Abdominal Massage
By Krista Jones, LMT
Has your massage therapist ever made the suggestion to incorporate the abdomen in your session to help with certain muscular dysfunctions going? Why would one even get their stomach massaged? There are a host of reasons and benefits why abdominal massage is such a great addition to your massage treatments.
What are the benefits of abdominal massage?
- Aids in alleviated certain gut related pains and constipation.
- Reduces tension related to Stress, Anxiety and Emotions
- Relief from certain low back pains or referral pains from abdominal muscles
- Supports the immune system
- Relief from PMS pains
- Assists with proper posture and injury prevention
- Aids with relaxation in pregnancy
The abdomen. Our belly. The core of our body and the seat of our emotions. There is much involved in this space of our body yet it is sometimes overlooked when getting a massage. There is often no conscious correlation between pain and discomfort in other parts of our body in relation to the abdomen. However, with the stomach being the center of our body, there is much relation to issues arising in the stomach region and its referral or impacts on the rest of our body from a muscular view point.
In my years as a massage therapist, when I recommend abdominal massage I have yet to have a client regret adding this to their sessions. Abdominal massage differs from massage on the rest of the body as the work is much lighter and more gentle. Draping is done in a secure comfortable manner to allow access to the abdomen from the top of hip bone to the bottom rib cage. The client’s ability to utilize their breath is an important part of abdominal massage so there is often participation of the client to help assist in work with the abdomen through breath work. Breathing activates the diaphragm which rests in the cavity beneath our lungs and in the rib cage. Full motion of the diaphragm acts like a massage to the organs, lungs and lymphatic system which assists in proper function of these organs and systems. It’s understandable why we deal with digestive issues when we are stressed or full of anxiety as we often have shorter, quicker, shallower and less effective breathing as we are holding or not fully utilizing our diaphragm. The restricted diaphragmatic breathing leads to tension and holding in our gut and lungs. Breathwork is vital in stress and anxiety management. If we can relax the tensions in the muscles of the abdomen the rest of our body often follows suit without much effort.
Our abdomen has 4 main external muscles and 3 main deep muscles as well as the diaphragm. All which play big parts in the function of our core stability. We often focus on doing workouts centered on the muscles in this region to help keep our core stability optimal yet in massage we focus on all the other muscles in our body and often forget to even acknowledge these powerhouse muscles. Sometimes the pains we have in our upper/lower back, hips, front thigh, and glutes are pains from dysfunction going on in the abdominal cavity muscles. I will usually recommend abdominal massage if certain pain patterns correlate with referral patterns of the stomach muscles or if certain pain areas are not responding to other methods and could be related to stomach muscles or gut health such as constipation. Below are diagrams of the muscles of the abdominal cavity.
In some cases there might be pains related to gut health that need medical attention, in which your massage therapist may refer you to your doctor before any further massage treatments. This can include kidney stones/infection, liver/gallbladder issues, or potential heart issues. See Image below for referral patterns of organ related health issues. I had a client once that had persistent mid back pain that massage was not relieving. Knowing this region related to the kidneys I recommended this client check in with his doctor promptly, only to hear back that he had a kidney infection and the persistent mid back pain was his only symptom. This was also why massage was not relieving the pain. Most pains in the referral regions are not related to organ dysfunction and often are simply muscle related pains. However, if your massage therapist recommends having a check up with your doctor to rule out any major health issue, it’s better safe to do so.
Prior to abdominal massage your massage therapist will discuss if massage here is beneficial. There are some health related reasons the abdomen should be avoided such as:
-Recent abdominal surgery
-Stomach ulcers
-Ovarian cysts
-Certain GI disease
-Hernias, Aneurysms, Tumors
-Certain Heart conditions
Abdominal massage is such a beneficial, relaxing and excellent addition to your massage treatments. You might be surprised by how much the rest of your body positively responds to relaxation of the abdomen.
In my sessions, I will usually show my clients how to do self massage on their own abdomen at home, as well as breathwork techniques.
If you feel like giving abdominal massage a try in your next massage treatment feel free to inquire with our Massage Therapists here at KLorraine Salon, Spa and Boutique! We look forward to assisting you in your wellness and gut health journey!
