Denise Mackinnon, RMT
Registered Massage Therapist
Registered Massage Therapist
Helping you achieve health and wellness through massage therapy, self help and other good for you tips and ideas.
How Heat Can Help You Heal
Ever notice how great you feel after relaxing in the sun on a warm day! Heat is truly a powerful thermal agent, and it is one that I just love!
Heat application to a sub-acute or chronic injury can help with pain relief, reduce muscle spasm, increase overall relaxation, increase blood flow, help speed tissue healing, and ease joint stiffness.
Heat can also make collagen tissue (i.e. – scar tissue) more pliable, allowing for passive stretch to help break up adhesions and increase range of motion within a joint.
Although most heating agents do not actually penetrate very deeply into the body, they can cause effects in deeper structures like muscles through reflex mechanisms. (Superficial heating agents such as hot packs penetrate to about a half a centimeter, applied for 6 to 8 minutes, or up to 2 cm with 30 minutes of exposure.) The benefits of heat are greatly increased if you combine it with exercise, so it is a great idea to warm a sore achy shoulder, and then perform some range of motion exercises to help mobilize and really get the blood flowing to the muscles and joints.
It is also great to warm an area up prior to massage, either self-massage or a professional treatment. This aids in relaxing the area, increasing blood flow, and producing an analgesic effect, so the area isn’t as tender while being worked on! The increased blood flow also helps carry away those yucky toxins that are lying around in overworked and/or stagnant tissue, so that your muscles can stay loose and relaxed after, thereby continuing to receive better blood flow and nutrition after the treatment!
Talk about a win-win situation!
So the next time you feel a little achy (as long as you didn’t just injure yourself, and think it might be inflamed – this calls for ice), plop on a hot pack for 15 minutes, then do some self-massage or range of motion exercises and stretching to the area, and feel your pain melt away!
There are amazing options for heat treatment at the clinic, including infrared sauna, and thermal palms heated massage.
Try a 30-minute infrared sauna prior to your massage appointment to heat and relax your entire body, allowing you to let go of any tension you are carrying before the massage treatment even starts! You really get to enjoy your massage this way, and I can work out those knots even better!
A thermal palms heated massage allows for specific heat application to really get the blood flowing in areas that need a little more attention. Focusing heat in certain areas for longer periods allows for deeper penetration, greater relaxation and better release of muscle spasm and trigger points.
Heat application to a sub-acute or chronic injury can help with pain relief, reduce muscle spasm, increase overall relaxation, increase blood flow, help speed tissue healing, and ease joint stiffness.
Heat can also make collagen tissue (i.e. – scar tissue) more pliable, allowing for passive stretch to help break up adhesions and increase range of motion within a joint.
Although most heating agents do not actually penetrate very deeply into the body, they can cause effects in deeper structures like muscles through reflex mechanisms. (Superficial heating agents such as hot packs penetrate to about a half a centimeter, applied for 6 to 8 minutes, or up to 2 cm with 30 minutes of exposure.) The benefits of heat are greatly increased if you combine it with exercise, so it is a great idea to warm a sore achy shoulder, and then perform some range of motion exercises to help mobilize and really get the blood flowing to the muscles and joints.
It is also great to warm an area up prior to massage, either self-massage or a professional treatment. This aids in relaxing the area, increasing blood flow, and producing an analgesic effect, so the area isn’t as tender while being worked on! The increased blood flow also helps carry away those yucky toxins that are lying around in overworked and/or stagnant tissue, so that your muscles can stay loose and relaxed after, thereby continuing to receive better blood flow and nutrition after the treatment!
Talk about a win-win situation!
So the next time you feel a little achy (as long as you didn’t just injure yourself, and think it might be inflamed – this calls for ice), plop on a hot pack for 15 minutes, then do some self-massage or range of motion exercises and stretching to the area, and feel your pain melt away!
There are amazing options for heat treatment at the clinic, including infrared sauna, and thermal palms heated massage.
Try a 30-minute infrared sauna prior to your massage appointment to heat and relax your entire body, allowing you to let go of any tension you are carrying before the massage treatment even starts! You really get to enjoy your massage this way, and I can work out those knots even better!
A thermal palms heated massage allows for specific heat application to really get the blood flowing in areas that need a little more attention. Focusing heat in certain areas for longer periods allows for deeper penetration, greater relaxation and better release of muscle spasm and trigger points.
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Denise Mackinnon, RMT * 2174 Wren Place * Nanaimo, B.C. * V9R 6Y8
Phone: (250) 741-1033
Email: denise@denisemackinnon.com
Phone: (250) 741-1033
Email: denise@denisemackinnon.com