Back massage is one of the therapeutic ways to help yourself to be relaxed after a demanding day at home and work. Let us learn the different back massage techniques.
1. Effleurage (Smooth rhythmic stroking).
– The Whole Hand Technique. Just before you do the massage, put a small amount of oil into your hands to keep it up, and gently apply smoother rhythmic strokes at the back. It is important to make use of the whole surface of your hands. Use gentle pressure in circular motion starting from the neck going to the lower back region. Follow this process for about 5 to 10 minutes.
– The Hand Heels Technique. In this technique the applied pressure is a little bit deeper. Start at the lower back with both hands and working in circular motion, move outward first and upward. This procedure must be followed for 5 minutes.
2. Stripping. The Reinforced Thumb Technique. Use a deep continuous pressure up to the length of the muscles at the sides of the spine. As you go to the neck area, reduce the pressure a little. Gently and intentionally press the sensitive area and knots from the lower back going to the upper back.
3. Friction. The Reinforced Middle Finger Technique. This technique uses a strong deep movement on the muscles located in the sides of the spine. Start the massage at the lower sides of the spine going upward Five frictions are then applied on every spot and a few more in sensitive parts.
4. Trigger Point Release. With the use of sustained pressure of reinforced thumb, this massage need to depend on the patient’s pain felt by the patient. Use your thumb to apply pressure on the spots according to what the patient told you. Apply pressure on those points; increasing it gradually until the pain reaches 6 or 7 out from the scale of 10. Hold onto the pressure points for a while until the pain decreases to 4 out from the scale of 10. Repeat this process.
5. Effleurage. To finish the process of back massage, apply the effleurage with the fingers, the heel of the hand, as well as the full hand. With the use of these back massage techniques, it would increase the good that you have conducted with the trigger point release. After following all the techniques, leave the patient for several minutes to give him or her to relax.
Back Massage Techniques 