So, this is a question I get all the time.
As a massage therapist, I don’t think of backs or any part of the body as being bad. It’s just not a very effective way for me to approach a session. When I’m asked this question, it’s often an indication that the client is experiencing pain or discomfort in that area. So, I prefer to ask clients to rate their pain levels on a scale of 1-10.
The Pain Level Question
The pain level question is a more effective way to assess the condition of one’s pain. It allows for me to correlate feel of one’s back to pain level. This is particularly useful information because it’s very different from person to person. For example, someone’s back maybe hard to the touch on one person and cause pain but on another person absolutely no pain. There are many factors that contribute to this: lifestyle, autoimmune disorders, activity levels and so on.
Pain levels associated with touch are also a good indication of how often one should be receiving massage. The higher your perceived number is a good indication that you should be getting massage much more regularly and sessions closer together. As that pain level starts to lower then you can spread out your sessions. The lower the pain level means you can come less often.
Other Things You Can Do For Back Pain
Of course massage isn’t the only thing you can do to help your pain. You can do things like adding more physical activity to your routine, stretching, foam rolling, drinking water, eating less inflammatory foods to improve your condition.
My goal as a massage therapist is to make you feel better than when you came in. I do this by asking, “What do you want to work on today?”. My goal is never to compare you to other clients. Everyone’s body is different and unique to them. Bodies change regularly. Therefore, I approach every session from a goal oriented perspective.
A good massage for back pain is a Myofascial release session.