Complaints & connections · borters.ch
Pressure and touch lower muscle tension and act through the nervous system — the effect lasts hours to days and combines well with movement.
Also known as: massage · massage therapy · bodywork
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
In massage the tissue is stroked, kneaded, rolled and pressed with the hands. The classical form works with five basic grips; besides it there are forms with a different focus, such as work on hardened points in single muscles, treatment of the connective tissue or gentle lymph drainage, which is a technique of its own. What happens can be described on several levels: the blood flow of the treated area increases briefly, the muscle tension falls, and the touch itself acts through the nervous system — pleasant pressure damps the passing on of pain and shifts the balance towards calm. It is used for tension, for stress and sleep problems and alongside lasting pain. The effect on muscle tension and wellbeing usually holds for some hours to days, which is why massage is often combined with movement and exercises. In Switzerland classical massage is as a rule not covered by basic insurance; depending on the supplementary insurance and the recognition of the practitioner, part of it is reimbursed.
A short sentence at the start and a second one halfway through are enough. Anyone who grits their teeth tenses up — and then the treatment works against itself.
A one-sided thick, warm, painful leg is not massaged but looked at the same day. That is the most important precaution of all.
The released muscle tension lasts longest if something is done with it afterwards — stretch, walk, strengthen. Massage opens the window, movement keeps it open.
Screen height, breaks, sleeping position, teeth grinding and tension work together. Anyone who treats only the muscles comes back regularly.
Classical massage is as a rule not covered by basic insurance. Whether and how much a supplementary insurance pays depends on the contract and on the recognition of the practitioner — a phone call beforehand saves surprises.
A session typically lasts thirty to sixty minutes. In back and neck pain, reviews show relief that is measurable mainly in the first weeks and merges with the comparison groups after about three to six months. Cortisol falls and heart rate drops during and shortly after the treatment — that is measured, and it explains part of the effect independently of the tissue.
The pressure acts on muscle tension and, through the skin, on the nervous system; a fall in heart rate and cortisol during and shortly after has been measured. What it does not do: flush out “toxins” or lactic acid — lactic acid is cleared an hour after exertion, and toxins in that sense do not exist. The muscle knot does not dissolve, its tenderness falls. With a fresh thrombosis or inflammation, no massage is given.
Usually thirty to sixty minutes on one or more regions of the body, with oil and at an intensity that is agreed. The pressure may be noticeable, but not so strong that one holds one’s breath.
Very forceful grips tend to leave aching muscles and bruises. Pleasant, well-tolerated pressure reaches the same goal — feedback during the session is therefore not politeness but part of the treatment.
Tiredness, thirst and slight muscle ache the next day are common and harmless. Complaints that clearly increase or newly radiate belong reported back.
Over a fresh injury, with a suspected thrombosis, with fever and acute inflammation, on open or infected skin and directly over a freshly operated area. Outside those places there is usually nothing against it.
With pain that lasts months, massage is usually used alongside — with movement, exercises, sleep and, if needed, conversations. It is not intended as the sole measure over a long time.
No value measures a massage. This one stands for the one situation in which no massage is given: a one-sided swollen, warm, painful leg — there a thrombosis is ruled out first.
Likewise a value of caution: fever, an acute inflammation or a reddened, overheated area are reasons to wait with the treatment.
Under blood-thinning treatment bruises form more easily. That does not speak against a massage, but it does speak for gentler pressure — and for saying so beforehand.
A drop in circulation with pallor, sweating and nausea occurs almost only on an empty stomach and while sitting. A small bite beforehand and being treated lying down takes the ground from it.
Having drunk enough lessens dizziness and headache afterwards. That water flushes something out afterwards is a description and not a demonstrated effect — it is sensible anyway.
When a treatment works on muscles, tendons or fascia, the recovery needs building material. That holds for every method that concerns the moving apparatus.
Anyone who quickly gets dizzy at every treatment often has an empty iron store. That is no reason against the method, but a pointer worth taking along.
Magnesium oil and Epsom salt baths are often offered alongside. Barely anything is taken up through the skin — the studies are small and find no change in the blood. What works is the warm water and the half hour of rest.
Clearly effective with proven deficiency, useless without. Take only with a documented deficiency — excess is harmful.
The often-quoted cortisol drop from massage is distinctly smaller in the pooled studies than in the individual papers. What was reliably measured is less tension and better sleep — and that is more honest than a number.
Slow, firm touch stimulates dedicated nerve fibres in the skin that lead to the midbrain. That touch calms is thereby physically described — not merely felt.
Drinking a lot after a massage does no harm but flushes out no waste products — there are none. Anyone thirsty drinks; it is not a must.
Well studied for tension, back pain and stress — with effects lasting hours to days. The frequently mentioned detox afterwards does not exist; drinking does no harm but flushes nothing out.