Be Water My Friend

"Nothing under heaven is more soft and yielding than water.  Yet for attacking the solid and strong, nothing is better. It has no equal." ~ Lao Tzu

It was once explained to me that massage therapists should approach the body as if it were water.  Since water can be found in more than one form, it stands to reason that there will be more than one way to work with it.  Reach back to your middle school science class days and recall the solid, liquid and gas chapter.  Solid water is ice.  Liquid is flowing water.  Gas is steam.  Like water, muscles can be found in more than one state too and I don't mean the smooth, non-striated involuntary muscles nor the striated voluntary skeletal muscles.  I am referring to muscle conditions like tension, hyper-mobility, ischemia, strain, over-worked, etc.  So if you are going to make steam out of a knotted back muscle, where do you start?

First of all, I ask therapists to brainstorm on ways that one might break down an ice block.  An ice pick can bust the block into smaller ice pieces.  A heat lamp will slowly melt the ice, thus lessening its size.  Friction will warm the ice block surface and slowly diminish it.  In most cases blunt force and heat are the most often suggested methods for getting rid of the ice block.

After the ice discussion I ask therapists how they would treat someone with back pain.  As you can imagine there are usually a lot of different answers to this question.  After listening to their would-be treatment plans,  I ask this follow-up question,  "Would you walk into the treatment room and immediately drop an elbow into your client?".  Then I hold my breath and hope that nobody answers yes!

So now lets tie the water and muscles analogy together.  Assume that the ice pick represents the massage therapist's elbow.  While the pick is indeed a valid way to bust up the ice block or in this case the tight back, it probably isn't the best method to try first.  Isn't it easier to break ice after it has warmed up a bit?  The same applies to tight muscles.  If we rush in and drop an elbow without warming up the tissue, it will not feel good to the client and it could cause further injury.  In the long run it will not feel good to the therapist's body either if they have to do deep tissue massage for long periods of time.  Warming the tissue prior to that direct sustained pressure move aka the Atomic Elbow will make life easier for the massage therapist.....and the client will not wish evil plagues fall upon your house.

So lets look at the heat lamp and friction, or in the case of our ice block massage--heat therapy.  Hydrotherapy, heat packs, hot stones, ointments that warm the muscles, and other treatments can bring blood flow to the ischemic tissue.  When the blood reaches the surface of the body it will produce therapeutic inflammation, warm the area and promote healing.   Friction on the ice is equivalent to hands-on massage that targets the tight back muscles.  When friction and heat are implemented, the ice begins to change consistency from solid to liquid while the massaged and now warmed muscle also softens and changes form.

So the next time you are faced with a knotted muscle.  Let your massage therapy flow.... like water, my friend.