If you’re one of the nearly 40 million Americans who suffer from migraines, or one of many others who deals with other headache types, you may be looking for both solutions and explanations for their cause. One of the top such explanations for many headache sufferers: Stress, and the resulting issues stress tends to create.
At Body Balance Massage and Float, stress reduction is one of our top themes, both within our float therapy solutions and numerous forms of massage – deep tissue massage, Swedish massage and several other types, many of which are intended specifically to help relieve stress. Massage therapy often has fantastic results for those dealing with persistent headache symptoms, generally due to both stress reduction and similar themes. Here’s a primer on how we’ll help with your headache issues, including a bit specifically on tension headaches that some people experience.
Understanding Symptoms
If you visit our massage therapists for assistance with your headache issues, the first thing we’ll do is speak with you about your symptoms and where they’re bothering you. This may involve both a verbal conversation and perhaps a physical examination – you’d be surprised by how many clients know they’re having pain, but may require a bit of further probing to understand the actual origination sources of that pain.
We’ll find out these details, identifying any important areas of your musculature that are involved in creating pain. We’ll inquire about the duration and intensity of your headache pain, plus the triggers that tend to cause it.
Ideal Technique(s)
Using the above information we gain from you, plus our own observations, we’ll begin crafting a plan for the ideal massage therapy technique or techniques to recommend. One common type of massage that’s often used for headache pain is trigger point therapy, which involves finding muscle tension in a specific area and relieving it – but there are also other types that may work well for your symptoms. We’ll consult with you fully before moving to any specific techniques.
Tension Headache Specifics
What about those who suffer specifically from tension headaches, or headaches with pain on both sides of the head that are often associated with muscle pain? Many people who experience these headaches consistently will prefer a form of item-assisted massage, such as our warm bamboo massage or other forms of hot stone massage that are often offered. These hold great benefits for the nervous system, and the heat involved also helps soothe tension and limit pain symptoms in many cases. Again, however, whether you utilize this or another technique will depend on your precise symptoms.
For more on how massage therapy benefits those who deal with headaches, or to learn about any of our massage or float therapy services, speak to the staff at Body Balance Massage and Float today.
Every single one of us has experienced physical pain at some point in our lives, but pain impacts some people more often than others. Pain accounts for a huge percentage of physician visits and other medical needs, and also may have an impact on several related health areas, including mental health.
At Body Balance Massage and Float, we’re proud to offer numerous services that help relieve pain both temporarily and permanently, including both massage and float therapy. Our massage services range from standard deep tissue or sports massages up through techniques like warm bamboo massage and many others, with pain relief a top benefit of several of the techniques we offer. What’s the connection between pain and overall wellness, including mental health, and how does massage therapy benefit many patients here? Let’s go over a quick primer.
Types of Chronic Pain
It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans experience some kind of chronic pain in their lives. Some of the most common types of this pain include each of the following:
There are also many others here. In addition, it’s important to know that pain does not have to be chronic to have a negative impact, including on mental health areas.
Pain and Mental Wellness
Pain is a unique, subjective experience that each person deals with differently. For many of us, it has a direct and cyclical impact on our emotions and other parts of our mental wellness.
That is, pain can cause mental unrest – and vice versa. While we mostly think of pain itself leading to metal anxiety or related issues, and this indeed happens regularly, the opposite is also true: Mental health concerns themselves may also be causing pain or exacerbating it. This can lead to a harmful cycle where pain gets in the way of your overall health and daily tasks, but there are also many good methods for breaking this cycle.
How Massage Helps
One such method is massage therapy, which has shown significant evidence as a treatment format for pain and the related issues that may come with it. A 2016 analysis found that massage therapy is often beneficial for treating both pain and function-related outcomes, and numerous other studies have confirmed this in various formats.
In addition, massage therapy often has a large impact on the mental health side of things as well. It’s known to help with anxiety and depression, for instance, with anxiety reduction actually serving as one of the top uses of massage therapy today.
For more on the benefits of massage therapy for pain and its mental health impact, or to learn about any of our massage or float therapy services, speak to the staff at Body Balance Massage and Float today.
While there are numerous specific benefits of massage therapy, from pain relief to relaxation, stress relief and more, those who get massages often also do so for the overall experience itself. Many look forward to massage day each week, knowing they get a wonderful period of relaxation and comfort where they can de-stress and focus inward.
At Body Balance Massage and Float, we’re thrilled to offer numerous massage therapy services to our Lehi clients, from sports massage and deep tissue massage to areas like trigger point therapy and many others. No matter which sort of massage you prefer or how often you receive it, what are some general tips we often offer our Utah clients on optimizing their massage experience? Here are a few basic suggestions.
Great Massage Therapist
First and foremost, finding a great massage therapist who’s compatible with your needs and keeps you comfortable is vital. While a variety of massage therapists will have the skills you require, you also want someone who has the right personality and connects with you personally.
At Body Balance, we employ a variety of massage therapists for different services, and also for different partnerships with clients. All our masseuses take a unique approach to the solutions they offer, and all are happy to discuss their program with you in advance as you’re choosing a new therapist. Beyond this, it’s important to be communicative and open with your therapist once you settle on one, as this will allow them to fully optimize your services.
Be Prepared
It’s also important to be prepared for your massage, starting with showing up on-time. Running late will only lessen your experience, from cutting off your available time to leaving you stressed as you walk in the door.
Down similar lines, we actually encourage clients to be a few minutes early for their massage appointment. This allows you time to take some deep breaths and relax yourself, another area that’s great for optimizing the session. Do your best to remove distractions and focus inward, leaving the daily stresses you have at the door and allowing for a comprehensive experience.
Post-Massage Routine
Finally, many who receive regular massages find great benefits in a post-massage routine, which should be tailored to you. The most common themes here involve continuing the relaxation and overall comfort benefits you received during the session – some go home and take a warm bath to relieve muscle soreness, for instance. In general, if you’re able to stay relaxed and comfortable in the hours directly following a massage, you’ll be maximizing the benefits you receive from it.
For more on how to optimize your massage experience, or to learn about any of our massage therapy or float therapy services in Lehi and nearby areas, speak to the staff at Body Balance Massage and Float today.
As a new and highly effective form of alternative therapy in many areas, float therapy shows benefits in a variety of fields. One of these that’s on the rise in recent years is addiction, and while there is still more information needed here in a few areas (addiction is a broad topic), the evidence we have shows clear connections between float therapy and quality addiction treatment.
At Body Balance Massage & Float, we’re happy to offer both massage therapy and a variety of float therapy services to a variety of individuals, including those struggling with addiction and the related anxiety or stress that tends to come with this disease. Here’s a primer on how float therapy both is similar to and differs from traditional forms of addiction treatment, some data behind float therapy for addiction, and how we assist those with this pursuit in mind.
Traditional Addiction Treatment
Addiction is what’s known as a non-biased disease. This means that it will affect anyone from a variety of life situations – and not only will it impact these people, it will impact those closest to them in many cases as well.
Traditionally, treatments for addiction are well-known: A combination of medication, therapy and/or rehabilitation. The goal of these treatments, at least from a broad standpoint, is to change patterns and behaviors over time, changing the way individuals respond to their stresses and the crutches that they’ve created for themselves in the form of addiction. But as it turns out, float therapy has a major impact down these same lines as well.
NCBS and REST Data
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBS), floatation therapy may be a viable resource for those struggling with addiction. Specifically looking at the REST program (restricted environmental stimulation therapy, which is similar to many float therapy themes that might go by slightly different terms), here’s how this experience may assist with treating addiction:
- Induction of a relaxation response to stress
- Substance abusers are able to find relief and de-stressing methods without using any chemicals
- Float therapy allows internal refocusing on personal issues
- Floatation therapy helps remove trigger cues and disrupt addictive habits over time
- Those utilizing float therapy feel more in control over their addictive behaviors, and more able to learn new behaviors insteadRelieving Compulsions and Disrupting Habits
As the above data touched on, much of addiction comes down to how individuals respond during times of stress or anxiety. Many addictions build over time through compulsive responses to this stress, where eventually individuals come to believe that their addiction is the only way they can find comfort during these periods.
Along with other methods, float therapy helps remove these compulsions and disrupt these habits – while also relieving the initial stress that leads to them to begin with. Those who float will develop a greater ability to deal with stress in healthy ways rather than gravitating back toward bad habits, and over time this will grow into a positive cycle where not only is the stress that leads to addictive behavior reduced, so is the behavior itself.
For more on the benefits of float therapy for those dealing with addiction, or to learn about any of our float therapy or massage therapy services, speak to the staff at Body Balance Massage & Float today.
We're so excited to announce that Body Balance Massage and Float will be appearing on ABC4's Good Things Utah! We'll be involved in a segment featuring float therapy, specifically regarding prenatal floating and the numerous benefits this practice contains for new mothers. The episode was filmed on January 27th and will air on February 17th on their morning show. Don't miss it!
We're grateful to the folks at ABC4 for reaching out to us and can't wait to highlight some of the amazing benefits of our float therapy services. Keep your eyes open!
In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the risks of sitting for too long without any kind of stretching or stimulating activity. This sort of behavior, which is common among those who work desk jobs or certain other vocations, can lead not only to pain and discomfort, but also to several legitimate long-term health risks.
At Body Balance Massage and Float, we’re happy to provide several solutions that assist those who have to sit for long periods, from massage therapy options like deep tissue massage to float therapy and several other services. We know certain jobs or lifestyles dictate much of your posture and ability to move around, and we’re here to help for those who are unable to be as active as they’d like. Here are some of the other issues that may arise if you’re too sedentary and do not look into solutions like massage therapy.
Back or Hip Pain
Different positions we spend time in place pressure on varying areas of the body, and sitting is known to place pressure on the spine. Rather than the entire body absorbing the stress of movements and your weight, sitting transfers most of that weight to the spine, particularly the lower parts of it.
In addition, the hip flexors will often be tightened by sitting for long periods at once, as will the hamstrings. In many situations, this kind of pain manifests itself as back pain even if it’s originating from the hips or lower areas. Simply standing at least once an hour to remove this pressure for a short period of time will go a long way.
Varicose Vein Concerns
If you’re unfamiliar with them, varicose veins refer to ugly, visible blue or off-colored veins that pop out from the skin, usually on the legs or lower-body areas. They’re brought on by poor circulation – another area that can be cased by long periods of sitting.
Especially if you sit in poor posture that limits blood flow to your legs, these can be a major concern. Slowed circulation makes it harder for blood to cycle back up from the lower parts of your legs and to the rest of the body, which can lead to varicose veins, swollen ankles and even a condition called deep vein thrombosis.
Brain, Oxygen and Cognition
Finally, prolonged sitting will limit the amount of oxygen and blood that flow upward to the brain, mostly due to slowed circulation. For many, this actually leads to limitations in cognitive ability, which is a major detraction for those who work a job that requires their attention.
For more on the risks of prolonged periods of sitting, or to learn about how massage therapy benefits you in this area, speak to the staff at Body Balance Massage and Float today.