Considering setting up weekly massages
I actually don't like them much but has been recommended to me for health benefits
Is it worth it if you can afford it ?

Btw Is there general question thread?
Every topic seems to be different peoples logs,
I would love to use 2+2 as a resource to ask some general health and fitness questions

There is a beginner question thread stickied to the top of the forum...

I think this one warrants its own thread...



I'm in a place where this is super accessible and kind of curious now too... Worth it for recovery? Injury prevention? Or mostly just placebo and for massage to have any measurable impact on these things its going to need to be done by a highly trained specialist and probably hurt and not really feel great?

Ya just so much bad information out there and I don't really enjoy them much
Guess I can just try it out
Lol

Got these all the time in Thailand when I was banging weights 5x per week. I think mostly placebo - you'd leave feeling beat up but mostly relaxed (went to a blind massage place). If its cheap go for it but YMMV.

What's a blind massage place?


I think that most massages are probably placebo plus they just make you feel better. I doubt that there any benefits to training, recovery, or general health in the vast majority of cases.

Ya I'm just interested in general health

IDK if it's the same in Thailand, but in PRC regular Spas and massage parlours usually have pretty girls who will likely give you a hj with not a great massage. "Blind Massage" places are special because blind people sometimes take up massage therapy as some super specialized art and they're very highly trained and skilled at it and they're universally legit and not brothels.

I was guessing something like that, but it seemed really implausible. How tough is it going to be to find enough blind people with a desire and interest in massage to actually have a "blind massage" parlor.

I could see a massage place having maybe one blind masseuse. But a whole parlor full seems tough.

I bet it's pretty easy to rob a place like that.

Or at least underpay

Gonna place my bets on 100% placebo unless you're doing really intense lifting and getting the massages done very well and very regularly which is probably expensive and more pro-football territory.

A decent sports massage (deep tissue) is solid soft tissue work. Better than spending money on a scam chiro or any form of non-evidence based medicine. I'd put it on the level of a decent foam rolling session. Nothing amazing, not totally useless.

What evo said. Also it was a school for the blind as if you are disabled in any way in Thailand you are essentially ****ed as there are very few programs for them. It had been around for 40+ years - 2 hour massages were $8 and fantastic as it was deep tissue work.

Ya figure deep tissue weekly

There has to be some decent studies on this

I get one monthly (I'd do it more frequently if I had more money), I have chronic issues with muscle spasms and contractions in my back muscles (completely a soft tissue issue, no spinal chord involvement).

It definitely helps force my muscles to relax and gets the blood flowing through there. It's often painful, but in a good way, and I'm usually less sore and my muscles are noticibly less knotted up after a session.

It would probably be optimal for me to go at least twice a month, if not weekly, but that **** would get pricey quick. I have my next appointment on Saturday and it cannot come soon enough. My damn neck/shoulder area is a nightmare at the moment.

See I would think that it is good like you are saying
But then all these people saying placebo
I'm just lost

Well keep in mind he has a chronic issue. He's not using it for generic recovery improvement.

I'm a she.

For any given placebo you will easily find lots of people who say it works. That's literally what a placebo *is*, a treatment that doesn't do anything but works for some people anyway.

(This doesn't mean massage doesn't do anything, just that the fact that some people report success doesn't mean it actually has theraputic value beyond the placebo effect)

i used to get massages all the time when i wrestled. I would always tell them to go easy. thai massages are whole different ball game. but i think its all about the masseuse. i always tell them to go easy tbh

Man so nobody really knows
Where do you guys read about health and fitness

When I have a gambling question i look on 2+2 for example

exercise regularly
dont get fat
keep drug use to a minimum

anything beyond that is a colossal waste of time and/or money. if you have any questions the answer is it doesnt matter

How can a massage not have value when the whole notion of SMR is basically massage you do to yourself. If you think 3rd party administered massage has no value, you are also saying SMR has no value.

If you're talking about some feel good rub down massage well yah, that can fall into the placebo camp because its really nothing more then moving your fascia about without actually doing anything.