Can sports massage help with your back pain?

Although many people often associate a sports massage with muscle recovery after intense exercise, it’s often overlooked as a very good option to assist with general discomfort in your back (upper or lower) regardless of whether the cause of that pain is exercise related or not. 

There are potentially lots of reasons as to why somebody is experiencing back pain, and if it’s as a result of musculoskeletal dysfunction then some hands on therapy combined with a well planned and balanced exercise routine will go a long way to getting you back on track. 

The most common areas of back pain that I treat are in the trapezius / neck areas, the mid back (thoracic) areas and the lower back (lumbar) areas, but I will always check over and feel what’s going on in the whole of your back and also quite often into the hip extensor and flexor muscles as well, as these areas can have an effect on lower back pain in particular and give you that restricted feeling when you go from a seated position to standing. 

Severe pain and muscle spasm in your back needs to be allowed to settle down before starting with some hands on therapy, very gentle movements that mobilise without causing nerve irritation are the best thing to do to begin with, but as things calm down then a thorough deep tissue and sports massage will further help to give you relief and help you start to move better, and at this point it’s important to consider actually strengthening your body as a whole, because actually making your muscles work harder (observing good form at all times) is in itself therapeutic, but it also conditions your body to deal better with the stresses and stains of training and every day work or family life. It’s also beneficial to do stretching work in particular to release tension in the muscles that flex the hip, in particular the Psoas muscle runs from the femur up to your lower spine and often if slightly tight can cause a bit of restriction that in turn causes some pain in the lower back. The simplest and one of the most effective ways to release this muscle is with some deep lunge type stretches performed repeatedly to just allow you to release that frontal plain of muscle groups that run from the front of your thigh up into your abdominal / torso area. 

I have found from experience doing sports massage therapy work that when you combine hands on therapy to reset tight muscles, with stretching and importantly strengthening of your muscles, it primes your body and makes you better able to deal with what comes your way. 

Jim