3 Massage Techniques for Those in Chronic Pain

Living with mild to moderate chronic pain can feel isolating and hopeless. Though you may feel alone, you’re not. Around 25 million American adults suffer from chronic pain each day. Of these, 23.4 million report a lot of pain each day. This pain may be the result of an old injury, fibromyalgia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis or a plethora of other chronic conditions. The pain may cause you to miss out on things you once loved, cause you to wake up each night or cause simple daily tasks to be much more challenging than they once were.

Treating chronic pain is a bit of an art. What works for one person may not work for the next. At-home massages like Wahl’s Deep-Tissue Percussion Therapeutic Massager can help improve or alleviate these painful symptoms. Here are three different types of massages to try at home when suffering from mild to moderate chronic pain.

1. Swedish Massage

A Swedish massage helps cramped muscles relax through a number of different techniques. This is the most common type of massage, which might be why the Swedish call this a “classic massage.” This soothing massage involves different actions including gliding, tapping, kneading and stretching. Swedish massages can help improve circulation and relax tight muscles that may be causing pain. Some of the different techniques during a Swedish massage include:

1. Effleurage- French for “to skim,” effleurage involves a sweeping motion from one end of the muscle to the other with either one’s palm or a light setting on a handheld massager.

2. Petrissage- A rolling motion that locates knots and eases the tension. Think of this motion like spinning a joystick on a gaming controller or kneading thick pizza dough.

3. Friction- Pressure is applied consistently to one muscle to alleviate pressure and cause the fibers to release pent-up stress.

2. Deep Tissue Massage

A deep tissue massage tends to offer more pressure than a Swedish massage. This massage type focuses on the deep layers of muscle and connective tissue (commonly in the neck or upper back). A deep tissue massage works out knots deep in the muscle fibers while stretching out the fascia, the connective tissue that covers the muscle. A muscle “knot” is actually a small cluster of clenched muscle fibers.

For those in chronic pain, it’s often hard to consistently reach these painful areas, especially for any extended amount of time. Wahl’s Deep-Tissue Percussion Massager offers up to 3,350 pulsations per minute with several different speeds and attachments to choose from to properly treat these hard-to-reach areas.

3. Trigger Point Massage

Trigger point massages have been shown to alleviate tension that can cause migraines, which account for 90 percent of all headaches. The longer a migraine goes untreated, the more prevalent the condition can become. Similar to a deep tissue massage, a trigger point massage focuses on problem areas in the body and works deep into the muscle tissue and fascia to relieve painful knots. Trigger points are areas in the body that, through connections in the nervous system, create pain in other areas. For example, pain in the back may cause pain to radiate through one’s leg. Apply deep pressure to the trigger point and then release using the spot application on your Wahl Massager Continue to repeat this action several times.

Fight fatigue with Wahl’s Deep-Tissue Percussion Therapeutic Massager. Equip your massager with one of Wahl’s interchangeable head attachments and set to the desired intensity to bring the relaxation of a professional massage to your home.