qs! wrote:
speedy wrote:
In practice massage tends to help patients with stress related back pain. So someone who gets pain when going gets tough at the office job.
While if someone has a trapped nerve massage will make it much worse. So it's hit and miss.
While general back pain can benifit from regular massage. A top physio is the way to go to address imbalances. Loosen up stiff joints. Loosen stiff muscles and strengthen weak muscles.
Almost any qualified decent masseuse/physio will help with any muscular back issue. If they can't help you really need to see a chiropractor ASAP.
But the problem there is people don't have a clue as to the cause of their pain. Muscle spasm is a result of many conditions so it's not like a patient can work out involved structures. But like I say massage will make some better and some worse.physio and massage are very different or at least they should be.
On the chiro note
About 50% of physios are trained in manips(the crack) nowadays. All Rehab specialists do manips as far as I know. Manips done right are fine. But you wouldn't hire a carpenter that only had a hammer. At least go to an osteopath.
Manips can be great initially depending on the patient. But think of it this way
If your spine is stiff manips will really help by loosening the stiff bit.
However if your spine is loose a manip will still feel good initially but it will continue loosening and make the overall dysfunction worse. So your back will "go" easier overtime if you continue treatment.
A lot of chiros will manip people to the point there back gets looser and looser until it goes every week.
They become reliant, their back goes everyweek and the only relief they get is after a manip. But there back should never be allowed get that unstable and loose that it goes everyweek. There the patients that need tons of stability work not loosening.
There back will go as soon as they Hoover or do a small bit of gardening. They end up peeling back there life until they do almost nothing.
If your seeing someone to help with your back you should need them less and less as the overall health of their back improves. While many poor chiros will just manip manip and manip. Don't get me wrong there's lots of Shit physios to but they tend to do ineffective treatments like ultrasound rather than causing long term damage.
