Get your massage on!: September 2011

A Therapist greets their new client, and they exchange information about what kind of massage the client wants to get that day. The client says "deep tissue". Hold up...what is does someone mean when they say deep tissue? Do they even know what they are asking for? Deep tissue is exactly what it says it is; a series of massage techniques that access the deep muscle tissue. There are no therapist's elbows exiting out of the front of your body, or pain that makes you hold your breath or makes you consider punching your therapist. No seriously, it shouldn't ever feel like that. After warming up the tissue, by increasing circulation and kneading the tissue you are introducing yourself to it. Saying hello, you can let me in. Otherwise you meet up with spasms, muscle rejection and running the risk of hurting a person. Once you have established yourself, you can then begin sinking deeper into the belly of a muscle as a client breaths you in. You can strip them, deactivate trigger points, you can stretch their fascia and break down adhesions. There is a process that takes place, and it does so on multiple layers of muscle tissue. Then comes an elbow, forearm, edge of a hand, thumbs, fingers or a palm. A nice solid and slow drag is applied and *wa la*, you have just witnessed a little deep tissue going on.

Myofascial work is work done on, in, around and involving the fascia in the human body. What is fascia you ask? It is the connective flexible tissue that sits between your muscles and skin, bone and muscle and runs through the muscles, and it is found EVERYWHERE in the body. It also surrounds blood vessels, and nerves. Have you ever cleaned a chicken? You know that very thin layer of what seems like skin that is between the skin and muscle? That is chicken fascia. Fascia can bundle around scar tissue, hypersensitive points in the body, dysfunctional postured muscles...binding those things and creating dysfunction in the tissue itself. Because it also surrounds nerves and is considered the endless web of the body, when fascia in one area is dysfunctional, it creates a ripple effect in the rest of the body. This results in pain, fascial bundling and dysfunction.

The work itself is almost always done without using oil. It involves using a strong drag on the skin. You may drag the tissue oppositely (if that's a word), using two hands in close proximity to each other, or you may drag it to wherever you want it. You drag it until it stops dragging and then you hang out. Once your hand begings moving again, it means that fascia is releasing. You can also use forearms, or elbows. Heat also helps to warm the fascia, which results in the tissue sort of liquefying. After it cools back down it will reform into its original composition. Myofascial work is simply amazing.
Just a quick story about a very neat moment I had with a client. We will call him Joe. Joe was a retired police officer who was in his mid 60's. He woke up that day with awful back spasms that were hurting him so bad he admitted to crying. He came to see me begging for me to do something and not wanting to turn him away, I agreed to work on him as long as he was comfortable during the session. After getting him into a comfortable position, I started out with some deep diaphragmatic breathing and heat. Initially he was so uncomfortable that more than the resting weight of my hand on him was too much. As I began his MFR treatment, he spasmed a few times. I was persistant and kept working, gently, and intentfully on his back. I worked very slowly and gently on this man and as we worked together over the next hour, amazing things happened. First he breathing changed, then his reported pain level began dropping. His spasms subsided, and I was able to get in a little light massage. 6o minutes later, he stood up cautiously, but a new man. He had no drugs, no expensive Dr's bill, and as I later found out, no reoccurrence of this pain or those terrible spasms. He was in complete awe and appreciation, and I was feeling relief for him and thankful he trusted me to help him. I believe in the power of massage, and yet I think I was a little stunned at what had just happened. I always start a massage out with MFR.

"Trigger Point Therapy was pioneered and developed in this country by Dr. Janet Travell, President John F. Kennedy's personal physician during his years of persistent back pain. Today it is commonly referred to as Neuromuscular Therapy. This is another favorite of mine.

A trigger point is a hyperirritable tender spot in an abused muscle that refers pain ("triggers" pain) to other muscles. This is why the pain in your head may be coming from a neck muscle and the pain in your neck from a shoulder muscle and the pain in your low back from a hip muscle.
If the trigger points are not treated, they can be the culprits in lingering pain even after an injury has healed, and the reason why the headache, neck ache, and backache keep returning year after year. Some of the causes of trigger point activity in your muscles are stress, excessive chilling, injury, overuse, strain, as well as chemical, drugs, alcohol, and environmental pollutants. Active trigger points keep the muscles tight, restricting blood flow and compressing nerves perpetuating a vicious pain-spasm cycle in the muscles. The effect of decreased flexibility limits movement encouraging postural patterns which may sustain the cycle for years. Trigger Point Release Therapy is a valuable component of preventive as well as rehabilitative care. Some of the neuromuscular therapy techniques, also referred to as neuromuscular re-education, are:
Joint and spinal manipulation (by Doctors)
Spray and stretch (by Physical Therapists)
Frictioning across the muscle fibers and ends of muscles
Shaking, stroking, and stretching of muscles and fascia
Joint movements, isometric exercises and stretching
Direct pinpoint pressure on the trigger point
Release of associated skin, tendon, and ligament trigger points
Myofascial Release
Fascial Smoothing"

References: Myofascial Pain and dysfunction, The Trigger Point Manual, Volume 1-2.

Now that you have a better idea of what these terms mean now, isn't it time to schedule that massage?

For all of you who may or may not know, I had taken quite a lengthy massage sabbatical. I came to Seattle to seeking an enviorment that would nurture my massage career. Getting into massage was a passion of mine because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives and in ways that really mattered. Intuitively, I knew massage was the right outlet for me to do that and I found myself passionate about going to work every day. I sought to grow as a therapist and a professional and thru the last several years those things have come to fruition. Having my son and enduring a painful layoff was just the shove I needed to get back on the horse. I am excited to run a business and I feel confident I can do it in ways I always dreamed of.

So here I am. I will be restarting my career on the 7 year anniversary of me moving to Seattle, September 23rd. 7 was always my lucky number as a kid, and 23 is the number that's been following me around my entire adult life. Interesting if you think about it.

In navigating my website, you will find the abilty to book your appointments, pay for services via pay pal, and find all new client paperwork available for download. It is very important that you do not have your pop up blocker on when using any of these services, otherwise you will not be able to access them.

Paperwork-Please print, complete and bring it with you to your first appointment. If you are going to be paying for massage yourself and not billing a third party, you DO NOT need to include the insurance/PIP/L&I paperwork. For people interested in having me bill your insurance, please be advised I am not able to take any insurance clients quite yet, as I am waiting on my NPI number from the State. Payment- Please review the pricing and how Paypal works document. This does not require a signature but it does include very important information on my services. Paypal is wonderful and secure, and it's a great way to do business. The pay pal button you see here on my site is inclusive for all massage services I provide. I've even included a "tip jar" so that you can pay for your tips here too. You might notice it's in $1 increments, but you can change the quantity, thus impacting the dollar amount when you are re routed to PayPal.

I also wanted to share with my perspective clients/friends/family that I'm trying to book my first two weeks and I'm offering $10 off to anyone who books an appointment for the 23, 24, 26 and 27th. This is good for a half hour, hour or hour and a half massage. You may notice when you head over to my scheduling page that I'm also offering hot stone massage. Since I am still waiting on the delivery of my stone set, the hot stone massage will not become available until sometime in October. I will keep everyone posted look forward to getting all of you on the table for this one! I also will not be accepting any insurance, PIP or L&I clients until I get a couple provider numbers from the state. All works in progress :).

I will be practicing out of the Active Space in West Seattle, Suite 220. West Seattle is a wonderful place to have a practice and I couldn't be happier about this opportunity! Another glorious announcement is I will be sharing a space with my friend and colleague Desire Loper..aka Gypsy Foot. She is a wonderful L.M.P. who I had the privledge of hiring and getting to know while working at a local Chiropractors office several years ago. We will be filling in for eachother occassionally, so perhaps one day you will get to meet her if you don't already have the pleasure.