Just a thought, i am working with a team of Osteopaths at present one of which gets amazing results very quickly. He uses muscle energy technique with good results and always works on the spine as a whole not just one section, which makes sense I think. He always adjusts the spine for this. I am finding that many whiplash victims have that going on in the thoracic spine, often in a chronic fashion. I would say massage to those areas to inhibit spasm, but not to long, really tune into that spasm and if you feel a slight release then leave it, as you don't want to creat a spasm again. I like a bit of ulrasound after you have stirred up the tissues provided no contraindications. My view is that you can do all the massage in the world but that is treating a symptom and not a cause. So manual therapy first or refer to an OP with a good reputation.