The Benefits of Biofreeze During Massage
Most massage professionals understand that some of their clients will benefit greatly from the use of “cryotherapy”. This is the application of ice to an area of pain during a massage treatment. Though the ice will help to reduce pain by causing the standard pain process to be interrupted, it can lead to later problems such as irritation, numbness and even some stiffness in the affected area. This is the reason that so many massage professionals say that the topical analgesic called Biofreeze is like ice, but only better.
Biofreeze works in the same method as typical cryotherapy by “cooling” the area of greatest discomfort, but the Biofreeze product does not present the patient with the same set of side effects or risks. Why not? The active ingredient in Biofreeze is menthol, and this stimulates the nerves in the skin, which is why the traditional mechanism for pain is interrupted. Instead of the body sending all of the available pain signals to the receptors in the brain, the topical formula is causing a majority of the nerves to remain focused in a “localized” manner. (more…)