Self-care Maintenance as Preventative Care

Self-care is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.

When Massage Therapy as self care is discussed it can sometimes be perceived as

overindulgent, something that people with expendable income have access to but not available

to everyone. When in reality, massage therapy plays an active role in protecting one’s own

well-being, physically and mentally. It is unfortunate that in our society, the hustle and bustle of

our day-to-day lives take precedence over our own health and the vast majority leave self care

to remediate an issue, as opposed to preventing it. Our society leans on diagnostic medicine,

treating issues when they have already come into fruition, but if we take a preventative

approach, we are giving ourselves the best opportunity in defending against health issues.

Environmental, physical and emotional stressors can lead to disease, disability and injury if not

managed with prevention. Many diseases lie dormant and only develop after a period of intense

stress. Many stressors are unavoidable but if we create a self care protocol and learn to

manage the stressors of life, at times of great stress we are better prepared to cope. This does

not mean that disease and disability are completely avoidable, there are environmental factors,

genetic predisposition, disease agents, and lifestyle choices that contribute to our risks of

becoming ill. It just means that if we create healthy habits and build routines that include self

care, when presented with a physical, emotional, and mental challenge, we are prepared to take

action in caring for one’s self based on the healthy habits ingrained in our routines.

The key to a maintenance protocol is to create a routine that manages the inevitable stressors

our bodies experience before they become problematic. For instance, someone who works in

an office environment and sits or stands at a computer for 8-10 hours a day is predisposed to

postural changes, tension headaches, and inhibited muscle groups(lack of muscle recruitment

due to weakness and muscle imbalance). If not managed with physical movement, manipulation

and release to hyperirritable muscles, and stretching and lengthening of shortened muscles,

body dysfunction, such as: hyperkyphosis, carpal tunnel, thoracic outlet syndrome, to name a

few, become a much bigger issue. The treatment protocol to manage these disorders is much

more intensive, expensive, and time consuming and in reality, requires a great deal of

commitment in order to remediate the issues. This also applies to the uber active athlete or

anyone who lives an active lifestyle and places the body under stress with regular engagement.

Whether sport or workout, the body is predisposed to repetitive strain injuries, muscle strains

and sprains, and joint dysfunction. Without proper warm up, stretching and release to muscles,

injury is a possibility but is easily preventable. Another example is chronic issues such as:

disease, disorder and old injury. Chronic pain is associated with the pain cycle.

When an individual feels pain, our bodies react accordingly. However when pain is felt for a

prolonged period of time, the cycle continues, and requires immense work and dedication to

break the cycle. Chronic pain is defined as long standing pain that persists beyond the usual

recovery period. Massage therapy can be an amazing way to assist the nervous system in

breaking that cycle, by helping to alleviate pain, decrease muscle tension, increase circulation,

disperse inflammation, and therefore assisting in functional pain-free movement.

Massage therapy is so much more than having the body “rubbed down” to decrease tension, it

is so much more than “injury ➡️ massage area ➡️ fix the problem”. It is a gateway to more self

care rituals and an introduction of how the body is capable of feeling. It is a moment in our busy

lives to receive care, to be nurtured, to quiet the mind and really listen to what is going on

internally. It is an opportunity for our nervous system to down regulate into the parasympathetic

branch of our autonomic nervous system, meaning “rest and digest”, a crucial component to

healing and breaking boundaries of chronic pain. To incorporate regular treatments into your

routine, you are opening up opportunities to ground, to connect, and to give compassion to

yourself. You have one body in this lifetime, and this life is short. Dedicate moments to yourself

to make this life as beautiful as possible.

A maintenance protocol has to be accessible and available to you, otherwise breaking habits

and schedules becomes reality. Obviously a massage on a weekly or monthly basis would be

amazing but isn’t accessible to everyone. Find what is accessible to you, discuss with your

therapist a treatment protocol that suits your needs and allows you to maintain the routine. I

suggest pre-booking your treatment plan in order to have the standing appointments. This

creates accountability. It is much easier to re-book an appointment than remember to book in at

appropriate maintenance intervals throughout the year.

“And I said to my body, ‘I want to be your friend.’ It took a long breath. It replied, ‘I have been

waiting my whole life for this.” - Nayyirah Waheed