Prevention not cure.
Many of us suffer from constant bad backs, stiff necks , muscle tightness and general aches and pains around the body. It's only when these pains and aches get really bad we decide to go and see a medical professional ( Physiotherapist / Chiropractor / Sports Therapist ).
This often leads to multiple sessions in a short period of time in order to get clients back to full fitness costing both a lot of time and money. For many, seeing a medical professional is often the last resort and only the case if the pain becomes unbearable. However, it is now becoming more common for clients to complete a 'maintenance' based programme which involves consistent treatments throughout the year to drastically reduce the chance of any severe pains and injuries.
Studies have suggested that consistent treatment can help lower the associated symptoms of lower back pain, chronic neck pain, anxiety, improve sleep quality and physical function. (Castro et.al, 2010; Furlan et al, 2015; Sherman et al, 2009.) Many clients at First Choice Therapy now complete a maintenance programme involving massage , joint manipulations , medical acupuncture and trigger point release in order to keep any pains and aches to a minimum allowing them to be pain free consistently. Many clients also seek consistent care after suffering an injury in order to keep it at bay and ensure that their physical health is kept to an optimum.
The prevention of an injury or illness can be very powerful and also aid various aspect of your day to day life. It's clear that consistency over a long period of time is far more beneficial than high volume over short periods and this can be utilised within a therapy context.
References
Furlan, A. D., Giraldo, M., Baskwill, A., Irvin, E., & Imamura, M. (2015). Massage for low‐back pain. Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (9).
Sherman, K. J., Cherkin, D. C., Hawkes, R. J., Miglioretti, D. L., & Deyo, R. A. (2009). Randomized trial of therapeutic massage for chronic neck pain. The Clinical journal of pain, 25(3), 233.
Castro-Sánchez, A. M., Matarán-Peñarrocha, G. A., Granero-Molina, J., Aguilera-Manrique, G., Quesada-Rubio, J. M., & Moreno-Lorenzo, C. (2010). Benefits of massage-myofascial release therapy on pain, anxiety, quality of sleep, depression, and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2011.