Benefits of Massage for IBS Sufferers
Be realistic about how much a massage will immediately help your IBS; massage won’t stop diarrhea or constipation. It will, however, affect how you manage stress and allow you to relax. Your joints will feel better. Your ability to move will improve. You’ll feel more content, less depressed, and experience fewer aches and pains. All of these are proven benefits of massage. These benefits extend to people of all ages, race and gender. There is even a type of massage suitable for infants; studies show that infants who receive massage become well adjusted and show a great affinity for people. Massage can be related to peeling an onion; the first massage will peel away the outer layer of tension and stress, while subsequent massages will dig deeper.
Swedish Massage Schedule
Here’s a sample schedule of massages that are recommended for you with IBS:
- Week 1: One massage
- Week 2: One massage
- Week 3: One massage
- Week 4: One massage
- Week 5: One massage
- Week 6: No massage
- Week 7: One massage
- Week 8: No massage
- Week 9: One massage
- Week 10: No massage
- Week 11: One massage
- Week 12: No massage
- Week 13: One massage
This schedule applies to the standard Swedish massage, perhaps with a little bit of trigger point work. Trigger points are knots in the muscles. The massage therapist will work them out by pressing and holding. Often, these knots were formed during a difficult time in your life, as a result of tension and stress.
How Trigger Points Relate to Your Emotions
At such a time, it’s likely that your muscles became tense, and the emotions you felt circulated through the blood and accumulated at the point of the tenseness in the muscle. This is why, when the massage therapist touches a trigger point and holds it, the memory of that traumatic event often bubbles up. The practitioner will ask you to take deep breaths, and to relax the area. Usually, the trigger point will disappear and the massage therapist will move on to the next point. To get the most out of your massages with IBS, try trigger point therapy. Everyone, including athletes, get trigger points every once in awhile.
The Right Type of Massage
There are different types of massage that can help eliminate to eliminate trigger points fast. Search for a massage therapist who has designed their own form of massage; mixing several types of massage together in a two-hour session is best. Instead of the above schedule of massages, this was my schedule:
- Week 1: One massage
- Week 2: One massage
- Week 3: One massage
- Week 4: One massage
- Week 5: One massage
- Week 6: No massage
- Week 7: No massage
- Week 8: No massage
- Week 9: One massage
- One massage every subsequent month
They will likely begin with foot reflexology after a footbath, before moving on to Swedish massage, followed by Barefoot massage and/or trigger point massage, finally ending with facial massage. It takes two hours and costs $120. Barefoot massage entails the massage therapist physically using their foot to massage your back, spine, and legs and arms. The massage therapist will do with one foot, not two. One foot is used for support; they will usually hold onto suspension bars from the ceiling to support their weight. Barefoot massage is accelerates the healing process; for me personally, one of these massages is infinitely more effective than any other. Find a good massage therapist. It makes all the difference in the world, especially when they can include three or more massage techniques to will relieve trigger points.