Massage Therapy, Mobilization and Manipulation Legitimate Options?
Massage therapy does have it’s place in certain situations of course. Saying otherwise would be disingenuous and inaccurate. However, many of my clients often ask me; “how effective is massage therapy and other similar therapies really for dealing with chronic issues and even acute body complaints”? This article will help answer that question.
The field of chiropractic as well as massage therapists and other bodywork therapists are already aware that muscles and joints having to work harder due to a crooked body cause us problems. Massage therapists in particular are aware that muscles overworking or not mobilizing properly, again, cause us pain and discomfort. Conventional thought would be to tackle the muscles and joints causing pain and discomfort head on. Unsurprisingly some relief can be gained this way.
However, they are not targeting the areas in the body that are the actual cause that created the crookedness in the first place. This is a big problem. It means they are unlikely to be treating the underlying problem. Even if you get ample and continuous treatment. Soft tissue therapies like massage, physio etc. are no different. All you are doing is either opening or fortifying compensations the body created to cope with the crookedness.
In a nutshell, massage, physio, cupping etc only tackle with the symptoms i.e. tight, dysfunctional muscles and/or inflammation instead of what caused such symptoms in the first place.
The approach of massage etc is analogous to constantly filling air in your car tyres due to a slow puncture every few days or weeks. You can get by this way if you don’t mind the hassle of constantly filling them. However, a better solution is to remove the tyre and get it repaired or even replaced, right? It’s more hassle short term than filling but less of a hassle long term. By tackling the actual problem i.e., a hole in the tyre, you have resolved it permanently, so to speak.
Going back to the body, the only real way to get to the underlying problem is to correct the cause of crookedness. We know it is the crookedness causing us problems. But what is causing the crookedness?
Thanks to the advent of ABC™ we now have a better understanding of how the body works and where it goes wrong. By only correcting the bones out of place the body could not itself correct we allow it to function as it is supposed to. Areas of pain will naturally improve once treatment commences.
Chiropractors have a concept of their manipulation ‘holding’ or ‘not holding’. It is not that it doesn’t ‘hold’, it is that your body was made worse by the manipulation so it reverted back to what was more comfortable. Therefore, at best you go round in circles needing more frequent treatments and at worst your posture worsens due to poorer biomechanics.
The ABC™ method is not looking for anything to ‘hold’. We want your body to actually shift, untwist and realign itself as you progress through the process. It is like training at the gym. Each visit builds on the last and the more consistent you are, the better the results.
Let us get to the root cause of your ailment(s). We offer a FREE consultation including a demo of the ‘First Rib Manoeuver’ before you decide on proceeding with any treatment. You will feel the difference to your pain and movement right from the off.