People will often ask me if it is normal to feel sore the day after a treatment massage. The answer is, Yes, it is. In fact, its very normal. Essentially, at a microscopic level, through the dynamic set of massage techniques, we remedial massage practitioners and myotherapists are micro bruising your muscles (aarrhhh – whaaat??!!). This is where the magic happens for your body to restore its self back to feeling more ‘normal’. Your body needs to restore the balance by ‘healing’ the microscopic bruises and this is why you start to feel much better after 48 hours.
Drink plenty of water to assist this process. You can have epsom salt baths, as warm as you take handle; this will promote restoration of the muscle fibres. Stretching will help, and plain ol kindness to yourself will work wonders.
Clients will almost always ask me how regular they should come through the clinic for a massage.. My answer is the same to everyone. This is up to you as everyone is different and have different factors at play. These include:
- Injury / rehabilitation
- Stress
- Budget
- Family
- Work
- Other practitioners they also see
I believe massage is a simple and powerful way to maintain yourself in the fast pace of this world, and highly recommend that everyone considers massage as part of balancing your life. For some clients, its every 4 weeks, for others its once a fortnight. For others, every 6-8 weeks work perfectly for them. Some clients will come and see me three times a year, which works perfectly for them.
I always work in collaboration with my clients to work out what best suits them and their needs. I do recommend at least three visits of massage so they can see the deep benefits massage can add to their lives. This also gives me a great opportunity to see how well your body responds to treatment and we adjust / alter where / if needed.
