Restructuring the Shoulders

Massage therapy can have a lasting impact on your posture. Our client shown here often has issues with her shoulders tightening and lifting (a common result of everyday stress). As a result, she suffers from tension headaches and upper back pain. Our goal here was to help her get her shoulders back to proper position, which in turn reduces the occurrence of headaches and allows her to engage her muscles appropriately in her bodybuilding and figure competitions.

Sitting at a computer or driving for long periods of time without the stretch and strengthen balancing act can cause intense shortening of the body's anterior (front) upper body muscles. Specifically, your pecs, deltoids, serratus muscles and front neck muscles. Although you feel the strain in the posterior aspect of the body, the front muscles absolutely MUST be addressed on top of working the posterior back and neck to promote long-term results. The body is 3-dimensional friends. Make sure your massage therapist understands this concept!

Other things you can do aside from soft tissue therapy to alleviate upper back and neck pain is the stretch regularly and get yourself a decent roller (Jessika likes softer foam rollers, but to each their own).

Have a great weekend!