massage therapy to help with healing

In a word…. YES! In my experience and many others, the answer is a resounding yes, to the question will massage therapy help tendinitis issues.

What is tendonitis?

Firstly, let’s go over what the heck tendinitis is in the first place.  Tendinitis is inflammation or irritation of a tendon.  Tendons are thick fibrous cords of tissue that attach muscle to bone.  Consequently, this inflammation can then cause pain, tenderness, stiffness, weakness, numbness, and/or tingling.

While tendinitis can occur in any of your tendons, it’s most common around your shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and heels. Also, the common names for some types of tendinitis are tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, swimmer’s shoulder, and jumper’s knee.

  As you can see, they get these names based on the activity that frequently use specific muscles.  You can surely have “golfer’s elbow” if you’ve never played golf in your life. What golfer’s elbow refers to is actually is pain or other symptoms of inflammation felt on the inner side of your elbow.  This pain can sometimes extend down the inner side of your forearm. It usually worsens with specific movements.

For this reason, it is usually easy to figure out which activities irritate it.  Repetitive motions, awkwardly help positions, frequently reaching overhead, vibrations, and forceful exertion throughout your day can cause inflammation.

When you first notice pain and inflammation, it is recommended by health professionals to use the R.I.C.E. method.

R=Rest. Give the muscles in the area rest by reduce the amount of work the muscle has to do.  If dealing with golfer’s elbow, you could try using the opposite arm for certain tasks.

I=Ice. Apply an ice pack with a barrier between your skin and the ice to prevent frostbite. Keep ice on for 5-10 minutes for a 1-2 times per hour for the first 3 days.  This is considered the acute phase.

A Note about Ice:

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the use of ice in acute injuries. It is said that there is not enough proof that ice will help the injury and that it may even keep you from healing. I’ve found that ice is helpful in small doses for reducing pain. If it does not seem to give you any relief to use ice then skip this step completely.

C=Compression.  Compression means pressing it together.  To accomplish this, you can use a standard ace bandage or some of the fancier sleeves and supports on the area of pain.  Be sure it isn’t too tight and cutting off circulation.

E=Elevation.  This means to lift the area of pain so it is above your heart.

Ultimately, it is most beneficial way to do this is to combine these methods.  For example, you can place a compression sleeve on, elevate it above your heart, and ice it, while resting it on a pillow.

I often use these for my own massage therapy to help tendinitis, because in my line of work, this is something I have to care for on myself as well.

One of the best ways to help assist the healing process is to get massage therapy to help tendinitis.

After the 3-day acute phase, you can seek out a professional licensed massage therapist or do self-massage.

There are plenty of resources online for specific issues.  Touch therapy is extremely helpful for tendinitis.  I suggest, without delay, looking at the anatomy of the body part you want to work on.  Be sure you are not causing damage.  To do this, always let up pressure if you feel too much pain or any type of nerve irritation like numbness or tingling.

To sum up, if your issue is somewhere that is difficult to massage or you’ve tried to work on it yourself and it is still causing an issue, seek professional massage therapist help for tendinitis.

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For over a decade, Gina has been a practicing Licensed Massage Therapist in Florida. Over the years she has added personal trainer, yoga teacher, and certified continuing education to her resume. She specializes in senior care, mobility, post injury care. Above all, sharing knowledge is her passion.

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