Have you ever noticed that barefoot massage therapists and their clients talk about barefoot massage like it’s something even better than massage? There’s a reason for that! For all the claims we make about it being great for pain and stress, sometimes we forget to talk about why we believe our work is head and shoulders above the rest.
First, we stand on the table while we work so we are literally, physically “head and shoulders” above most other therapists. Second, barefoot massage is, by its very nature, deep tissue massage.
Because we have access to all of our body weight when applying pressure, we are uniquely positioned to offer a targeted and much deeper deep tissue experience than a hands-on massage therapist can deliver.
Good News!
Research supports what we barefoot massage therapists already know. A 2011 study by Romanowski, Romanowska, and Grzeskowiak compared the effects of Therapeutic Massage techniques to Deep Tissue Massage techniques for chronic low back pain. It found that Therapeutic Massage techniques were good, but Deep Tissue Massage techniques offered significantly greater results in pain relief.
In case you want to dig down into the numbers or the very specific techniques that comprise Therapeutic versus Deep Tissue massage, you can read A Comparison of the Effects of Deep Tissue Massage and Therapeutic Massage on Chronic Low Back pain here or the full study can be found here.
And yes, we can do all those things with our feet. Excepting the parts about fingers, we just use a different part of our foot to accomplish the techniques they’re referring to in the study. Our training also teaches us how to very carefully and specifically use our body weight and feet to safely access muscles, tendons, and ligaments to deliver a very deep pressure massage.
And this isn’t the only study that shows massage therapy is good for low back pain. Another study comparing massage therapy versus relaxation techniques concluded that massage therapy is effective in reducing pain, stress hormones and symptoms associated with chronic low back pain. It also found that massage therapy improves range of motion in the same study.
It’s great to see more research being conducted on massage therapy and its benefits. It’s even better that we finally have scientific proof that massage therapy works!
#barefootmassagechallenge #barefootmassage Center for Barefoot Massage
Sharon Bryant at Harvest Moon Massage Therapy
is Decatur’s Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage Therapist!