​If you’re a person of this age, then you would have seen many things come and go through life, including changes within your body. 

We have found our 18 year olds with 52 years’ experience to be our most endearing and well respected clients, and we always look forward to their interaction – especially the stories we are told. 

You see touch and physical contact is still important to people, and it is something that can be lost quite quickly especially when living in isolation.  We care about making sure you are doing OK and want to know what is going on for you and if we can assist with gentle massage.

​It is well known that exercise can help with the management of chronic pain, but it is often met with uncertainty of what to do.  Sometimes homework given in the form of physical activity just does not happen.  So when the words, "you must do these exercises" come out of the mouth of health professionals, what goes through your mind?

• Is it met with enthusiasm?
• Does it cause you to run a mile?  Or,
• Do you bury your head pretending you are exempt from anything physical.

 
Being prescribed exercises for your rehabilitation are given from Health professionals who have the best interests at heart -  they want you to get better.  But what happens if there is a mismatch?

As the weather gets warmer, so does the aim to get out and about and ENJOY the weather! If you have taken to hibernation this winter the best advice is ‘steady as she goes’ – gradually building your fitness up over time is the key to reducing injury. When you are starting out on an exercise regime it is a good idea to know how to appropriately load the body so that it can adapt to the increased forces you are now asking of it. 
 
Load does not just mean the amount of weights you lift, it also can be the amount of activity you do a week, how long you do it for (duration), how fast or slow you do it (speed) and we also have to remember adequate rest – the most important part of load management where you make your biggest gains.

If you suffer from things such as cardiovascular issues or you are new to exercise? It is always a good idea to check in with the doctor and get a W.O.F before embarking on any exercise programme.

Persistent Pain

Your pain is real, 100%. When acute injuries occur we now understand danger messages are sent through to the spinal cord and up to your brain. It is here your brain evaluates “how dangerous is this really” and if the brain believes it is dangerous enough it will have the outcome of pain and will conclude you need to do 
something about it – taking action to protect that area.

Becoming more sensitive

Some pain can be considered an ‘everyday’ experience. For example, let’s look at a netball player, they can have an overzealous contact with another player to contest the ball, which can send them spiraling onto the court straight onto their hip or, a weird catch of the ball could have really hurt a finger or thumb. Despite these ‘hurts’ they would have shrugged it off and continued to play on.

How we come to feel and experience pain

In Part 1 we touched on the necessity of pain and how it is essential to our survival – our own alarm system which lets us know we have been hurt somewhere on our body. 

We all know when we experience pain it is an unpleasant experience but did you know it is also a sensory and emotional experience.

Pain is an unpleasant experience, even more so when it becomes persistent. 

You may not like experiencing pain but the reality is pain’s a normal part of life and is essential to our survival.  Pain occurs when the brain perceives damage or there is a threat of damage to the body and it wants action. 

Massage can certainly relax you, but did you know massage therapy can do more than that.

​Here are 3 good reasons why regular massage is good for the mind and body and why you should book an appointment...

1. Lessens Anxiety and Depression = Less Stress!

Stress is a fact of life but being stressed out is not.  Regular massage into your working week helps you to keep stress levels in check – be it from work deadlines, extremely busy schedules, exams or personal circumstances.  
Stress from sitting all day often manifests in the shoulders and neck.  Be aware that long term postural stress can start appearing as low back pain and into your gluteal muscles.  Massage can counteract all the sitting that you do as it works on your body’s nervous system by decreasing the feelings of bodily tension and tightness, at the same time increasing the feel-good hormones serotonin and oxytocin. 
​Clients often report a sense of clarity and perspective, and they are impressed by how massage not only improving their ability to move better but also gives them a restful sleep.

2. As part of your fitness routine

There is nothing quite like the feeling you get after a good deep tissue massage, and elite athletes would think of this as unmissable and crucial to their training programme.  Whether you are training hard at Olympic level, are a regular gym goer or an office worker, everyone is likely to experience discomfort or tight muscular pain at some point.  Massage keeps your muscles supple allowing you to move better. It is a great preventative for injury and can also prevent the onset of fatigue especially if you are undertaking a high volume of training with little rest.  Add in the feel-good benefits and you have yourself a recipe for a successful performance.

3. Treating Pain
If you have headaches, discomfort through arthritis, or an injury, massage therapy can help.  Massage is a drug free, non-invasive treatment.  Massage can be very helpful in alleviating pain and discomfort by increasing blood flow and circulation to the area providing the tissues with much needed nutrition, aiding in your recovery.  Massage has been shown to be just as successful as other treatments with lower back pain. 

Massage can help relax and decrease stress, be incorporated into your fitness routine for better performance or used as drug free pain relief improving your well-being and ultimately that goal for better quality of life. 

Proof you have pushed yourself

Can’t hold your arm up high enough to brush your teeth? Getting up off the couch and taking that first step a bit ‘ouchy’? Chances are you’ve pushed yourself a bit further than your body is accustomed to and you’re in a lot of pain, so congratulations on your workout and we wish you the best of luck walking down the stairs for the rest of the week!!

What is DOMS?

DOMS stands for delayed onset of muscle soreness and it’s got stealthy tactics.  Essentially 6-8 hours post exercise you’ll start feeling it and it will definitely be felt when it peaks around the 48 hours mark, even more so if you’ve performed anything eccentric.  "Eccentric" is when your muscle is contracting at the same time it is being lengthened. For example you walk up a steep hill and you have sore calves, or run downhill and your hammies and glutes are sore, leg day 'can't get off the toilet' or after several bouts of lowering yourself slowly under control from a pull up, you pretty much feel sore everywhere! (let's be honest).

Why does it happen?

Exercise places a large amount of stress on muscle tissue. Microscopically that stress has resulted in “micro tears” that is accompanied by inflammation (part of the healing process) which causes your pain.  

Should I be worried?

Not at all. The aches and pains you are experiencing should be minor. It is a tell-tale sign your muscles are adapting, so take it as encouragement you have had a good work out!!

Will I ever be at the stage where I will not get DOMS?

Yes – if you don’t challenge your body you won't get any adaption in strength and fitness so you won't suffer any pain but you will in plenty of other ways (that's a different topic altogether).  We all want to be awesome, so really the answer is No.  No one is ‘immune’, it affects the weekend warriors to elite athletes.  I guess this is where the "no pain, no gain" comes from in exercise (not massage by the way) - essentially the stronger you get the more inclined you are to go harder, which will result in DOMS but that’s what you want.

Is there anything that can help me? What can I do?

There is nothing proven to stomp DOMS out, but here are some #topnotchtips to help alleviate that soreness.

1. Keep it up – regular exercise will diminish that soreness as your muscles will adapt and become stronger.  But there is a catch, if you challenge your muscles again or too soon you will experience DOMS.

2. Do a proper cool down – No I am serious do a proper cool down. 10 minutes max will do it, choose anything such as a light jog, or a walk and then finish with specific stretches targeting the muscles you have just used.

3. Active recovery – Do a lighter workout THE NEXT DAY, keep that bod’n’motion so to speak, and it is crucial you can talk and hold a conversation whilst you are doing this workout so that you keep it 'light'. 

4. Get a sports massage. Come and see us at Top Notch, we regularly see people who are suffering from DOMS post exercise – we assist in the recovery process by reducing your pain.  Massage reduces soreness when performed 2 hours post exercise (Hilbert, Sforzo, & Swensen (2002) & Ernst. E. (1998)). 

References:
1. Hilbert, J. E., Sforzo, G. A., & Swensen, T. (2002). The effects of massage on delayed onset muscle soreness. British Journal of Sports Medicine (37) 72-75. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.37.1.72
2. Ernst. E. (1998). Does post-exercise massage treatment reduce delayed onset muscle soreness? A systemic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine (32) 212-214