Massage Chairs Weaken Lower Lumbar Pain
Our backs take the majority of the weight of the body. The spine is designed to distribute the weight of the body evenly across the spine. However, some activities or even an injury can cause the weight to be concentrated on a small part of the spine. This is usually concentrated in the lower back. The muscles become tired with the weight and will tighten up causing discomfort and pain. Massage chairs are being used to help loosen these muscles and help to re-align the spine.
Prevention of low back pain is important to help avoid problems down the road. There are a number of things to keep in mind to prevent back pain from occurring. Prevention requires that you take action before the symptoms of low back pain appear. One of the first items to be aware of is how to protect your back when undertaking various activities. The most often overlooked areas are lifting, sitting and standing.
The first areas of prevention are making sure you use correct posture when standing, sitting and lifting. These 3 activities constitute the highest percentage of injuries to the lower back. If you stand, for example, you should hold your head up high and your shoulders should be back. No slouching. If you slouch then the weight is being concentrated in the lower back which fatigues the muscles.
Another area of prevention is your posture when sitting. We spend a lot of time sitting and if we do not sit correctly, then it impacts the health of your back negatively. For instance, if you slouch forward, then this places more strain on the upper back to compensate. This can be corrected instantly by putting your shoulders back and sitting upright. This prevents the concentration of force which through time can help to misalign the back.
What about activities that involve lifting. Learning proper lifting techniques are important. When you pick up heavier items, they can do more damage to your back. Heavier items have more mass and require more effort which puts more strain on your back. When lifting items, it is critical to use your legs. Bend your knees and let your legs do the lifting, not your back.
Another area of prevention is warming up and warming down prior to and after physical activities. Many injuries occur due to improper warm up before activities. The muscles and the body are cold and inflexible. When strain is put on them, they do not have the elasticity required and may cause an injury. Massage chairs help the body to warm up and warm down before and after activities.
A massage chair can help adjust the spine with the use of a rolling massage. A rolling massage uses the rollers to go up and down the spine. As the rollers pass each vertebrae, they apply a slight traction that flexes the soft tissues which helps to make them more flexible. This is especially relieving when they are tight and stiff.
One excellent therapeutic program on many massage chairs is the Shiatsu massage program. The Shiatsu technique originally comes from Japan and uses acupressure points as well as certain pressure techniques to relax the body. This massage is invigorating and provides soothing relief for the whole body.
One of the newer functions being integrated into massage chairs are traction systems. These traction systems can stretch the upper body including the arms and shoulders. Other traction systems are for the lower body which stretches the hips, thighs, knees and ankles. These systems will stretch out these muscle groups helping to improve range of movement by increasing the flexibility of muscles.
If you have back pain, then a massage chair may be an important compliment to your overall health and wellness plan. Prevention is certainly the best medicine. However, if you are affected by low back pain, then finding the right treatments is paramount to proper recovery. A massage chair can help you both on the prevention side and on the recovery side.
Check out different Massage Chairs for Back Pain and find what is best to suit your needs. There are a wide variety of massage therapies and supplemental treatments as well which make for a holistic experience. Peruse our extensive library of our Massage Chair Reviews covering as many models as we have tried.