How to fix myself when my massage therapist is nowhere to be found

Neuromuscular Therapy Trigger Point Treatment

By: Alicia De Mello

 5 Steps To Treat Your Trigger Points at Home!

1. Warm the area completely.
                    - That can be done with a heating pad, hot shower or simply just a gentle massage. Introduce touch to the area. Feel around. Imagine a piece of string – if you were to put that string between your fingers and slide down the length of it, it should be smooth. Sometimes there's a small knot in the string that will be more than noticeable. If string equals muscle, that knot equals a muscle knot. That's going to be to be a potential area to address. Take notice of areas that are tender or sensitive. (For trigger point maps to show you where to look for trigger points on your body, head to THIS ARTICLE)
              - Example You have a headache near your temples. Run your fingers through your hair as if you were shampooing your hair, focusing the area from your temples to just above your ears and slightly behind the highest point of your ears. The temporalis muscles is about 3-4 fingers width from the highest point of your ear. Pretend you're in Grease and you're slicking the sides of your hair.

2. Apply pressure
                    -It shouldn't be excessive. You're not trying to squash a bug out of existence. You are your own best judge on pressure. Don't be too hard on yourself. Knots and trigger points don't come into being over night. They're not going to disappear in the same amount of time. On a scale of 1-10, find a balance somewhere between 5-7. It might hurt and be uncomfortable, but it shouldn't be unbearable.

3. Hold.
Hold pressure for 8-60 seconds. And release. Give yourself a break. You did great. By holding pressure to a knot, you're reducing blood flow. When you release, it causes a rush of blood to the area. This step can be repeated with 30 second release time intervals. Sometimes, this hold-release method is enough to release a trigger point.

4. Cross-Fiber Friction (XFF)
                      - If the trigger point doesn't release from hold-release intervals, XFF can be effective. Muscles, for the most part, run in a uniform direction. If a muscle runs up and down, utilize a rubbing motion to go against the grain (so in response to up and down, go side to side). Again, it shouldn't be unbearable. We're not trying to start a fire with two sticks. You're trying to “unravel the knot”

5. Stretch.

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Meet Alicia

Alicia has been a Licensed Massage Therapist since 2015 as well as a certified reflexologist since 2017. She holds certifications in Medical Massage and Neuromuscular Therapy for the cervical spine and jaw as well. With a basis in Swedish massage, she incorporates trigger point work, movement, and education into her sessions. She believes that massage therapy is not just for the body but also for the mind.

Book a session with Alicia!

For more blog articles by Alicia, head to our Blog Library! Alicia has written an excellent blog on Reflexology as well as Neuromuscular Therapy and is an expert in the massage field.

BLOG LIBRARY

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