By Jessica Cavaco, LMT
This month is National Pain Awareness Month. The main purpose of Pain Awareness Month is to bring attention to the very real physical suffering of close to 100 million Americans and to highlight the need for research and new, innovative treatments. Most of the awareness associated with Pain Awareness Month is focused on chronic pain. This could be as common as chronic pain of the lower back or more specific, such as chronic pain associated with terminal illnesses.
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is sometimes called an invisible illness. If you have chronic pain, you may have been told you look just fine, since there are often no outward signs of harm. Chronic pain is a progressive condition. The pain is constant with occasional severe flare-ups. For it to be considered chronic pain, it usually persists for more than three months. Usual treatment for this pain is muscle relaxants prescribed by doctors. However, some patients don’t like the side effects associated with the muscle relaxants, leading to more and more people turning to massage therapy as a treatment. Actually, many health care providers across the nation recommend massage therapy and medical treatment.
Not only does massage therapy help relieve tension by relaxing the associated muscles causing pain, but it can also prevent future conditions. Massage therapy relaxes the muscles, improves circulation, and increases your endorphin levels. Endorphins are those feel-good chemicals our bodies produce to help us deal with pain.
Massage therapy is commonly used among people seeking pain management and research has generally supported its use. Now there is a published, attentive review of the available research and evidence for its efficacy for people with various types of pain.
The first part of the three-part review and analysis has been published online by the journal Pain Medicine. (Listed below)
https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/17/7/1353/2223191/The-Impact-of-Massage-Therapy-on-Function-in-Pain
Jessica Cavaco has 14+ years of experience in the field of Massage Therapy. Specializing in different modalities to assist and even omit chronic pain through self-care and body awareness.
1st time clients receive $10 off
Save money and get the benefits of massage – Massage Series packages offered.
Call 508.784.1850
Jessica@bodyinbalancema.com
Website: Bodyinbalancema.com
