What can help my lower back pain?
However, just because lower back pain is common doesn’t mean it should be tolerated on a daily basis. Massage for lower back pain can provide significant relief for tired, painful, compressed muscles. With targeted massage therapy, lower back pain may be controlled and eased for long-term recovery.

- Dull, aching pain: This can also be accompanied by muscle spasms in the lower back area including the base of the spine, the pelvis, and hips.
- Pain after sitting: Sitting for prolonged periods puts pressure on the disks, causing symptoms to worsen when seated.
- Pain that is worse upon waking up: Many people report lower back pain that is worse when waking up, but often find it subsides after moving around or when changing positions.
If you have lower back pain you may want to try the following:
- stay active and try to continue with your daily activities
- use an ice pack (or bag of frozen peas) wrapped in a tea towel to reduce pain and swelling
- use a heat pack (or hot water bottle) wrapped in a tea towel to relieve joint stiffness or muscle spasms
- resist the temptation to spend prolonged periods in bed
Massage therapy can alleviate lower back pain by reducing muscle tension and inducing a state of relaxation. If you are suffering from lower back why not book a massage now.
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Muscle Cramps Summary
Muscle cramps are painful, a great nuisance but they are a benign condition. (see what are muscle cramps). Their importance is linked to the discomfort and inconvience they cause. Their exact cause is unknown, (see what causes muscle cramps) although they are more likely to occur as we get older and some people are predisposed to getting them. The following contribute to muscle cramps
- Muscle fatigue
- Anything that impairs circulation
- Nutritional factors (see contributing factors & more contributing factors)
- Pregnancy (see muscle cramps in pregnancy)

Guess what science has discovered about back pain …
According to the UK's Office for National Statistics the UK economy loses almost 31 million work days per year which costs the UK economy £14 billion to bad backs, neck & other muscle problems. A bad back is of the most common causes of absence and 80% of p will suffer with people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. At Vitality Therapy we find back pain is something we treat on a regular basis. I know a lot of my clients and potential clients are interested in what the latest scientific research is on how effective massage is for treating back pain, becuase they don't want to waste their time and money if massage isn't going to help them. Until now scientific studies of the effectiveness of massage were conducted in controlled research situations. However in a recent study, a physician sent patients to a massage therapist. The massage therapist designed and provided a series of 10 massage -- at no cost to the patient -- in a clinical treatment environment. This clinical treatment environment mimicks the experience of people who choose to seek massage in the real world. More than 50 percent of those who participated in the study experienced clinically meaningful improvements in their low back pain. The reasearches concluded that the study gives primary care providers (i.e. GPs) the confidence to tell patients with chronic low back pain to try massage, if the patients can afford to do so. References http://www.nhsemployers.org/news/2015/04/bad-backs-cost-the-uk-31-million-days-of-work Elder WG, Munk N, et al, 2017, Real Wold Massage Therapy Produces Meaningful Effectiveness Signal for Primary Care Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: Results of a Repeated Measures Cohort Study, Journal of Pain Medicine, 18(7):1394-1405

Why do your muscles hurt?
The most common reason for booking a treatment with Vitality Therapy is muscle pain due to your"knots". So what do we mean by "knots"? Technically speaking they are either Trigger points (or Myofascial Trigger Points to give them their correct name) or hypertonic muscles. There are six key elements that cause acute or chronic muscle pain:
- Ischemia: the lack of blood flow to soft tissues that causes hypersensitivity to touch.
- Hypertonic muscles: very tense muscles or muscle spasms.
- Trigger points: highly irritated points and bands in the muscles that refer pain to other parts of the body.
- Nerve entrapment/compression: pressure on a never by soft tissue, cartilage or bone.
- Postural distortions: imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting from poor posture while siting at a desk.
- Bio-mechanical distortions: imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting in faulty movement patterns e.g. poor sports techniques.

