Massage + Heat = Pain Relief

MassageMag.com, Susan Baer

When injury occurs, pain messages are sent to the brain and muscles in the injured area contract to guard against further damage. Muscles often go into spasm, further reducing circulation, which deprives tissues of oxygen, thus increasing the damage and sending more pain signals.

There are several ways massage and heat help reduce pain.

Massage stretches and compresses muscles, which activates proprioceptors—sensors that detect pressure and movement in tissue, and whose messages help block the reception of pain signals in the brain and tell the spinal cord to relax the muscles being worked.

Heat activates thermoreceptors, which detect changes in skin temperature, and whose messages also help block the reception of pain signals and cause increased circulation. Increasing circulation brings fresh oxygen to injured tissues and carries away metabolic debris that contributes to pain and spasm. (Contraindications to heat therapy include acute injury, swelling, fever and broken skin.)

By applying heat and compression simultaneously to muscles that are locked in the pain-spasm-pain cycle, massage engages four separate pathways that reduce pain, decrease spasm and increase circulation.