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Swedish
Massage
As
you reflect on your daily routine do
you ever find yourself traveling from work
straight to school, another job or to perhaps
your child's activities; then finally arriving
home only to put on your chef's hat? Do you
sometimes feel your feet dragging and pretend
not to notice the fatigue sneaking up on
you? More importantly are you ready for some
quality R & R time? It may just be time to give
yourself the gift of Swedish Massage.
Swedish Massage is
the most well known and commonly sought out type
of massage. The use of firm but gentle pressure
improves circulation, eases muscle aches and
pains as well as supports an increase in
flexibility. All of this promotes stress
reduction and relaxation which clearly makes
this the type of massage perfect for anyone. |
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Swedish Massage utilizes five different
movements: |
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Effleurage |
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Petrissage |
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Friction |
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Tapotement |
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Vibration |
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Professional massage therapists use
massage lotion or oil to facilitate making long,
smooth strokes over the body. All massage is
received with the body covered by a sheet and/or
blanket; a technique called "draping". One part
of the body is undraped, massaged, and then
covered up before moving on to another part of
the body. To assure that the recipient is
completely at ease they are instructed to
disrobe to their level of comfort. |
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Sports
Performance Massage
You have purchased an in home workout routine
that requires a commitment anywhere from 60 to
90 days. "I am committed!" you say and so the
strenuous day to day training begins. All of
those pushups are creating a nagging ache in
your right elbow but your philosophy is no pain
no gain! Sports and activities of any kind tend
to create problems and imbalances in soft
tissues due to overuse. Reason being that
athletes and individuals participating in active
roles are looking to improve their performance,
increase their competitive edge and lose body
weight by taking on an intense training schedule
to enhance their unique skill, strength, stamina
and speed. The aim is to push the body to a
gradual and controlled state of overuse. If the muscular imbalances are
ignored by the athlete, such as a tight
hamstring or achy elbow, it will create chronic
pain and will hinder the rate of improvement in
terms of their performance level and may be more
susceptible to developing conditions that are
more serious such as a torn hamstring or
"tennis" elbow. Preventing injuries is the real
name of the game. A Sports Performance Massage
can prevent injuries by utilizing techniques
from
Swedish,
Deep Tissue and
Joint Flexibility
while applying them to the athletes specific
needs. It is important that the professional
massage therapist has an understanding of the
event or sport that the individual is
participating in so that they may place emphasis
on the specific overused muscles and joints.
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Sports Performance Massage can prevent
injuries by: |
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Locating and eliminating spasms,
tension in muscles and
trigger
points |
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Improving movement patterns and
restoring postural alignment |
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Restoring and increasing
joint
flexibility and blood
flow to the tissues |
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Rebuilding strength of the
injured, weak or atrophied
tissues |
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Deep
Tissue Massage
Are there any times you notice a nagging pain in
between your shoulder blades and into your
neck? Perhaps you feel an annoyance within your
muscles or joints throughout your entire body.
Everyday normal activities such as looking at a
computer screen for hours, holding your
children, playing video games, or even taking a
lovely stroll in nature are often the source of
these aggravations. Whenever you just need
someone to "work out the kinks” consider Deep
Tissue Massage as your friend who can do just
that for you.
Deep Tissue Massage focuses on the
deeper connective tissue structures such as the
muscles and fascia.
The pressure is more intense than classic
Swedish Massage utilizing the same techniques
and movements. At times this may feel a bit more
uncomfortable as the intention of the massage is
to release chronic muscle tension or knots (also
known as "adhesions.")
A seasoned massage professional works closely
with their client and instructs them to speak up
if the pressure is not right and adjusts
accordingly. Additionally client education is
often introduced concerning posture awareness,
exercise, rest and relaxation techniques. |
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Neuromuscular Techniques/Trigger Point Therapy
Do you have a body
part that you have been unable to use normally
for quite some time? Tried ice, heat, self
massage and more but are running out of
ideas? If you are nodding your head “yes” ask
yourself if it is time to seek the service of a
skilled massage professional with knowledge and
experience with trigger point referral patterns.
A trigger point is a taught band of
muscle that can refer pain to various parts of
the body. It affects not only the muscle where
the trigger point is located but also branches
out speaking to other areas of the body supplied
by nerves. For example, when addressing pain
along the neck, it may be discovered that this
pain may be due to a trigger point within the
shoulder. This therapy helps to locate and
deactivate both the source and referred pain by
using finger pressure and/or picking up the
muscle fibers and pinching it. The
"pain-spasm-pain" cycle between the taught band
of muscle and the neuroreceptors within
the brain is broken; creating a Trigger Point
Release. |
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Hydrotherapy
Heat/Cold
Do you remember your
mom coming to the rescue only to place a bag of
frozen peas on that that nasty bump you got when
you stumbled and fell down? Have you noticed
after sitting in a Jacuzzi that along with
feeling relaxed, your aches and pains are
miraculously gone? Pre -massage Moist - Heat
therapy may be the answer to what ails you.
Applied to overused muscles this
therapy helps to reduce stiffness as well as
promote healing within the muscle group and/or
joint. Heat induces
vasodilation which
sends a rush of fresh blood, water, oxygen and
nutrients to the effected muscles. Cold therapy
offers benefits of vasoconstriction
which slows down the bloodstream into
the injured area; encouraging less swelling,
bruising, and stiffness post injury. Cold
therapy is also beneficial in reducing the
buildup of lactic acid after strenuous activity.
Recovery from injury and muscle soreness is
enhanced with the use of Hydrotherapy. Receiving
within the 24-48 hours after trauma reduces the
risk of swelling and bruising that cause
inflammation and pain. |
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Myofascial Release
Have the stretches you've been so diligently
performing just not brought home that high level
of relief that you need? Are you beginning to
accept stiffness and achiness as your new level
of being? Don’t give up before giving Myofascial
Release a chance.
This technique changes and improves
tightness by breaking up, or "releasing",
constrictions in the fascia caused
by adhesions or scar
tissue. The perfect candidate for
Myofascial Release are people who experience
aggravating low back pain, headaches, neck
stiffness, shoulder and neck injuries, arthritic
conditions, breathing difficulties, sciatica and
many more. |
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Joint Flexibility
Did you learn to dread
stretching because of an overbearing P.E.
teacher who forced you to touch your toes or to
have you stretch one leg while standing on the
other? You are not alone if you resonate
with this experience!
Good news, there is a kinder, more gentle
way to stretch that will rid nagging tension and
tightness in your muscles. The result is an all
over feel good body! All you need to do is lie
back, consciously breathe and enjoy while I
perform passive stretching modalities such as
Muscle Energy Techniques.
These stretches work with your muscles and
joints never requiring you to reach farther than
what you can tolerate. Everyone can increase
their physical capabilities and benefit from the
powerful tool of stretching. |
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Signature Body Sense Compressions utilize
my unique spin on the traditional technique
taught in massage school. These compressions are
just one of the many methods I use to ensure
that my clients receive “their” personalized
massage rather than “my” massage. Performed in a
rhythmic manner, pressure may range from light
touch to extremely deep and are dependent upon
the needs of the recipient. The initial
intention is to prepare the body to accept
deeper touch, soften the tissues and allow me to
discover which areas of the body are holding
onto tension. The magic of mid massage SBS
compressions is the integration of the work
completed, allowing the client to consciously
absorb the shifts without leaving their deep
state of relaxation. Bottom line, Signature
Body Sense Compressions gently
connect the dots bringing the body back into
synchronicity and the mind back to a place of
peace. |
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Commonly
Used Massage Terms |
Effleurage
The bread and butter of all massage techniques
is effleurage. It’s purpose is to introduce the
therapist’s hands to the clients body while
evenly spreading lotion or oil on the skin.
Using light to deep pressure , long, steady,
soothing, rhythmic strokes are applied with the
forearms, knuckles or just the fingers. This
technique is a wonderful diagnostic tool to
assess the possibility of inflammation, injury
or stress in the clients body. Additionally,
effleurage may also aid to the flow of the
massage as it allows the therapist to remain in
continuous contact with the body. Transitional,
or connecting strokes are more than often well
executed with effleurage. |
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Petrissage
If you have ever made bread from scratch and
kneaded raw dough by hand then you have a pretty
good sense of this technique. The primary goal
of this technique is to stretch and relax the
connective tissue, reduce adhesion's and produce
increased blood flow. This flushes out toxins
and ultimately facilitates healing. While
petrissage may be incorporated into all types of
massage it is especially useful with Sports
massage due to the quick warm up of tissues and
stimulation of major muscle groups. Petrissage
differs from effleurage in that the strokes,
while they can be relaxing, are generally
stimulating to the body. Kneading + lifting +
wringing + muscle and skin folding = Petrissage.
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Kneading is where the
therapist picks up and squeezes
the tissue in a circular fashion |
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Lifting is similar to
kneading only that the tissue is
picked up then squeezed, with no
circular movement involved |
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Muscle rolling are where
lifting and compression
movements are engaged against
the fibers of the muscle |
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Skin rolling is simply
lifting the skin where both are
accomplished by rolling between
the fingers |
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Wringing is compressing
the tissue against the
underlying structures, such as
muscle against bone, and then
lifting the tissue only to
compress and lift again |
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The common
thread of the all the strokes listed above is
the push-pull of tissue and the rhythmic motion
of the movement. |
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Friction
Cave men didn’t need to use the word friction to
understand and utilize the concept. They simply
rubbed two sticks together tightly to create
heat. Today, utilized with massage, friction is
a great technique used on the body to create
heat to break up chronic muscle tension or knots
(adhesions).
The finger tips are used to first pin down the
adhered tissue onto the underlying structures,
usually the bone, and produce either a circular
or transverse, oblique, movement. The fingers
are pressed firmly onto the skin, which then
moves the underlying tissue. Some level of
discomfort during and after this technique has
been applied is common. It is important that you
always keep your therapist informed of your
range of comfort. |
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Muscle Stripping
The goal of Muscle Stripping is to elongate and
create space within muscle fibers while
minimizing the size and feel of adhesion's. It
is applied with either the knuckle, thumbs or
fingers and require a very deep stroke along or
across the muscle fibers. Large muscles groups
like the hamstrings or quadriceps of the upper
leg may be stripped by using the elbow. It is
important that this deep stroke is done toward
the heart to avoid damage to the valves within
the veins. |
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Tapotement
This technique is a famous one seen in films,
especially in sport warm up scenes. Tapotement
is executed with quick, alternating and rhythmic
use of cupped hands, fingers or the edge of the
hand that stimulate the body and is best used
during pre-event sports massage. |
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Vibration
We often will find massage chairs in beauty
salons and other nurturing establishments. These
chairs offer a fine and gentle vibration through
repetitive movement, however rarely produce long
term results. Vibration utilized in a
professional massage offers deeper results as it
stimulates blood flow, relax underlying tissue
and to aid friction in breaking up adhesion's or
scar tissue. It is performed by the hands or
fingers with a gentle trembling on a region of
the clients body. |
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Muscle
Energy Technique (MET)
While stretching is a useful tool to increase
the length of a muscle and
Joint Flexibility,
it can also be quite painful when it is forced.
Muscle Energy Techniques; however guide tight,
overused muscles into a kinder, healthier
lengthened state by utilizing the stretch reflex
sensory organs called Muscle Spindle cells and
Golgi Tendon organ.
Muscle Spindle Cells monitor the length
of the muscle on a continual basis, sending
information to the spine to convey the message
to trigger a stretch reflex.
Golgi Tendon organs measure the changes
within the muscles and tell the muscles to
relax. The Golgi Tendon is a part of the stretch
reflex which attempts to stop the change of
length of the muscle. This is an important part
of the human body as this relay of information
serves as protection from injury. The use of
Muscle Energy Technique's is to use the process
of the stretch reflex to our advantage.
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Muscle Energy Technique's (MET's) is
performed with 5 easy steps. |
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The client is guided into a
stretch by the therapist. |
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The client is directed to push
or pull against an anti-force,
which is resistance performed by
the practitioner. |
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After several seconds of holding
the contraction the client lets
go and completely relaxes the
muscle and joint. |
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As soon as the therapist notices
the muscle and joint relaxing,
they will stretch the muscle a
little deeper. |
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The sequence is repeated 3 times
to accomplish a desirable
stretch and to obtain a full
range of motion within a joint. |
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*Reciprocal Inhibition is another form of
MET. It is a theory in which the muscles on one
side of a joint will always relax to accommodate
the contraction of muscles on the other side of
the joint when pressure is applied. For example,
while the quadriceps, or the front part of your
thighs are contracted, the hamstrings which are
on the back part of your thighs will be relaxed. |
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Adhesions
After several months of healing a badly sprained
joint it may still have a limited range of
motion and be holding on to chronic pain because
the inflammation has not been released. After
trauma, the body naturally goes right into its
healing process which includes building
collagen, scar tissue or adhesion's that can
ultimately block circulation, cause pain, and
limit range of motion. This band of painful
rigid tissue that is laid out to protect and
heal the muscles, tendons, and/or ligaments do
serve a good purpose. However, to relieve pain
and restore movement some of the collagen, scar
tissue, adhesion's need to be broken up to
relieve pain. As previously discussed above with
the technique called
Friction,
it is applied in circular or transverse
movements across the grain of the muscles,
tendons, or ligaments. It is recommended to
apply ice to the area to reduce further
stiffness or pain. |
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Neuroreceptors
"Ouch, that's hot!" is a common response to the
stimulus of touching something that was hot.
Nerves are comprised of neurons which thrive on
excitement. Neurons like to pass on excitement
(information) to or from the brain.
Neuromuscular/Trigger
Point Release techniques were
designed to shut off the "pain-spasm-pain" cycle
that the neuro-receptors carry to and from the
brain. For example, a muscle that contains a
taught band of tissue or a "knot" triggers a
response from the tight area of muscle to the
brain where the neurons in the brain trigger a
response back to the taught band of muscle
telling it to tighten up more, for protection.
That response of tightening up more only causes
more tightness and pain, and the neurons carry
that information from and to the brain causing
the "pain-spasm-pain" cycle. |
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Vasodilation
Relevant to
Hydrotherapy
and its many benefits, a rush of blood is one of
them! When moist heat is applied to any region
of the body Vasodilation occurs. The diameter of
the walls of blood vessels expand enforcing more
fresh nutrients, oxygen, and of course, blood.
The purpose is to facilitate the healing
process. |
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Vasoconstriction
The use of ice in
Hydrotherapy is
the exact opposite of Vasodilation in that the
diameter of blood vessels become smaller
therefore reducing the flow of blood.
Vasoconstriction is an important bodily response
if trauma has occurred to reduce bruising,
inflammation and edema as blood flow to the area
has been decreased. |
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Fascia
The structure of a knit sweater and the fabric
weaves in and out to create the shape of a
torso. Like the yarn of the sweater, fascia
makes up a 3-D body suit. The threads weave in,
around, and out of the musculature and organs
throughout the entire body. You can make out a
silhouette of an entire human body if you were
left with just the fascia. The length, width,
and circumference of the body can be identified
simply by viewing an individual’s fascia. This
explains how interconnected we are to every
portion and every cell of ourselves. When trauma
occurs from whiplash, repetitive stress injury,
or even habitual poor posture, the cumulative
effect may cause discomfort and tightness.
Myofascial Release
technique can relieve chronic pain, tightness,
scarring, and increase the fascia's pliability. |
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