How Massage Can Complement Physical Therapy

Some research revealed that massage and physical therapy combined have significant benefits on the mind, it can also optimize PT treatments and a stimulate the patient to recover faster.

At Physio Logic, physical therapy patients receive messages (manual therapy) in their treatments. This combination is applied in each session of PT treatment to get a better and efficient recovery.

According to Amy Montia, Massage Therapist at Physio Logic, “…the number one benefit of incorporating massage therapy into a physical therapy treatment plan is the stress relief and calm state of mind it provides.” What is more, she argues that it might help to establish a calmer breathing pattern and body awareness connected to pain and injuries.

A metabolic research conducted at McMaster University in Canada showed “how massage therapy affected muscle tissue at the cellular level.” The experts took some muscle tissue samples from a  leg before and after the person was challenged to intensive workout exercises.

This test revealed a considerable increase in genes related to repair and inflammation while comparing pre and post exercises. However, they observed clearer differences between the leg that was massaged and the one that was not after the intensive activity.

The difference was marked by a 30% increase in PGC-1alpha expression which helps the muscles to build mitochondria to get energy. On the other hand, the NF-kB, protein complex which promotes inflammation, was reduced almost three times in the massaged leg.

It might be suggested that massage therapy combined with physical therapy treatment may regulate inflammation that is caused by PT exercise and stimulate faster healing.

Several techniques are used to help patients with this kind of treatment plan. For example; myofascial release- compression- muscle stripping- gentle stretching, etc. besides, some Therapist also incorporates Active Release Technique (ART), energy meridians or acupoints to mobilize specific areas connected to injuries, pain, and some trauma.

As regards pain when referring to physical therapy, it might be considered a great challenge. In some cases, pain is necessary to regain balance and strength or even to gain new functional movements. So Massage Therapy would be essential to ease or lower the patient’s pain perception.

Overall, it might be concluded that massage therapy combined with Physical therapy might help to relieve stress and pain and also to obtain a calm state of mind which might help the patient to recover better and faster.

It is possible to establish how patients react favorably to massage therapy to recover from body pain and how the combination of physical therapy improve their treatment results.