Therapeutic massage means that the reason behind the massage is to give health benefits. The client and the therapist want to achieve the same goal which is to achieve the structural change in the body and this is through series of the regular massages.
It helps if you take time to understand the reason why the therapeutic massage is an important term when it comes to the massage therapy. Before the masseurs and the masseuses were working together with doctors since they had skills in the tapotement, friction, petrissage and effleurage.
The therapeutic massage wants to help more with health benefits while the other massage types focus more on the relaxation. The example is the Swedish massage which is a superficial massage which improves the blood with lymph circulation and it makes you relax. Even if this is good for your mind and body, it is not meant to shift the underlying structure of your body and this can cause restriction and pain.
Sports massage or deep tissue massage will require the use of the cross fiber and deep pressure friction so that it can release the tissue which is adhered in the spasm and it can become therapeutic at a certain level. However, if you are getting the massage at the resort setting, you may not get to see such therapist once again and this can limit the therapeutic benefits you are getting.
The therapeutic massage is about presenting to the therapist with a certain complain like the spasm in the lower back, tight shoulders or pain in the hips. The therapist will then do the following:
Assessment
He will assess you: this is about taking your history, to ask how long you had been experiencing such pain and if the pain came gradually or sudden. The therapist can observe the way that you are moving, test the motion and feel the tissue during the treatment of the texture and consistency.
Plan
Come up with a plan: when the therapist is aware of your own condition, he proposes the approach to take for the treatment. This can be simple like focusing on the area of the complaint like at the right hip, lower back or shoulder or you can try to do the full body massage within just one session. A therapist can recommend a series of different session and he will recommend the intervals or indicate the type of the progress that you should expect during such time. The therapist may recommend different ways of dealing with the pain like stretches, hydrotherapy, ice and heat. When needed, the therapist will refer you to another medical professional to get further treatment.
Massage
Doing the massage: this is when the therapist will perform the actual massage: according to what he got through the assessment and the plan that you came up with.
Evaluation
Evaluate your outcome: when you finish the treatment, together with your therapist, you will review the results. You should check if the pain is now less, if there is more mobility at the joint or if the posture had improved. At the basis of the results, a therapist can recommend that you get additional sessions with more frequency. When you get the massage after one week, you can get better results compared to when you wait for two weeks or three weeks to get another session. The evaluation will happen towards the end of every session and this determines how long the therapy should continue.
The time it will take for the therapist to do the assessment and to come up with a plan, it will all depend on your problem. If you want to have therapeutic massage for a long period, you should contact a therapist at your local day spa or a private practitioner near you.
