Deep Tissue Massage Therapy for Full Upper Back, Pain Relief Instructional Massage Tutorial

this video is made possible by our loyal patreon supporters visit patreon.com psychetruth hi guys thank you for joining us today I'm going to be doing a massage for my husband Lee and we're going to be doing an upper back massage and I'm going to Dive Right In so I really like to start with compressions um before I go in with my oil a lot of the time it's just a nice way to kind of introduce your touch um and also kind of get a better idea of what's going on with your client not doing anything fancy here just working my way into this trapezius little bit and uh of seeing how everything feels like to start with um a more broad pressure and then kind of go in with something more detailed and a pencer grasp is a great way if you're doing trap work especially it's just a great warmup technique before adding any oil so just grabbing hold of these um the upper trap in the levator and just [Music] squeezing um if you only have like 5 minutes with somebody who's struggling with upper back pain or shoulder pain this is an excellent way to increase circulation get some fresh blood in [Music] here so with this penser grasp you just want to be careful of pinching skin you want to make sure that you're directly on muscle you don't really have to worry about it till the end [Music] [Music] and I'm going to go ahead and go in with some um more specific uh compression work I just really like using my forearm for this kind of [Music] work it can feel kind of awkward to um um start a massage like this I just like to do something you know from this side of the table where I can really do [Music] something not specific just getting my client used to my touch a little bit but I'm being careful of using too much pressure here I'm just trying to warm up everything so I'm not using my elbow as much as um like you know maybe a third of my forearm so I work my way around the [Music] scapula and um when I do upper back work I do like to include working these erector muscles as well just cuz it's also connected so with these erector muscles I'm working my way in towards the spine I'm not really pressing like down as much as in one thing you do need to be careful of when you're working like this is that you have a wide enough stance so that you're not arching um or collapsing in your low back rather so you want to be working from your core have a nice neutral position in that spine and just a brief warm up on this side doing the same thing kind of throwing that a Rector work in after I get a better idea of this trap this upper [Music] trap and going just working my way in towards the spine not just pressing down on these erector [Music] spiny and I talk a lot my videos about working organically so you know just cuz you went you know you did two passes on this side doesn't mean you have to do it the exact same way on the opposite side sometimes the hardest part for me is like scaling back and not going in too quickly with deep tissue especially when I'm using my forearm and my elbow this is really um a nice way to warm up too without oil cuz I have a really nice firm grip on the skin so I'm not sliding around a whole lot really focusing on um the [Music] spot around the scapula can be a a trigger point for source of tension for a lot of people and I'm going to go in with my oil I'm going to include the lats a little bit this massage I remember um a a male therapist that I used to work on he was so precise in his work that sometimes he would I remember getting a massage from him and he would spend like a full hour just on this tiny little section and sometimes that can be really effective but I feel the most comfortable with kind of working broadly and then working um in a more detailed way and I just think it feels better it's more effective for me way that I [Music] work so just um including these erector SP as I work my way into the Trap and um just really getting a pretty good sense of what's going on from right to left at this [Music] point I think the lats are one of the most overlooked muscles sometimes when I'm doing upper back work I do like to include the lats [Music] even if it's something as simple as this technique I'm just [Music] scooping Petra is another technique that can feel really good in the lats requires a little bit more effort I think this is nice because I can literally use Lee's body and just pull against it and I need to get a little bit more oil if you notice that your client skin is just like drinking up the medium that you're using it might mean that they're a little dehydrated it's a good good time to tell your client to drink more water there's like you know little fun ways that you can include the lats in your routine without making it something that takes much effort and just using the forearms working laterally is really can feel really nice [Music] I'm going to work my way into these rhomboids a little [Music] bit one whenever you're working along the spine you need to feel really stable so just make sure that your stance is nice and wide and your spine is neutral if you're collapsing through your shoulders can put a lot of strain on your shoulder joints and your back and it's just not a healthy way to do this kind of work [Music] and I'm going to go ahead and go in with a similar routine that I T with our warmup I'm finally going to start doing a little bit of deep tissue work it's a lot easier to work in towards the spine when you're um working on the erector spine if you feel like you're kind of slipping off it's a sign that you need to kind of move to the side a little bit more and work [Music] in I love working um along the Rector spiny with my forarm like this CU I feel like really stable I have a lot of control really my main focus today is this trapezius um and I'm going to do quite a bit of trigger point around the scapula but I like to work my way up to it [Music] I've um you know gone through periods where I worked really aggressively kind of like a Rolfing technique where you just kind of work your way through the muscle um but I like to use a little bit more finesse I just think it's I'm able to make more progress with my clients I think trigger points trigger point is one of the best techniques for releasing tension in the trapezius and I recommend doing trigger point with um using this technique trying to use the thumbs for 10 minutes straight you know on each side can be um pretty [Music] tiring so if you're having trouble um accessing that upper trap you might want to try just creating a little more space so just bringing that arm down a little bit and making sure that the elbows bent so you don't put any strain on that those joints in there and just a little bit more work in [Music] here usually hold trigger points for 5 to 10 seconds [Music] and I think I will do a little bit of um infr spinat work just working on one of these muscles in the rotator cuff if you're finding a lot of tension in that upper trap there's a really good sign that this muscle on top of the scapula is tight too so because I haven't really warmed up this area yet I'm going to um just do something really basic my thumb just making sure that muscle knows I'm there can also use the heel of your hand doesn't have to be fancy and I'm just going to do a little bit of trigger point in here and I'm just going to hold for 5 [Music] seconds and just like any other body part I like to um spread out these holds so just giving the muscle a little break in [Music] between also gives my thumb a break you could do this with your elbow I find it to be a little harder really be super accurate and just one more hold here and I'm going to do that same routine on the left [Music] all right and um think I am going to have to move this shoulder down a little [Music] bit and it's funny how like just doing that one thing can make your whole massage go way [Music] smoother all right so I am going to pay um some attention to the sctor SP it's not the main focus today [Music] but and I usually um I'll usually work [Music] on the muscles along the spine the rhomboids and then the trapezius I find that it's working in that order is just really effective and I am definitely guilty of not using a super wide stance so just constantly reminding myself to feel really comfortable as I work and strong as I work and finally I'm going to work my way into this trap doing some trigger poting [Music] here and instead of just at the end of those 5 or 10s seconds instead of just like picking my shoulder up I like to continue the motion into that muscle and I would never do this kind of work without a really good warmup CU if you try to do deep if you try to do deep tissue on an area that's not ready for it it's um is not [Music] good and if I wanted to do deep tissue on the levator more I would work from a different angle I'm not too focused on that today and this is a really nice position if you're trying to do trigger point in the infraspinatus just CU um kind of opens up this muscle a little more so just a very simple little warm up before do any trigger point in here sometimes with my non-dominant hand I feel like I have to focus a little bit harder or something and I'm doing this kind of [Music] work I'm always really selective how much work I do with my thumb but the infers spinatus is one muscle that I really love using my thumb [Music] on you can bet if the muscles around the scapula are tight the muscles on top of it are going to be really tight too good thing to keep in mind [Music] in between that more focused work I like to do something just broad that feels [Music] [Music] nice and I am I'm going to work my way into the levator muscles a little bit more at a really good angle for it so you can certainly do this on the right and left at the same time but it's a little bit just requires a little bit more Focus so I kind of like to just um let Lee know where I'm headed and then I'll kind of go in with one elbow at a time and really using my elbow get into the top of that shoulder this is some combination of a trigger point and deep tissue working my way really slowly cross the elevator muscle and I might alternate sides if there's a lot of sensitivity in there this is a much easier angle to work um as opposed to trying to get into this muscle from the side of the table and don't expect each side to feel the same there's likely one side that is going to be tighter you could also do this with your thumb but it would be a lot harder [Music] and I'd say like when you're doing massage don't worry about being perfect like just being present and mindful is is more than enough so after doing something um with my elbow sometimes I will go in for some fine tuning and I'm actually going to go ahead and move Le's arms back honestly should have done that before I did that elbow work but still got some work good work done in there I'm just exposing these muscles a little bit more and yeah just fine-tuning a little bit and yeah just fine-tuning a little bit the levator is one muscle that responds really well to constant pressure you can just hold it feel like a huge release when you let go but be kind to your thumbs when you're working I really like to just go along the spine here along this upper trap can feel really nice you can go all the way into the neck if you want I usually change positions and techniques cuz it's easier can also do little circles [Music] I more often than not end my massage with some fasal work just encouraging this connective tissue along the spine to stretch a little bit [Music] and stacking my hand so can offer a little bit more pressure but I'm not trying to do anything deep just [Music] firm fasal work is not about like doing you know it's not deep tissue it's connective tissue it's a whole different way of working it's actually a good sign if you feel the your client's skin warming up and getting a little bit red and I just want to thank a few of our patrons I'd like to thank Natalie kovich Charles AK and Quinton Richardson I hope that I got all of your names right and I just want to thank you guys so much for your support and just one last little run along the spine here before calling it a day [Music] and that is it for today guys thank you for joining us today guys I hope that you enjoyed today's video and I look forward to seeing you next time [Music] [Music]