Reaping the Benefits of Massage

If you have pain and stiffness in your shoulder that makes it difficult to raise your arm over your head, you might have frozen shoulder. Frozen shoulder is a condition where the tissues around your shoulder joint tighten up and limit movement. The condition has various causes and it can take a year or two for it to clear up. Massage therapy can help manage the pain of frozen shoulder and increase your range of motion while you're waiting on your shoulder to heal. Here's how getting regular massages can help:

Massages Provide Pain Relief

Frozen shoulder has three stages. The first stage is when you experience pain when you move your shoulder. The pain gradually gets worse and it causes you to limit your shoulder movement. The second stage is when the pain leaves but the stiffness remains, which makes it difficult to perform tasks where you need to raise your arm above your head. The final stage is called the thawing stage because that is when the stiffness leaves and you regain full use of your shoulder joint. Massage can help in each stage of this condition, but it is especially helpful for dealing with pain.

Swedish massage techniques use gentle strokes that release tension from your muscles so they relax and release pain. Trigger point massage works out painful knots and can offer a noticeable reduction in pain right away although you'll probably need to have a series of massage treatments for ongoing pain relief. Hot stones or heat pads can be used along with massage to further relax muscles and increase blood flow to your shoulder joint to speed healing.

Massage Treatments Improve Range Of Motion

Massage helps with range of motion in two ways: For one, when you feel less pain, you're able to move your shoulder joint more freely. For another, the massage techniques such as trigger point massage helps to break up adhesions so there is less scar tissue to limit movement. The increased blood flow from a massage can help warm up your muscles and tissues so they are less stiff. As you enter the thawing phase of frozen shoulder, regular massages could help return your shoulder to its full range of motion quicker so you regain use of your arm and shoulder sooner.

Frozen shoulder is an annoying condition that comes on and leaves of its own accord. You can do things to manage the condition such as having massage treatments, using heat or ice for pain, and doing range of motion exercises, but the condition may linger for many months. Massage treatments may speed your healing, improve pain, and make the time you spend dealing with your frozen shoulder more tolerable.

Contact a company like Massage Bliss for more information and assistance.