In this article, we will talk about calf massage. More specifically, we will talk about how to perform and when to avoid recommending. There are so many techniques on how to effectively massage your calves more especially the benefits they can give after the massage.
The calf is one of the most often ignored muscle parts of our body. You will only think about them when it starts to get hurt or when it cramps unless they hurt you may not think about them, yet they are one of the essential things on our body that we use in our daily activities. It includes standing, running, or walking, and of course, when you go to the gym and lifting weights, you will always need to use them to carry your body. The benefits of calf massage are excessively good to our bodies.
Table of Contents
Why Is Calf Massage Important?
The lack of attention in your calves can give you pain. The minute you realize it, you will experience an uncomfortable feeling in your leg. It can also injure one of the two main muscles – the soleus and gastrocnemius– in your calf.
Massaging the calf is good for your body. It contains the relaxation that we usually need while resting after a long hour of standing or after getting physical exercise. Calf massage benefits are one of the best reasons why we should do it occasionally.
Calf massaging has the benefits of improving blood circulation. A good massage can loosen the muscles as well as manipulate the surrounding tissues. It can lead to blood circulation naturally and helps maintain the flow of the blood. In addition, it will eventually improve the overall circulation.
A healthy and continuous blood flow circulation can help and prevent muscle deterioration by supplying oxygen to the muscles and to other vital nutrients and also taking the metabolic waste materials away at the same time.
Calf release massage happens to be one of the best ways to give relaxation and prevent deep vein thrombosis. It can also potentially develop a fatal condition on your body. Pain reduction is one of the benefits of calf release massage. When you are given several days to tend and heal your injury, a smooth and gentle calf massage can help you to reduce the remaining amount of pain by breaking up potential muscle knots to release the tension in your muscle.
However, if you are having a hard time massaging your own calves, you can also find or seek help from a good massage therapist who has specialized trigger-point massage. This kind of massage technique has also been proven to be beneficial to any potential cases of muscle pain. Alternatively, you can purchase and use a calf massager. There are many calf massagers in the market today that are worth checking out!
What Are The Benefits of Calf Massage?
The following are the helpful benefits of calf massage:
Reducing Scar Tissues
When you have a calf injury, it is normal for you to feel pain, inflammation, as well as swelling. If you leave your injury unattended, your body will put down scar tissues to heal your wound or injury. Unfortunately, your body is capable of doing this but in a dangerous manner.
If you do now want your body to have these kinds of risks, then a calf massage is essential to help reduce scar tissues. This will decrease pain and can restore the mobility of your muscles.
Improving blood circulation
In fact, most body massages can help improve blood circulation. This is scientifically proven and tested. Even just a simple massage can do wonders throughout your body. Either you had the massage using a calf massager, or a massage therapist did it for you, the benefits are still the same.
Calf massage helps blood to properly in our body. But, always remember to do the proper massage technique to prevent your muscles from being bruised.
Reducing Pain
It is a common thing that massage helps to reduce pain in our muscles. There are pressure points that can loosen up the muscle knots that cause pain or discomfort. A calf massage can gradually release the tension in your muscle. You can always seek the help of a massage therapist for a trigger-pointing massager or use a calf massager. Both work well!
Prevention of Injury
Improved blood circulation and blood flow through your body can strengthen the muscles, which leads to a healthier and more flexible calf. As a result, you can move freely in a wide range of movements. Also, calf massage helps you in having a big and fast recovery rate after intensive workouts.
Improving Flexibility
Many people have problems with their calves tightening up. This happens when you are in a position that is kind of restricted. Your muscles may feel stiff. To avoid this, a calf massage is helpful to relieve pain or to exercise your muscles. Once your muscles are relaxed, you can move freely to do your daily life routines.
Calf Massage Techniques
You can perform calf massage in several ways, but it depends on how you do it. It is either you are alone to massage your calf, or you have another person to help you massage your calves. You can also use a calf massager device.
When you are alone, start working to massage your calf while sitting down first and work your way over the calf muscles with a gentle stroking motion. This would help you warm your muscles up as well as judge the intensity of pain that you may experience. If you don’t feel any pain, you can increase the massage pressure you apply on your calves and work your way over the muscle multiple times if you have a device roller. This can give you an excellent way of performing a calf or even if a full-length massage.
When you have another person to help with the massage, then it will be even better. While having and receiving the massage, you should lay down flat and facing the ground. Then the other person can start the procedure with the same light strokes that will help warm up the muscle, and you can call this technique effleurage.
Lastly, you can also use the appropriate leg massagers or even calf massagers to help ease your work. Having these massager tools in your home would be a good investment especially for the athletic people who are regularly experiencing tension in the calves and legs.
In addition, calf massager offers convenience. You can use it every day, after work, or after long intensive workouts. Though human massage is the most accurate message, in some ways still, calf massagers are the best when it comes to convenience and budget for the long run.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
1. When is calf massage not recommended?
This first case is new, and it is an acute injury to the calf muscles. It is not recommended to put pressure on a freshly injured calf muscle because it may lead to further tearing of the tissues instead of healing them. Always remember to give your injured muscles a few days rest before going to attempt massage therapy.
Another condition is called deep vein thrombosis or DVT. This is usually caused by a blood clot and is often associated with deep pain and also swelling of the calf area. It is not advisable for you to get a massage if you experience these symptoms, as loosening and releasing the blood clot into the bloodstream could lead to dangerous consequences. But, if you don’t have any of those conditions and did not experience it, a calf massage would be the best therapy to refresh and finish off a tiring day on your feet. A person who frequently runs, such as athletes, can also get the benefits from a regular leg and calf massage session. It can also be part of their physical training and a good strategy for easy recovery.
2. Why do I feel pain during a calf massage?
A muscle cramp is when you are working your calf muscle too much than regular. You can get sudden pain in your calf or leg. Holding your position too long can also cause a muscle cramp, and if you have not had enough water to drink every day. Most of the cramps are harmless, and you treat them easily with an on-point massage. You can do some gentle stretching, or you can apply a heating pad or a warm towel to your calf muscles.
You can also feel pain or discomfort if you press on your legs, restless, an urge to move your legs, and tenderness to touch. Your legs could hurt or become tender for several reasons. Blood clot, injury, or nerve damage.
If you feel uncomfortable at night, you might need to keep moving your leg. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you can literally feel the pain when you massage your calves forcefully. Instead of feeling relaxed, you might have the muscle condition called the Restless Legs Syndrome.
3. Is massage good for tight calf muscles?
If you have sore and tight calf muscles often, stretching and exercising are not enough. One of the best therapists demonstrates how you can massage the tension out of your own calf. It is very easy to reach your own leg muscles if you are sitting down and doing self-massage. It can be very effective for your tight calf muscles. There is also a specific way to relieve a tight and sore calf muscle. You can stand on a wall one foot in front of the other. Your front knee needs to bend slightly.
You also need to straighten your back knee and your heel on the ground and lean towards the wall. Just feel the stretch all along the back of your calf leg. You will need to hold this stretch position for up to 20-40 seconds.
A leg massage can relieve sore and tight muscles, but the benefits may vary depending on how much pressure you apply. If you use light pressure, it can be more relaxing, but using strong pressure reduces the pain and tensions in your muscles.
Conclusion
A calf massage can increase flexibility by relieving and improving the tight and tired muscles. While doing a calf massage, the manipulation of friction and soft tissues created between your fingers and skin can increase blood circulation.
Your muscle temperature will rise if your blood circulation increases. Massage therapy also helps to decrease pain in many conditions, such as low back pain. Also, it can help to move metabolic waste products.
So, if you massage your calves regularly, it can accomplish several uncomfortable feelings in your muscles. You will also feel so relaxed after doing a calf massage, either using a device massager or with the help of a good massage therapist.