How massage therapy can help you with your pain this winter

Happy winter again everyone!

Winter is a beautiful season, but it is also the season of colds and snow shoveling. Knowing what to do if you’re sick or injured can make the difference between a week or a day off work, or just get you back to your favorite winter activities. Swelling is one of the major causes of pain, congestion and slow healing of an injured site. Ice or medication is a temporary way to manage swelling, but the most profound and natural relief can be even simpler.

The lymph system is like the main drainage system of your body, similar to veins, but with major “terminals” called lymph nodes that can sometimes be felt or seen under the skin.

Anywhere in the body that is congested or inflamed, the lymph vessels take up that extra fluid, carrying it to the spleen to be processed and eliminated. Sometimes though, this drainage does not happen fast enough, like in the case of swollen “glands” left over after a sore throat or bruising due to a shoveling injury or slip and fall. This needs a little encouragement from a skilled hand.

But you might think, don’t massage therapists only treat muscles? Through massage, every soft tissue in the body can be targeted and improved, and lymph nodes and vessels are by no means an exception. In fact, a specific treatment for the lymph system, called “Manual Lymph Drainage” is one of the most gentle and relaxing treatments you will find. Using gentle but strategic rocking, pumping and positional techniques, MLD does not force, but assists the body in healing itself. Most famously used to manage cancer and diabetes symptoms due to swelling, this treatment can help manage everything from broken bones to sinus congestion, pulled muscles to bruising on or below the skin. A great alternative to pain killers or anti-inflammatory medication.

For more info ask to speak to one of our massage therapists!

– Michael Wells, RMT of Kinesis Health Associates.