Abdominal Massage to Improve Your Health

Abdominal Massage is something we don't talk about enough, yet the area can hold the key to improving your health in many ways. It's an area that can feel quite personal to allow another to touch, especially during pregnancy if we become protective of the belly. Other women absolutely love their belly massage during a pregnancy massage. It's relaxing and can relieve pains they thought they had to deal with. Abdominal Massage has benefits all the way through life and is included in our Infant Massage sequences.

Abdominal Massage may help to:

Improve Breathing

Our big breathing muscle, the diaphragm, is located along the bottom of our ribs. Release of the diaphragm may help relieve tightness or restriction in breathing. In Pregnancy Massage, we aim to create more space for breathing by relieving some tension in the abdominal muscles that are being stretched as baby grows. In Post Natal Massage we work to restore correct breathing patterns after having a growing baby pressing into the area. Many women compensate by breathing with their chest and neck muscles which can lead to pain and tightness in these areas too.

Improve Digestion

Massage may aid in reducing bloating, moving food through the intestines and elimination of gas. Bloating may also cause lower back pain and a full bowel can place pressure on the bladder and pelvic floor which can increase urine leakage symptoms.

Reduce Lower Back Pain

The large hip flexor muscles attach to the spine at the front and connect to our legs. Tightness in these muscles may place pressure on the lower back. To release the hip flexors, we access them through the abdomen and gently ease into the abdomen to assist in their release. The technique is not always comfortable but some minor discomfort can provide wonderful benefits of increased movement and decreased pain.

Release Scar Tissue

Women may go through many surgeries in our lifetime. C-sections, endometriosis surgery, hysterectomy, appendix and many more. Each time surgery may cause scar tissue to form which can adhere to the abdominal wall and other organs. Massage may be able to assist in gently releasing these adhesions, improving movement of the organs and within the body. Scar tissue doesn't just form on the skin but also goes deeper. It may also help to reduce lower back pain as a result of adhesions to the internal abdominal walls.

Diastasis Rectii

Abdominal separation is a normal and natural part of pregnancy. After pregnancy, there may be some separation that remains which requires some time and extra consideration to help heal. During our Post Natal Massage we can show you how to do a simple assessment to check your healing. We not only check the width between the muscle bellies but also the tension of the linea alba. Abdominal massage may help with relaxing the tissues which have been affected by the growing uterus which may assist them to realign and function more efficiently.

Considerations in Pregnancy

In Pregnancy, abdominal massage is safe when performed by a qualified Remedial Massage Therapist. We know what can help, the areas to work on and when to avoid the area. Many of our pregnant women comment that the belly massage is their favourite part. We can even show you how to do some abdominal massage for yourself at home.

To add abdominal massage to your treatment, speak to us about your needs. We may also recommend some abdominal work for you.

... And if you are self conscious of belly fat, please know that we are not here to judge or comment. We are not thinking about fat, we are focused on your tissues and organs.

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Categories: : Remedial Massage