Why Is Homecare Important?
You may have heard your Mels Massage therapist talk to you about homecare or homework after your massage. This is an important part of your treatment, as your therapist will probably have a treatment plan that will include sessions that doesn’t just end after 50 minutes is up.
Your Mels Massage therapist may have discussed with you where they feel they can help and what sort of treatment techniques and possible exercises can be done at home. As well as what the benefits of these are.
Some techniques used by the therapist will require some self-care from you to ensure the treatment has the maximum effect possible. For example, after receiving trigger point therapy, your therapist will ask you to apply heat to the treated area (usually in the form of a heat pack). You may also be given a stretch for the particular muscle or area for you to do between treatments. These instructions help muscle fibres realign properly during the muscle’s recovery phase. It also ensures that the toxins that were released along with the trigger point therapy are adequately flushed away.
Common Homecare Instructions
Drinking Water
Drinking water is always important. Drinking lots of water after your massage will help rehydrate muscles and also help flush any excess toxins from your system that the massage has released.
Stretching
Another frequent therapist request is to stretch, at home, after a deep tissue massage. This can help ensure that the muscle fibres realign correctly and can help reduce muscle soreness and increase recovery time.
Not Doing Strenuous Activities
Your therapist may ask you to not do any strenuous activities like heavy training or going to the gym or doing any heavy lifting, etc. After a deep tissue massage, these sort of activities can have a negative effect on the work done. They can cause your muscles to go back to the way they were before the massage or even create other injuries.
Exercises
You may also be given exercises to compliment your treatment. Your therapist will explain why they believe the certain exercise will be of benefit to you particular situation and will most definitely be there to maximise the results.
If you have any questions regarding your Homecare, please talk to your Mels Massage Therapist.