Lomi Lomi Massage Techniques for Neck Pain

How to treat neck and shoulder pain with lomi lomi massage techniques.

There is a little-known culprit at work when your neck and shoulder pain will not go away after massage.

If you don’t find the source, it could lead to
​
👉🏼 Headaches

👉🏼 Jaw pain 

👉🏼 Shallow breath

👉🏼 Numbness and tingling down the arm…even weakness in the grip!

Today, I’m sharing the Wisdom of the Bones and Lomi Lomi Hawaiian massage techniques to help your clients with persistent neck and shoulder pain. 

The Unexpected Source of Neck Pain

A client may have neck pain and complain of numbness, weakening grip or tingling down the arm and into the fingers.

If you don’t know how to identify the source of the pain, you might massage the neck only to find the pain is still there.

You may find a similar situation with jaw pain and shoulder pain. Treat the area but the client is still struggling with discomfort or restricted movement.

This is an important clue to examine and treat the first rib.

According to human anatomy, the first rib lies just above the clavicle. It’s tempting to massage the upper trap when a client presents with neck pain. However, as Lomi Lomi practitioners we are always looking deeper down to the level of the bones.

Look beneath the trap and you will find the first rib. A bundle of nerves lies just above with scalene muscles down the front side and sternocleidomastoid coming across.

When you inhale, those ribs elevate.

Wisdom of the Bones for Neck Pain

The Wisdom of the Bones is a Hawaiian system to describe the spiritual-emotional aspects of illness that contribute to what we experience in our physical bodies. 

The ribs are about inspiration.

 It’s about inviting inspiration in your life, being open to receive and having the Gates of Heaven open to you. 

The rib cage represents that peaceful warrior with armor to protect our heart, but it doesn’t shut down the heart. 

Think of being open-hearted on a solid foundation of support. 

Inhalation. Inspiration. A metaphor to illustrate the metaphysical source of physical pain.

Someone who isn’t feeling inspired or lacks confidence in their journey and isn’t living an open-hearted way, could present with pain in the neck, shoulders and jaw.

Physical Assessment for Neck Pain

Some of the things that you might notice as your first signs are someone who appears to be very rounded with their head forward. 

You will likely find really tight pectorals and closing down around the heart. This will contribute to lifting that first rib and creating tension in this area. 

We can recommend postural education and we can support them with some breath work.

Help your clients to recognize shallow breathing and practice replacing it with belly breathing, expanding more deeply in the rib cage. 

If the pain is due to injury, such as whiplash from a car accident, the muscles may split and protect the area.

Belly sleeping can also contribute to neck pain. Sleeping in this position shortens the pectoral muscles and compresses the area where the nerve artery and vein are exiting through the scalene muscles.

This creates extra tension.

Postural education will help your clients become aware of bringing the shoulders back and down, taking deep breaths and dropping the shoulders down.

All of those things can be really supportive and there’s much more that we can do as far as lomi lomi Hawaiian massage techniques. 

Lomi Lomi Massage for Neck Pain 

I have my handsome subject, my husband, Justin, donating his body to science so that you guys can learn a few simple Lomi Lomi techniques to release this area of the first rib. 

Notice I am using little micro movements, maybe one centimeter apart, and I’m just going to lean and sink in.

There is no need to push or press.

Let your body weight do the work for you. Use the lever of the position of your arm to get the desired movement. 

Massage with movement helps to relax the area. 

The second technique requires participation of the client. We will ask them to “Breathe into” the work we are doing.

Using these massage techniques, you will create a biofeedback loop with the brain that helps the muscles to stay in a relaxed position.

Every time we contract, what follows is relaxation. Inhale. Exhale.

Use these Lomi Lomi practices to open new range of motion, release tension and pressure on the nerves. You will find your clients will experience fewer and fewer symptoms over time when you use these techniques.

So what you’ll find is that people that wake up in the morning with numbness and tingling will have less and less of these symptoms going forward, as you put these things into practice. 

Now, I want to hear from you…are you going try this technique and how did it go?

Leave me a comment below.

I read each and every one PLUS, it let’s me know these teachings of Aloha spirit and the wisdom of the Hawaiian culture is being spread around the globe.

See you next week!