3/29/17

Why Is He Massaging That Spot?

You may have wondered this while receiving a treatment. You come to your appointment because you are having forearm, wrist or hand pain, but your therapist is working on your neck, shoulder and upper back. You’re thinking he didn’t hear a word you said or read the intake form you filled out before your treatment.

Or, you’re experiencing back pain between the shoulders, and he’s massaging the muscles of your chest!

Perhaps you’re suffering low back pain and your therapist insists on massaging your hamstrings!

This is a good time to ask his rationale for massaging areas away from the pain.

Typically, there are two reasons. First, you have trigger points, tender places in the muscle which refer pain to another part of the body. If trigger points are not massaged and relaxed, the referred pain you are experiencing will not likely dissipate.

So, if you complain of pain beneath your kneecap, your therapist may work trigger points in your quadratus femoris (thigh) to relieve the discomfort in the knee.

Second, your therapist may be following the nerve pathway which enervates the painful area. A common example is pain in the wrist or hand which mimics carpal tunnel syndrome. The median nerve travels down the arm into the hand, but it emerges from the brachial plexus, a cluster of nerves in the neck. It squeezes between the clavicle and first rib, travels under the pectoralis minor, through the armpit and down the inside of the arm before it enters the hand through the carpal tunnel. Any muscle putting pressure on the nerve along this pathway may cause pain or numbness in the hand. Therefore, your therapist is trying to relax any of those muscles which may be causing the pain.