Remedial Massage

Self Massage & Home Care

October 17, 2024
By Megan Kenney

If you’re inclined to a regular massage treatment or an osteo appointment, you’re probably familiar with the phrases ‘use your heat pack’ or ‘get on the spikey ball.’ We are going to discuss why it is critical to do these few tasks in the 24-48 hour period after your treatment and for maintenance in the weeks post or prior to your treatment. As well as talking you through some techniques and giving you some helpful tips and tricks!

Why is it so important?

Some of you may notice some pain or tightness on treated areas the day after you see your practitioner. This is similar to the sensation you may experience the day after strenuous exercise, this is known as Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness, also known as DOMS. This is an inflammation response, it’s your body’s way of alerting your brain that it needs healing. Which is a nice segway into why heat application is essential after your appointment. Heat application can come in many forms, wheat packs, hot water bottles, heated blankets or a nice warm shower or bath, they all have the same benefits. When applying heat to areas that have been worked on or that are feeling tender after treatment it promotes a healing response. Heat allows vasodilation or widening of your blood vessels to increase blood flow, and this gives rise to an increased amount of nutrients to sore or tender areas, allowing them to heal faster and easier.

The next topic is the importance of rehydration after a massage. A massage can be quite dehydrating on its own but as well as this a massage will release a significant amount of toxins. The only way to release these toxins is through urination, and to ensure urination you need to drink plenty of water to flush those toxins out. Drinking more water also increases oxygen levels throughout your body, therefore providing your blood with more oxygen to help heal the tender muscles. Increased water in your blood also benefits your blood flow greatly and increases your blood volume which in turn means more blood can flow to help heal those sore muscles!

That’s why we recommend bringing a water bottle to appointments so you can drink water immediately after your session, otherwise it is very important to drink a decently sized glass of water at home and keep up hydration throughout the day.

Now onto self massage techniques. These will only take you 5 minutes and can be done from your desk or in front of the T.V, it’s as easy as that! You can also use massage guns, foam rollers etc.

The infamous spikey ball, it may not be your best friend at the time but you will be very grateful for it in the long term. The simple way to complete this is by rolling over the problematic area 5-10 times and then holding it on a sore spot for 30 seconds, you can complete this 3 times or more on any area of your body that is feeling tight or restricted. You can either lean up against a wall or lie down or you can also get a spouse, offspring or house mate to help you out in those hard to reach areas to prevent injury in the process. You can apply a heat pack after this too!

Spikey balling and rolling is essential for getting the most out of your treatments and getting longevity between treatments.

Heat and hydration are vital in the recovery process post treatment and hopefully the above allows more understanding of the benefits and reasons to why it is so important.