The Massage You Really Want
I've had many clients with pain between their shoulder blades. They tell me that I can spend the entire hour massaging their upper back. I don't. Don't get me wrong, I try to give each person the massage they want; I just don't give them the massage they tell me to do, rather the one they really want.
They want relief from their pain. Clients regularly ask me, "Do you feel that huge knot?" Uh, no. . . I used to think that I was horrible at palpation because I couldn't feel the "obvious" knots. But in the last three years of massaging, I have learned a few things.
They want relief from their pain. Clients regularly ask me, "Do you feel that huge knot?" Uh, no. . . I used to think that I was horrible at palpation because I couldn't feel the "obvious" knots. But in the last three years of massaging, I have learned a few things.
Tight Versus Taut
I know that the pain is between the shoulder blades, but usually those are not tight, contracted muscles (the rhomboids). Those muscles hurt because they are stretched. Let me explain: Take some fabric between your hands, pull your hands apart, and the fabric is stretched and taut. The muscles are similarly stretched or pulled tight, not contracted or tight.
With massage, we help muscles relax when they are contracted. When muscles are stretched, they don't need a deep massage that stretches them even more. They may need a little loving touch, but we also need to massage the tight, contracted muscles.
So what is pulling and stretching the muscles in the upper back? Think of your posture. Are you hunched forward working on your computer or cellphone? If you are, then your chest muscles (the pectoralis major and minor in particular) are contracted causing your upper back muscles to be stretched.
With massage, we help muscles relax when they are contracted. When muscles are stretched, they don't need a deep massage that stretches them even more. They may need a little loving touch, but we also need to massage the tight, contracted muscles.
So what is pulling and stretching the muscles in the upper back? Think of your posture. Are you hunched forward working on your computer or cellphone? If you are, then your chest muscles (the pectoralis major and minor in particular) are contracted causing your upper back muscles to be stretched.
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Consider that in order to relieve the pain in your upper back you also need have your upper chest and anterior neck massaged!
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IMPROVE YOUR POSTURE Easily!
I like to send clients home with something to do in order to prolong the benefits of the massage. Recently I read an article about an easy way to open up the chest, relieving the stretched back muscles. It's so easy that you can do it even as you sit there reading this article.
Palms up to improve posture!
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Simply turn your palms up! Feel how your shoulders rotate back, pulling your shoulder blades together? Do you feel like you can breath deeper because your upper chest is more open? You can do it while sitting or while standing (turn palms forward). Maybe they do this pose in yoga for a reason!
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I've been doing it for several weeks now and notice that my posture is less slouchy and more open. I still can't maintain that posture for long because my forearms get tired, but I assume that with time, as my posture improves, that I will feel less strain in my forearms.
The article which I read is called, "Improve Your Posture in One Simple Step," at the AcuTake website. Go read it for more information about this simple technique. It will even explain the relationship with this pose and some oriental meridians.
If you've read anything that I've posted, you know that I am fascinated with the fascia. In reading the comments on that article, I came across this:
". . . palms up tech[nique] works . . . because myofascially the first three fingers are attached to the chest and bicep. The fourth and fifth are attached to the rhomboids and lats."
If you see me walking around the neighborhood with my palms facing forward, you'll know why.
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