Dr. Troy Dreiling explains why you need to ice after getting a massage.
To try and avoid soreness after a massage, try using an ice pack to help reduce any swelling.
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Video Transcription
Hey, it’s Dr. Troy. I want to talk about icing after a massage.
Many people may experience some soreness after they get a massage, especially if they have been in an auto accident. When you start moving muscle and soft tissue fascia, it’s actually like going to the gym for the first time in 6 months or a year; you wake things up.
So what we recommend is you get out this nice little ice pack, we have these in the office, you put it on the sore area or the stiff area. In the neck you would go 10 minutes, mid-back would be 15 minutes and the lower back you would go 20 minutes. You could ice two to four times a day, I would wait 60 minutes in between applications.
The reason we want to ice is to actually shrink the capillaries. When the capillaries open they create swelling, heat, and redness. What you are feeling is that inflammation process and that ice pack helps reduce the inflammation, helps relax the tissue, and helps you become more flexible because there is not as much swelling and edema. It makes you feel better.
Therapeutic ice is very important. The body takes time to heal, it takes repetition, it’s not a magic bullet. To get your body functioning and feeling better, ice during those flare-ups. Ice during those first few times of getting a massage. Even with adjustments, people can feel that soreness, things starting to free up and feel better that haven’t moved for many years.
This is Dr. Troy on why you should ice.
