This Blog post is by our Acupuncturist Kat Ao and Heather Thompson RMT.
Do Your Exercises
Massage therapy can improve the nutrition of joints, increase the blood supply to the muscles, and undo or prevent formations of muscle adhesions. The positive changes initiated by a massage treatment start once you’re on the table, but they can continue for days or weeks if you keep up with stretching and strengthening exercises. Regular exercise continues the reorganizing response the treatment initiated on your connective tissue. This in turn relieves tension surrounding muscles, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels and more.
Try Acupuncture
Acupuncture also works by reorganizing connective tissue, often referred to as fascia. The science behind acupuncture emphasizes the big picture connections of the body: how your hips are connected to your upper back or how your ankles are connected to your lower back. Working on different, yet related, compensations in your body can complement and enhance to the work done by a massage therapist. The results of using the two therapies can be greater than from just an individual treatment.
In line with working on big picture connections, Japanese-style acupuncture addresses our overall health. One case is a middle-aged man dealing with tingling sensations and discomfort from his right shoulder to hand. A treatment that addressed the 10+ years of heavy lifting work he’d done over 10 years ago resulted in significantly noticeable changes right from the start. Another case is resolving the same symptoms on a woman by addressing the compensations set by her caesarian-section deliveries 15 years ago.
Be Patient with Your Body
“Slight recovery aggravates an illness.” Many people become lackadaisical and unmindful as soon as they are feeling slightly better even though they have yet to fully recover. This can lead to a relapse. When you have recovered a bit, try to be more mindful. If you avoid negligence, you should recover quickly and will prevent the disaster of recurrence.”
This is a doctor’s advice to his clients. We at Equilibrium take the same level of commitment to your care, and you’ll see this in the treatment plans made specifically for you. The treatment plan is for achieving not only noticeable recovery as soon as possible, but also significant change to prevent future recurrences. Be patient with your body and take the time to heal now. And your active and healthy lifestyle just may last longer.
Want more health and wellness tips? Have a look at our blog! Need to relax and reduce stress? Book a massage or acupuncture session with us today!
Ekiken, Kaibara. Cultivating ch’i: a samurai physician’s teachings on the way of health. Translated by W.S. Wilson. 2008. Shambhala Publications.
