All around us we find the need for maintenance to take care of the things we use.
Door hinges begin to squeak. Shirt buttons begin to feel loose. The shower drains a little slower. A few weeds start to pop up in the flower beds.
We take care of those things when they are small and get our attention. It keeps them working properly and prevents them from becoming a larger problem that we are forced to deal with at an inconvenient time. We don’t want the door to become stuck (especially the bathroom door), or a button to pop off a shirt at work.
Do the same thing for your body with massage.
The little pains you have don’t get better on their own. They tend to get worse.
That little neck pain that you are starting to have will make your neck tighter and tighter. Your normal range of motion can decline, making it difficult or painful to turn your head. You may start to develop constant headaches since the neck muscles are attached to the back of your head, causing the muscles on your head to get tighter and squeeze it.
An irritating pain in your leg will cause you to compensate for it. You will change how you walk, stand, sit, and do normal daily activities. Since you are making other muscles adjust from what they should be doing to avoid pain, those muscles will then begin to hurt. Foot pain can make you change how you walk and will impact the knee and hip joints along with all of the muscles if both legs and can cause back pain.
We take care of the things we use that are important to us. We want them to be useful and productive for as long as possible. Do the same for your body. Many things we use and take care of can be replaced, but your body is not one of them.
Barry is a licensed Massage Therapist at Main Street Massage in Hudson, Ohio. Find out more about him, his business, and massage at www.HudsonMassageTherapy.com
I think we’re in sync… I wrote a similar post today. 🙂 Thanks for the healthy “nudge.”