Can massage really help me heal from an injury? How?
The short answer is: Absolutely! Unfortunately, the long answer isn't quite so simple.
I recently had a client tell me of a child who had suffered from a broken elbow. The bone had long
since healed, but the child still complained of pain and cried when attempting to move the injured joint.
At first, I thought that maybe the child was milking the situation to get attention and sympathy -- you
know how kids are! But then she mentioned that the child had experienced some numbness and
tingling in some of her fingers and had also experienced some loss of use. To me, this indicates nerve
damage.
First of all, a brief and very simplified explanation of how the body heals itself is that as soon as tissue
is injured, your cells send out the signal that help is needed! Immediately the blood cells bring in
reinforcements to surround the wound with protective fibers to prevent further injury and loss of blood.
The injury is contained. Next, cells are produced that will repair and replace damaged cells. This
process can take days or weeks, depending on what has been injured (bones generally take about 6
weeks). The more serious the wound, the longer it takes to heal. As the healing takes place, the dead
cells need to be disposed of. They are broken down by the T-cells and await transportation to the
bloodstream, where they will be processed and disposed of through the organs of the body.
The bloodstream is the main source of transportation for the cells being brought in and carried out.
The blood sends nutrients and healing properties into the tissue by squeezing them out through the
membrane of the capillaries. By process of osmosis, it picks up the waste that is hanging out in the
tissue and carries it back to the heart, which sends it to the organs for final processing. Unfortunately,
the blood system only picks up about 90% of the waste that is in the tissue. The rest is absorbed by
the lymph system. The lymph vessels run parallel to the blood vessels and pick up the leftovers that
the capillaries leave behind, and then process the waste and debris in your lymph nodes. This is
where the bad cells are destroyed and are carried away to the heart, and then they are dumped into
the blood stream for processing. (Pretty neat, huh?)
This is where massage comes in! The lymph system, unlike the blood system, does not have a pump,
so the fluid moves very slowly. In fact, the only things that move it are gravity and the movement of
your muscles. So if you are immobilized, guess how much the lymph fluid moves? Exactly. Not very
much. Massage can help your body move the waste products into the lymph system and help the
lymph system, in turn, carry it out of the body. This is why you sometimes feel light-headed or
nauseous after a massage -- If your body has to process a lot of waste at one time because it hasn't
done so in a while, it can be a little overwhelming, especially if this is your first massage! Drinking
plenty of water all the time helps prevent this feeling. Drinking water following a massage helps
alleviate it.
Meanwhile, the injured tissue spends some time healing, and then the body breaks down the
protective fiber and carries it away. Sometimes, though, the protective fiber is so strong that it forms a
tough scar. A skilled massage therapist can manipulate the scar tissue and help it to break down so
that the body can dispose of it. When I was younger, I was involved in a motorcycle accident that left
me with a scar on my lip. For a long time afterward, I had a hard knot of tissue in my lower lip that felt
like a rock and it wouldn't go away. I found myself gnawing at it with my teeth frequently, and
eventually the scar tissue broke down and went away. I didn't know it, but I was "massaging" my lip and
helping it to heal. It took a long time; if I'd known proper techniques, I probably could have shortened
that time quite considerably.
In the case of damaged nerve tissue, the story isn't exactly the same. Your nerves are the electrical
wiring of the body. It is a different kind of tissue than blood and muscle. It isn't readily fed by the blood
system and it doesn't have a circulatory system attached to it. Therefore, damage isn't healed quite
as quickly. I have a client who was severely injured in a bicycling accident that broke his pelvis and
damaged the nerves going to his legs. He endured a lot of pain in his leg and a terrible burning and
tingling in one foot. He received a few massage treatments, but started coming to me on a regular
basis when I was in school and needed someone to practice on. He continues to come in for
massages on a regular basis. He reports that in the time he's been coming to me (less than 2 years)
his leg experiences hardly any pain, and the burning in his foot is only occasional, usually when he's
exerted himself (he's an athlete).
So yes, massage is extremely helpful in the healing process. It probably won't happen in just one
session, and may take a long time, depending on the injury. Be prepared to be patient and be
prepared for the healing to take time. Your body will thank you!
The short answer is: Absolutely! Unfortunately, the long answer isn't quite so simple.
I recently had a client tell me of a child who had suffered from a broken elbow. The bone had long
since healed, but the child still complained of pain and cried when attempting to move the injured joint.
At first, I thought that maybe the child was milking the situation to get attention and sympathy -- you
know how kids are! But then she mentioned that the child had experienced some numbness and
tingling in some of her fingers and had also experienced some loss of use. To me, this indicates nerve
damage.
First of all, a brief and very simplified explanation of how the body heals itself is that as soon as tissue
is injured, your cells send out the signal that help is needed! Immediately the blood cells bring in
reinforcements to surround the wound with protective fibers to prevent further injury and loss of blood.
The injury is contained. Next, cells are produced that will repair and replace damaged cells. This
process can take days or weeks, depending on what has been injured (bones generally take about 6
weeks). The more serious the wound, the longer it takes to heal. As the healing takes place, the dead
cells need to be disposed of. They are broken down by the T-cells and await transportation to the
bloodstream, where they will be processed and disposed of through the organs of the body.
The bloodstream is the main source of transportation for the cells being brought in and carried out.
The blood sends nutrients and healing properties into the tissue by squeezing them out through the
membrane of the capillaries. By process of osmosis, it picks up the waste that is hanging out in the
tissue and carries it back to the heart, which sends it to the organs for final processing. Unfortunately,
the blood system only picks up about 90% of the waste that is in the tissue. The rest is absorbed by
the lymph system. The lymph vessels run parallel to the blood vessels and pick up the leftovers that
the capillaries leave behind, and then process the waste and debris in your lymph nodes. This is
where the bad cells are destroyed and are carried away to the heart, and then they are dumped into
the blood stream for processing. (Pretty neat, huh?)
This is where massage comes in! The lymph system, unlike the blood system, does not have a pump,
so the fluid moves very slowly. In fact, the only things that move it are gravity and the movement of
your muscles. So if you are immobilized, guess how much the lymph fluid moves? Exactly. Not very
much. Massage can help your body move the waste products into the lymph system and help the
lymph system, in turn, carry it out of the body. This is why you sometimes feel light-headed or
nauseous after a massage -- If your body has to process a lot of waste at one time because it hasn't
done so in a while, it can be a little overwhelming, especially if this is your first massage! Drinking
plenty of water all the time helps prevent this feeling. Drinking water following a massage helps
alleviate it.
Meanwhile, the injured tissue spends some time healing, and then the body breaks down the
protective fiber and carries it away. Sometimes, though, the protective fiber is so strong that it forms a
tough scar. A skilled massage therapist can manipulate the scar tissue and help it to break down so
that the body can dispose of it. When I was younger, I was involved in a motorcycle accident that left
me with a scar on my lip. For a long time afterward, I had a hard knot of tissue in my lower lip that felt
like a rock and it wouldn't go away. I found myself gnawing at it with my teeth frequently, and
eventually the scar tissue broke down and went away. I didn't know it, but I was "massaging" my lip and
helping it to heal. It took a long time; if I'd known proper techniques, I probably could have shortened
that time quite considerably.
In the case of damaged nerve tissue, the story isn't exactly the same. Your nerves are the electrical
wiring of the body. It is a different kind of tissue than blood and muscle. It isn't readily fed by the blood
system and it doesn't have a circulatory system attached to it. Therefore, damage isn't healed quite
as quickly. I have a client who was severely injured in a bicycling accident that broke his pelvis and
damaged the nerves going to his legs. He endured a lot of pain in his leg and a terrible burning and
tingling in one foot. He received a few massage treatments, but started coming to me on a regular
basis when I was in school and needed someone to practice on. He continues to come in for
massages on a regular basis. He reports that in the time he's been coming to me (less than 2 years)
his leg experiences hardly any pain, and the burning in his foot is only occasional, usually when he's
exerted himself (he's an athlete).
So yes, massage is extremely helpful in the healing process. It probably won't happen in just one
session, and may take a long time, depending on the injury. Be prepared to be patient and be
prepared for the healing to take time. Your body will thank you!
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