Is Massage Therapy Actually Effective for Accident Pain?

Massage therapy can be greatly beneficial to anyone, but especially when it comes to injury rehabilitation after a car accident. It can help speed up the healing process and help prevent re-injury in a variety of ways.

Learn how massage therapy works to aid the healing process from our massage therapy team at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel.

Benefits of Massage

Massage therapy is beneficial even if someone isn’t injured because it can help relax the muscles and relieve tension in the body.

While there is a range of different massage techniques, each is used to manipulate the muscles and tendons to loosen and relax them. In doing so, oxygenated blood can flow through them more efficiently, helping to reduce inflammation and pain.

By reducing inflammation in the muscles, massage also eliminates the pressure that may have been placed on the nervous system, helping your body heal and function optimally.

Ways Massage Can Help Patients Recover from Injuries

In addition to the general benefit of massage, patients who have been injured in a car accident can benefit from massage therapy for the following reasons:

Healthier Muscles

Put simply, a patient’s muscles will be healthier, and circulation will be improved after a massage. During and after a massage, a patient will experience a boost in the interchange between the cells of the muscles and the blood. The result is increased tissue metabolism. This can help the body repair itself.

Drug-Free Pain Relief

Most people may feel the aftereffects of a car accident for days if not weeks after the collision. This can range from aches and pains to severe whiplash. Inflammation is a natural response following any kind of injury, and pain and inflammation go hand in hand.

Massage therapy enables oxygenated blood to flow through the muscles, helping eliminate pain without the use of medication.

Shortened Recovery Time

By manipulating the soft tissues of the body, massage therapy can help car accident patients recover more quickly. Since massage therapy reduces the amount of inflammation in your muscles, they become looser and more relaxed after each treatment. As a result, patients can enjoy better range of motion, enabling them to get back to their daily routine more quickly.

Reduction of Scar Tissue

Scarring is a natural part of the healing process. When injuries occur in the musculoskeletal system, this scarring will occur internally. While you can’t see it yourself, you may be able to feel it. This is because thickened adhesions and collagen fibers can restrict movement and cause pain when you try to use the affected area.

Deep tissue massage has been shown to help break down scar tissue and can even prevent it from forming in the first place. 

Different Types of Massage Therapy

Several kinds of massage therapy can be beneficial for post-accident treatment. Here are a few of the most popular techniques that are used for injury recovery:

• Swedish Massage: The purpose of this massage technique is to relax the entire body. Massage therapists will rub the muscles with long strokes, following the direction that blood takes to get back to the heart.

• Trigger Point Massage: Trigger points are areas within muscle tissue that are tight and cause pain in different areas of the body. This technique is geared toward getting rid of the source of pain. It uses a series of pressure and release maneuvers, during which the patient actively participates by breathing deeply and noting where and how much each trigger point hurts.

• Deep Tissue Massage: This technique is similar to Swedish massage but, as the name implies, it uses deep pressure to help release tension in the body. Deep tissue massage therapists focus on the deepest layers of the muscles and tendons.
• Craniosacral Massage: This technique uses light touch to examine membranes and the movement of fluids in and around the central nervous system to provide pain relief from back pain, headaches, and more after a car accident.

Post-Accident Massage Therapy

If you are in pain after an accident, massage therapy may help! Our massage therapists at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel can create a comprehensive massage plan that includes deep tissue, trigger point, craniosacral, or relaxing Swedish massage to offer pain relief.

Don’t let lasting accident pain affect your daily life. Call Impact Medical Wesley Chapel to schedule an appointment today at (813) 953-1002!