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What is Pain?
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Your body is a magnificent machine. From the top layer of the skin to the smallest cell, your body
is a wonderful mystery of form and function. Well, it's not a complete mystery. We actually know
quite a bit about many of the machinations of the body. Thankfully, one of the things we know
about is physical pain.
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Physical pain is the way the body tells the brain that something is not quite right. While we
may not necessarily know that a given action will produce a pain response, the body's defense
mechanism instantly sends out a red alert from pain receptors to the spinal cord and onto the brain.
In many cases, the body then goes into healing mode applying all it's tricks (and there are plenty)
to hopefully relieve the cause of the pain and repair whatever damage has taken place.
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In relation to massage, pain is generally viewed as acute, subacute, or chronic. While the medical
definitions of these stages of pain as a result of a medical condition other than muscle stress may
vary, for the purposes of massage, the following offers a general overview of the duration of the
pain.
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Acute or Chronic?
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Acute pain lasts from 0-24 hours. There are many causes of acute pain. It could be the result of
putting your body through a movement for which it wasn't prepared (such as lifting a heavy object
while simultaneously turning to the side). Or it could be the result of strain or tension in a
muscle over a prolonged period of time (such as holding your cell phone to your shoulder by pushing
against it with your ear).
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Subacute pain lasts from 25-48 hours. The emergency situation that initially caused the pain has
been somewhat relieved. The body is still in the process of trying to heal the affected muscles,
but it has hopefully stabilized.
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Chronic pain is basically anything that lasts longer than 48 hours. Generally speaking, acute pain
involves one to a few muscles. The longer the pain persists, the number of muscles that become
involved increases. These additional muscles may then develop acute pain. Depending upon how long
the pain persists, other areas of the body may be affected (for example, above or below the
original acute pain and sometimes even on the other side of the body as the body compensates and
sometimes attempts to guard against continued stress).
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Massage and Pain
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Massage is often very effective in reducing chronic pain that has its origin in either muscles or
tendons. By applying different techniques, massage is able to:
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¤ relax the body (more specifically the injured area),
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¤ increase blood circulation to the area,
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¤ improve range of motion,
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¤ promote scar tissue to form properly,
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¤ and reincorporate the injured muscles into a more cohesive relation
with your body.
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