi-mineral supplements.  It provides minerals and trace minerals that could be lost through heavy sweating.  If people are getting cramps at night I'll tell them to take their mineral supplements in the evening.  If it's an athlete that is getting cramps it could be overuse of a muscle or dehydration or a combination of both.   Then there is some people that have really tight calves and feet and I will usually tell these people they need to work on loosening the calves and feet.  You can do this with foam rolling and stretching.  I use a product on my calves and feet called Rock Floss that helps to not only loosen up the tight tissue but stretch as well.  There is also a few essential oils and creams that will help relax the legs.  Cryoderm is a great cream for restless legs and leg cramps.   It contains dead sea salt, msm, magnesium and arnica as some of the key ingredients. Cypress is an essential oil that helps with leg cramps and doTERRA makes a great oil blend that has Cypress as the main ingredient and it's called Aromatouch.
• Should I stretch more or at all?  Most people think the answer to everything is stretching more.  Stretching is good but it's not always the answer for sore or tight muscles.  A lot of times I perform some stretching in my massages.  It is important to have a good balance between being
  
  strong and flexible.  If you see yoga people they are probably too flexible and not very strong and bodybuilders or weight lifters are typically pretty strong but not flexible at all.  The best thing is to be a little of both.  However stretching is not always going to fix everything.  Thats why as I do massage I work the tissue and then I will usually stretch if I feel it is needed.  You should do static stretches warmed up so after a workout is best for stretches you intend to hold for 30-60 seconds.  The active stretches are best performed as the warm up before an exercise and these stretches are moving stretches.  If you want to do some stretches but have not worked out then I would suggest doing some foam rolling before stretching.  This will get the tissue warmed up work out some of the tightness before the stretches.  Stretching is good and I think it  is important but its not the answer to everything.  

• I have a race should I get a massage right before it?  I work on a lot of athletes that compete in running or triathlon events.  When I am preparing for a race I personally get massages every other week in my heavy weeks of training leading up to the race.  I get 90 minutes or 2 hours because I want the therapist to have time to incorporate stretching and work everything without rushing. Leading up to the event (the week of) I will get a massage but have my therapist use a little less pressure  than normal because I don't want to have any soreness from the massage.  I will usually try and schedule it about 3 days before the race.  If its a very big event like and Ironman or Ultra Marathon I have found getting a massage (light) as soon as I can after the event is huge in helping with my recovery.  If you don't ever get massages and you suddenly want to get one before an event I would make sure you tell the therapist you haven't had a massage in a while and that you have the event.  Make sure you communicate with the therapist if the pressure is too much because you don't want to be sore form the massage right  before your race.  

• Does massage flush toxins out of my body?  This is a common myth that people believe and people think they need to drink lots of water after a massage to flush out the toxins.  There is no proof of this but I will rarely argue with someone who is going to drink more water because most people don't drink enough on a regular basis anyway.  The body is amazing and has organs that detoxify it and remove toxins.... like the liver and kidneys.  So there is no proof that massage removes toxins or that you need to drink a ton of water after a massage.  I tell people to always drink a lot of water and massage IS proven to increase circulation in the body.  

I hope this is helpful!

Coach Cyndee