That's right, I said it. A butt massage does a body good. Now, you're probably thinking I'm crazy and possibly a wee bit creepy...? And you're also probably thinking, why you even talking about this? Isn't that a no fly zone for a massage therapist?
The short answer is; No.
I'm going to be a bit more professional now, and let you know I never refer to it as a "butt massage" to my clients. I will generally refer to that area with their anatomical names, but shortened so they (read me) sounds cooler - Glute Max, Glute Med, Glute Min or to the entire area as the Gluteal Muscles. There are loads more, but for the purpose of this blog, I wont get into them all. Just know your massage therapist knows where they are and what they're called.
But why is getting a Gluteal Muscle massage so important?
Fun fact, the Gluteus Maximus is the largest muscle in the body. If that area gets skipped over your therapist is missing a huge portion of the body. Now you might be totally cool with that, but if you have back pain, knee pain, hip pain or even leg pain? Your glutes may be the reason for it.
The "x" shows the trigger point and the red shows where the pain/referral pain can be felt.
The "x" shows the trigger point and the red shows where the pain/referral pain can be felt.
Lower back pain
When you have low back pain it can sometimes be hard to pin point where the pain is coming from. Is it your back? Leg? Butt? WHERE!?
There's a nasty little (deep) glute muscle called the Piriformis that can squeeze the Sciatic nerve causing hip & leg pain.
Sciatic pain will present as pain in the: low back, hip, buttock, and leg. And it will always occur on one side rather than bi laterally (both sides).
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body. It runs from the bottom of the spinal column through the buttock, hip, knee to the ankle. In most people it passes just behind the piriformis muscle but in 17% of the population it runs right through the piriformis muscle, which can really exacerbate sciatic pain because when that muscle gets tight it will literally squeeze the nerve like the dickens.
Maybe you're thinking, "thanks for the anatomy lesson, but I don't have pain there thankyouverymuch." That's cool, but massage in this area will be important to everyone, athletes, arm chair athletes, desk workers, people that stand all day...you get the picture. Muscles all have origin and insertion points that pull and shorten when put under any stress. So, for example, if you have tight hamstrings, getting your glutes worked on first will help release your hamstrings and will also help keep them loose so you get longer out of your massage treatment.
If you are a bit shy, always let the therapists know any of your reservations. Glutes can easily be worked on top of the sheet or through clothing. Or the therapist will always drop modestly with a sheet working one side at a time.
So, at your next massage, remember to get the glutes worked on! Your back, legs, hips & knees will thanks you!
Craving more butt massage content?
Check out our “everyone needs a butt massage part 2” blog post!
Book a massage that doesn’t skip the glutes today!