Therapeutic Treatments In Massage Chairs

You can now find a number of helpful therapies contained in today's massage chairs. Technology is enabling more types of therapies to be included into these recliners. They are perfect for home use on a frequent basis. Here are some of the more beneficial therapeutic treatments you can find in a massage chair.

Traction or stretching of the spine helps with greater mobility. Mechanical traction is defined as the application of a mechanical force to the body in a way that separates or attempts to separate the joint surfaces and elongate the surrounding soft tissues. There are a number of ways to accomplish traction.

Spinal traction is used to distract joint surfaces and stretch soft tissues. Joint distraction is defined as the separation of two articular surfaces perpendicular to the plane of the articulation. Traction applied to the spine or spinal traction is performed by some massaging chairs.

A massage chair uses supine segmentation traction. This is a 3-point bending method for spinal traction. It causes tensile stresses in the anterior spinal region directly above the roller. The subject is supine and the rollers push up vertically against the spine. The body weight on each side of the roller (cranial or caudal) is pulling the spine by gravity. The subject's weight towards the surface of the earth, while the rollers push upward in between. The force of the traction is affected by the subject's body weight and the angle of the chair back.

Leg elevation can also be performed by a massage chair. Leg elevation is defined as having the calves in the case of edema above the elevation of the heart. The massage chair is reclined while the leg rest is raised. The patient can adjust the level of the legs at or above the level of the heart.

There are some massages for the cervical spine such as the kneading massage. The kneading massage is a side to side motion performed by the rollers. The rollers use side to side strokes of 3 inches for each roller.

The kneading motion is used for pressure and deeper penetration. It delivers long strokes for the major back and shoulder muscles. The kneading motion helps to elongate the muscle fibers. Elongating the muscle fibers is believed to help reduce muscle tension, increase flexibility and improve blood flow.

Rapid tapping is used to loosen the major back muscles. Massage chairs perform an invigorating tapping massage. The tapping massage is a rapid succession of quick little blows. The rollers gently invigorate the muscles and loosen up the soft tissue areas.

Rapid tapping can help improve blood flow and to relax a muscle group. When the spine is misaligned, then the other muscles must pick up the slack. In addition to their normal load, they must also carry extra weight from a misaligned spine. The tapping massage helps to reduce this tension.