For most people, a diagnosis of kyphosis follows several years of persistent back pain and discomfort. If this is the case for you and you're struggling with treatment options for the curve in your spine, you should understand how neuromuscular massage therapy can help you to ease your symptoms and treat the condition. Here's a look at some of the benefits of massage therapy for kyphosis and a few of the methods often used.
How Massage Therapy Helps
For people with kyphosis, the goal is to help strengthen the muscles that have been strained for so long in an effort to reduce pain and discomfort. Massage therapy can help with that and more. Most patients can see many benefits from this treatment plan:
- Improving circulation in the treated area, relieves muscle tension.
- Stretching tight, shortened muscles caused by the curve of the spine.
- Restoring the balance of muscle support along the spine.
- Improving spinal alignment and posture.
What Massage Therapy Options Exist
When you work with a massage therapist to target your kyphosis symptoms, you'll find that he or she employs many different methods to help you ease your pain and discomfort. Some of those methods will be aimed at soothing pain in the muscle tissue, while other treatments will be targeted at improving your posture and spinal position.
Many times, this type of massage therapy starts by stretching your spine. Place a rolled towel along your spine while lying flat on a table or on the floor. This towel provides support along your spine to stretch the muscles that support it on either side.
A rolled towel is also sometimes used directly under your shoulders to help stretch the curve in your spine back the other direction. In mild cases of kyphosis, this may make a difference in its progression and help to reverse the symptoms when done in conjunction with other massage and physical therapy.
You'll also get some general focused massage to your neck, thorax muscles, spinal column, rib area and abdomen. Some therapists will also target your mid back, including your trapezius muscles, in an attempt to encourage more support and flexibility in those muscles.
When it comes to addressing kyphosis, the goal is to help ensure support along your spine. The curve in the spine strains those muscles so much that they gradually weaken and lose integrity. This type of massage therapy can help to target your circulation in restorative efforts, strengthening that tissue to make it easier for your body to counter the curve in your spine. Talk with a massage therapist today about your therapeutic massage options. Contact a company like Mana Massage to get started.
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