Why your Massage Therapy results may not be lasting as long as they could

“I carry my stress in my neck and shoulders.”
“I clench my teeth when I’m stressed.”
“My neck felt good after a massage, but after a few days of work it’s tight again.”
As a Massage Therapist, I hear statements like these from my clients regularly. Why do our
upper traps get so sore and tight, despite our best efforts to stretch or go for regular massage
therapy treatments? Why does the tension in our jaw seem to build up so quickly, when we just
had acupuncture a few days ago? We get so caught up in trying to fix the signs and symptoms,
we tend to neglect one of the root causes of the problem; our stress.
Stressors include any physical or physiological stimulus that disrupts the body’s homeostasis
(internal balance). General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) is a term to describe three stages the
body goes through as it processes stress; the Alarm reaction stage, the Resistance stage, and
the Exhaustion stage. In the Alarm stage, our body goes into a state of fight, flight, or freeze.
The sympathetic nervous system releases epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) into the
blood stream and in response the heart rate quickens, the respiratory-rate increases, muscles
increase their tone, and blood vessels to the limbs narrow, directing more blood flow to the core.
Your body responds with a physiological readiness to face whatever challenge is being
perceived.
Imagine for a moment, you are afraid of snakes. You are hiking in the bush and you come
across a snake on the path. Before you even think about what’s happening, you’re 5 paces back
the way you came (Alarm reaction stage). Your brain doesn’t know if it is poisonous or not, it
simply reacts in order to keep you safe. You continue on the trail, carefully stepping around the
snake, your heart still beating a little faster than usual, muscles slightly tensed and ready to
jump out of the way as needed. The body will continue releasing epinephrine, all its systems
remaining in their state of heightened response, until the stressor has passed. Once the
stimulus is no longer present, the heart rate comes down, the breathing returns to normal, and
the muscles relax. This is called the Resistance stage. If the stressor remains, the body adapts
to handle it. Stress hormones are continually released resulting in continuation of the
physiological symptoms mentioned previously (increased heart rate, muscle tension, etc.).
Proceeding with our hiking analogy; you continue on and suddenly you’re startled by a s-shaped
green-brown snake look-alike. You jump back before you realize it is in fact, a stick. The same
reaction, but a completely different stimulus. You complete your hike, encountering many more
snakes and snake-shaped sticks. You’re irritated, not enjoying the scenery, and over time the
combination of the emotional stress of your fear of snakes, and the physical stress of hiking
leads you into the 3rd stage of GAS: Exhaustion.
Our bodies are well-equipped to handle challenges and stressors in the day to day, however
chronic stress often comes along with chronic muscle tension, and a host of other maladaptive
bodily processes. If we were to approach the hiking scenario as we so often approach our
muscle tension, many of us would try stretching out our muscles to try to reduce our tension as
the snakes slither by and wonder why we don’t feel any better.
A study done in 2014 showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction resulted in decreased
pain in clients with tension headaches (Omidi & Zargar, 2014). If you find yourself struggling to
maintain reduced muscle tension, take a moment to reflect on your stress levels and consider
addressing them as well. Do some deep breathing, take some time to be grateful, make an
appointment with a psychotherapist, or do more of what you love. You may be surprised at how
much of a difference it can make.