Information You Can Use

Information About Therapy Tools

Foam Rollers

Popularized years ago foam rollers were originally marketed to physical therapist, massage therapist, and personal trainers as effective tools to help people deal with tight muscles and facial tissue. However, there has been a significant change on how these are marketed. They are now being marketed to the general public. Is this OK? In my opinion, it's not foam rollers are a good tool when used properly and use specifically when it's determined they can be useful, but too often people purchase them for tightness or discomfort without understanding the nature of why that tissue was tight and how to help loosen it up. It is often one of those tools that I will ask if someone has at home that they've been using to deal with pain or discomfort or tight muscles. If people tell me they are, I will ask them how they are using it and how they learned how to use it because many manufacturers do not provide proper instruction when they are sold to them. If you have a foam roller, bring it to a qualified professional, like a personal trainer, physical therapist, or a massage therapist to better understand how to use it for your specific needs. Using this product regularly really can help as long as it's done correctly.

Percussion Guns

This is another popular item that people have purchased in recent years because many physical therapist, massage therapist, and personal trainers use them on a regular basis on their client and because manufacturers want to sell more of their products they sell to the general public without people understanding how to properly use them. Here is what I suggest for people that want to purchase these items: when you buy one, bring it to one of these professionals and let them show you how to use it for your specific needs, and which settings may be right for you. In some circumstances, these professionals can also use them on you during your sessions with them if they do not currently h and they feel it could be of benefit to you. I always suggest if you're not willing to bring them to a trained professional on how to use these devices never use them on the size of the neck the front of the neck the back of the knee any other area where there are significant blood vessels, nerves or delicate joints. And as mom used to say if it hurts don't do that there's a reason for it.

Wobble Boards

Wobble boards are wonderful devices. They are not only a wonderful diagnostic tool, but they are very effective and helping people who struggle with balance coordination and voluntary muscle training for a specific parts of the body. I am always surprised how many people find YouTube videos of these devices and say they would never try to use one. If done properly under supervision and proper training, they can provide an enormous amount of diagnostic data and rehabilitative help for people with all sorts of problems with their major joints, balance and coordination. They're also useful devices for helping to build muscle mass.

Tennis Balls (Click here for use demo)

Tennis balls are one are one of the most useful tools to complement your at-home care regiment. Easy to carry very flexible with enough rigidity for steady resistance, and being able to get into areas that a foam roller makes cumbersome. They are excellent for getting to those hard to reach places in the upper back hip or calf whether you're on the ground or placing it against a wall slow steady pressure does mimic a massage therapist technique very easily.

Red Light Devices

Although not a massage device it is an excellent therapeutic device. This technology has existed for over 30 years in part developed by NASA. It generates an enormous amount of specific light spectrums clinically proven to aid the body in regeneration of skin, collagen and soothing surface muscle tension, and facial tissue. At home devices very in strength and spectrum intensity so it's important to find out which version is right for you. These can range in size from the size of a small book to fitting almost an entire wall. Ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. Their proven track record with consistent use is well documented. For many of my clients this device is sitting on the back of my door and available for use during every appointment.

Lacrosse Balls

Considered one of the more controversial therapeutic items people tend to use it's smaller diameter than a tennis ball and much firmer rigidity makes it a favorite among bodybuilders and strength trainers however for the general public and most peoples use, this is too small of a diameter and two dents of a material to have therapeutic value because it can cause more harm than good for some people and some particular situations. I strongly recommend that people do not use these items as therapeutic devices, though they are in common use by a lot of people. If you insist on using one, my recommendation is to use it in large broad areas away from major joints, major nerves, and major veins and arteries.

Still Point Inducers

Originally developed any cranial sacral world for headache reduction it has slowly faded from many people toolbox however, I would consider it one of the most useful products out there. What am I talking about? And what do you use it for? A still point inducer is a manufactured product that is meant to go behind the head where the skull meets the spinal column the two soft but firm probes help hold up the weight of a person's head and relax, the small occipital muscles that attach the back of the head to the musculature of the spinal column and lower tissue. These inducers relax the small musculature by a similar method of steady pressure used in trigger point therapy. Many people that have chronic headaches do stress and tighten neck muscles find relief in less than 15 minutes. And the old days before these were mass produced, people would take two tennis balls and put them in a tube sock, touching each other and then lay on top of it. Now these products are manufactured out of a dense foam dipped in a silicone coating that makes them quite durable.

Keno Tape

This is another product that was originally meant to be marketed and sold only two qualified medical professionals to understand how to apply these items. But it has slowly gone to mass marketing and could be found in drugstores and other places for use by the general public without the proper training. Kanizo tape is designed to extend myofacial release sessions by stretching the facial tissue using this specialty tape. It can be used in broad areas of the back arms legs and has a proven track record of results. Many people will buy this product bring it home and watch YouTube videos on how to use it. If you're going to use it, use it in conjunction with a qualified professional, who can show you specifically how to use it for your needs and goals.

Pregnancy Sling

One of the most underrated items that I come across in the massage and bodywork industry. For a pregnant woman, this can be the difference between mobility and having a more comfortable pregnancy than any other item I've ever found. Meant to distribute the weight of a baby on a woman's spine, hips and legs it acts like a bra almost for the stomach. These products used to be available almost everywhere from small detail stores to pharmacies, but they are more and more being found only online or through a special order. After doing almost 1,000 prenatal sessions in my career, I can tell you that there is a substantial difference in the comfort of any pregnant person who uses this product. They are adjustable and washable and in my opinion should be given to other pregnant women just like we give away baby clothes because it makes that big of a difference. It makes prenatal massage significantly easier to perform when the muscles are already in a semi relaxed state from using an item like this.

Information For Pain by Body Part (Head to Toe)

Chronic Headaches

Chronic headaches typically have two main causes, mechanical and hormonal. Mechanical headaches are those caused by tight muscles or dehydration that are fairly common. There are other headaches that are hormonal that could be a genetic condition that requires the intervention of a doctor and proper test to see if your hormones are out of normal ranges. Massage therapy can assist with chronic mechanical headaches. How do we do that? We look for a couple of things when it comes to the mechanics of headaches, we look at a lack of sleep, a lack of proper hydration, and we look at the back of of the head where it meets the neck and those muscles are called the occipital, and when they over tighten, they put pressure on the back of the skull and brain stem leading to headaches at tend to go behind the eyes.

Jaw Clenching/Grinding

Jaw clenching is one of the most common problems that people suffer with, and they're typically two main causes that we look at in massage therapy when it comes to reducing the pain caused by jaw, clenching and grinding. The first thing that we consider is, are you mentally stressed and if so, you could be clenching your teeth during the daytime hours or unwillingly or unknowingly doing it at night while you're asleep. Massaging the jaw from the outside is a very common way to soothe this. The other is that people grind their teeth in frequently, but because the alignment of their jaw with their upper teeth is not quite right, it can cause discomfort. This should be looked at by a dental specialist. As a preventative measure, it's common practice to use a mouthguard purchased at a pharmacy that is typically self molding that can create a gap in the jaw, reducing the stress on the muscle done in conjunction with massage therapy you can reduce the pain caused by jaw clenching pretty easily.

As a secondary alternative to massage acupuncture is very well known to be an inexpensive and highly effective means of stopping jaw clenching. It should be noted that they do not typically needle the jaw directly. Instead, they use an alternative needle in sight that refers up to the area of the jaw. In my experience, if a acupuncturist wants to impress a new client and sees things like jaw clenching on their intake forms, they are very likely going to want to needle for that particular problem because it's something that gets very good results within the first appointment that will stay for quite a long time.

Sinus Tention

Sinus tension can be associated with several causes. In the case of sinus pressure due to muscle tightening around the back of the head and sinus pressure caused by nasal mucus, a qualified massage. Therapist can release the pressure on the back of the skull, which then allows the sinus to open the other option is specifically called the butterfly lift, and this is where the practitioner will grab the top of the nasal canal and gently pull straight upward when in a face up position as the client breeze into the mouth and out through the nose, a craze is positive pressure in the sinus cavity, causing sinus drainage (think suction cup on a window). This can also be achieved, though less comfortably by laying face down on the massage table, and if the mucus is soft and fluid enough, it will start to drain.

Neck Pain (back)

Neck pain can have several causes and several different solutions. Whenever we think of neck pain some of the first questions I'll ask a client is: are you under a significant amount of stress? The second question I will typically ask is if you're not in what positions are you sleeping and are you waking up with any pain in your neck? The last question all typically ask is do you clench your teeth? The answer to these three questions can narrow down the cause, most likely, and the focus of the work during that session and also point to reasonable aftercare steps for the client. If you can see yourself in one of those three situations, most likely that is the cause of your discomfort and seeing a massage therapist can actually help in all three of those circumstances. When is it time to visit a massage therapist or bodyworker in these situations if it's happening more than several times a month. If there is not a feeling of tension under the fingertips of a massage therapist, that's when they'll typically suggest you go to a family doctor to see if there could be a hormonal reason for the neck pain itself, though less common it's still possible.

Neck Pain Sides (lateral Pain)

Pain on the side of the neck is typically an indication of jaw clenching, or it could also be a sign that your pillows are not supporting your head correctly. If you sleep on your sides, these are both very common causes. Read further on this webpage and down near the bottom where it talks about sleep posture and you'll get more detailed information on this topic.

Shoulder Pain (Back)

Shoulder pain primarily emanating from the back of the shoulders is an indication that the rhomboids may be to blame these muscles connect the spine to the inside edges of your shoulder blades. Society moves towards more electronic devices used in the hand, and if you go back even 40 years ago, the use of the typewriter and keyboard, our hands spend more time lower and in front of us than ever before this can cause stretching and tightness in those muscles, which is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain emanating from the back. There are other culprits as well, and they are primarily under the shoulder blade or next to the shoulder blade going vertically from the top of the shoulder blade down to the back of the pelvis there are simple test that can be done to be determined which muscle muscles of the primary cause and which ones are in the neighborhood, but not the same culprit. A primary treatment at home is typically heat for soreness and for sharp pain. That's usually best dealt with ice and a visit to a chiropractor to determine if there are other more serious underlying causes.

Shoulder Pain (Tops)

Discomfort on the top of the shoulders is typically indication of the shoulder joint having a problem or the sides of the shoulders becoming two tents and sandwiching five layers of muscle and soft tissue together, then pulling all on each other at the same time. This is one of the most troublesome spots on the human body simply because of its design. We have five very important muscle and soft tissue layers here that sandwich on top of each other in layers, but yet each muscle and soft tissue piece has its very own distinct function and often times move in similar directions but not the same direction. Under tension muscle layers can get stuck together. Most often a massage therapist will get a client on the table and find out that there shoulder tops are tight on clients because their upper back and shoulder is tight. Look under tennis ball therapy on this page for more information about at home care for this particular area.

Shoulder Pain (Front)

The front of the shoulders are a tricky area in that the front of the shoulders represent key areas for vital parts of the body to work. For example, in order to get the flexibility, we need from our arms comes from the front of her shoulders because it allows a joint to move in almost every direction smoothly that means there's a lot of muscle attachment ligament attachments along with nerves, arteries, and veins. So this is an area that we don't like people to press on or work with without the help of a train to professional whether it's orthopedist a massage therapist or chiropractor. The area around the collarbone going into the neck has vital blood supply and nerve endings, and we do not like people massaging those areas as well and again refers out to specific areas to another medical professional.

Arms

After years of working with clients, one of the most common misconceptions people have is that their fingers move themselves in other words, the muscles that bend and move the fingers are actually in the fingers they are not. The actual muscles that move your fingers are located on the top and bottom of your arm just short of your elbow. A good way to think of this is if someone were to say go pick up sticks in the woods or heavy things in the woods, they would come home and their arms would feel sore and they would attribute that to gripping in the wood and picking it up, for example. But people disassociate typing, for example, or handwriting with the finger muscles being too tight and actually they're the same muscles feeling different in different places for different reasons, but having the same treatment, we massage the middle area of the arm just before the elbow. A common method for treating this area beyond massage would be a percussion gun or tennis ball look elsewhere on this page for more detail information on about treating this area of the body with those at home device devices.

Eblow (Golfers vs Tennis)

There is some confusion for people about the difference between golfers, elbow and tennis elbow. So here is the simple explanation. The pain on the inside of the elbow is from gripping the golf club. The outside of the elbow above and below, the elbow itself is from swinging the tennis racket backhanded. Just like the previous section on arms, there are treatment devices that can be used at home for these areas. The important thing to remember is that you use them properly and that you do not expect a microwave solution to a problem that builds over a longer period of time if you have any questions reach out to your massage therapist to get more information.

Wrist Pain

The human wrist is an interesting part of the body in that it has a number of tendons, bones, ligaments, and nerves along with a vital blood supply that passed through it. It provides incredible strength and durability and flexibility all at the same time. For that reason, it is vital that if you have wrist pain you get it looked at quickly to ensure you haven't caused any permanent injury, and if you have caused temporary injury that affect you for the shortest amount of time possible because the human wrists are vital to our everyday life.

Wrist pain can have several causes, including referred pain, which means it has a cause elsewhere in the body, but the pain that a person would recognize is found in a different area.

Plam Pain

Pain in this area of the body typically results from tightness between the thumb and fore finger and a simple gentle massage will drastically reduce symptoms. This could also be a referred pain from the wrist, so it's important that if you're going to self massage, the poem who also gently massage the wrist area as well.

Pec Tightness

This is an ever increasing problem in modern life. Because most of modern life is about using your fingers and hands in front of you and lower than your chest, your packs will naturally start to shrink in length which means a lot of people have shoulders that round forward instead of staying straight on the diagonal plane. Pec tightness is also one of those areas that needs massaged that a lot of people don't like to get massaged and that could be for a number of reasons. However, if there was one area of the body that tends to get sore and people don't notice what also tends to drastically change the quality of your everyday life. It is your pec muscles. This is also one of the areas were stretching well getting massaged is very important because it not only helps lengthen the muscle fibers, but soothe them as well. It's also a good wake up call for people who feel that tightness and understand how much their shoulders actually are going forward, causing discomfort in your everyday life so it's a good indicator.

Upper Back Pain (Between Shoulders)

The area between the shoulders is an area that people complain about quite often. There are a couple of major reasons for this. The first one being that there are very strong primary muscles in that area called the rhomboid. They are responsible for pulling the shoulder blades back. We use them every day all the time and they tend to get so sore and overworked and also stretched. Nearby there are several layers of muscle tissue on the top of the shoulders and they also are under a great deal of tension and stress. They also tend to hold emotional stress. This is one of the reasons why people really like foam rollers and heating pads but also a good massage. Because one of the areas we tend to start with, is right there in the upper back between the shoulders because it tends to relieve a lot of stress and tends to loosen up muscle quite quickly.

Mid Back Pain

The mid back is an area that is very important to walking. This is one of the main reasons why people have pain. And my pain in the glutes tends to go upwards instead of downwards because if you remove someone's legs, what you'll find out is that walking doesn't come from the legs. It comes from the middle of the back. So what are some of the major causes of mid back pain and what does massage do about it? Most of the major causes of midback pain have to do with the degradation of the spinal discs in that area. It also can be from tightness in the rib. Muscles acting like a fulcrum near where they attach at the spine. So let's talk about this area in terms of treating them at home. The most important thing to realize is that unless you feel a sharp pain, gentle heat can help release soreness very easily. This is typically accomplished by a heating pad or a lukewarm bath, and you want to expose this area of your back to heat for between 30 to 45 minutes on a gentle heat not a high heat. When it comes to heating an area of muscle tissue think of it like cooking a piece of meat and you wanna cook it at the lowest temperature for an extended period of time. This will loosen up the muscle fibers and that's what you're doing to your mid back when you heat it. If your back pain has been sore for some time and suddenly now become sharp, this is the time to use ice, but it's also time to see a doctor or chiropractor or both. The human body is made to move and if you're mid back become so tight that you can't move immediate medical intervention is usually the right thing to do.

Low Back Pain

Lower back pain is considered one of the most common concerns among medical professionals in every specialty, dealing with bones, muscles or major joints near the spine. Anatomically the lower back has to bear all the weight of the head, shoulders, arms, and torso. It also has to provide an enormous amount of flexibility which overtime degrades as the spine starts to wear out. One of the most common reasons for low back pain is tightness in the musculature in an attempt to make up for the lack of joint in the spine itself. To think of it more simply as the joint spaces decrease and can bear less of the weight the body will try to work around that by simply increasing our pain level in an attempt to reduce our range of motion. For some clients on their first appointment, I may recommend getting a x-ray of their spine if they haven't had one in the last five years, simply to use as a benchmark to better understand the health of their spinal discs and how their lower vertebrae are seated into their pelvis, and if that may be an underlying cause that would be very hard for a standard massage therapy appointment to notice. Just like mid back pain I often recommend heat to soothe tight muscles and ice if there are sharp pain.

Hip Pain

Hip pain is another common issue for people both young and old. Hip pain can have several causes not just tight muscles. This would include things like the surface area of the head of the femur or the hip socket, being uneven, causing uneven wear and tear within the joint capsule, it could also be something like an alignment problem between the spine, the hips and the legs. If it is a muscular cause which it can be for a lot of people it's normally the Glute muscles misfiring or the out muscles around the hip being active too much while attempting to sleep on your side at night.

Soas Pain ( Lower Abdominal Tightness)

These muscles are important but most people don't realize it. These are your so as muscles. They help pull the pelvis straight and provide much needed stability needed for balance and walking. Many massage therapist do not work this area and are not trained in how to work this area correctly. So what is the benefit of checking for a tight so as? Well it gives us a great deal of information about things like your back pain it also gives us a great deal of information about your ability to be flexible and move. By using it even as a diagnostic tool, we learn a great deal about our clients. So if we wanted to work these areas, how does it work after all? It's near the edge of the pelvis, right where your stomach is and extends all the way down near your groin area. The answer is pretty simple when we wanna work the area, we can do so between a light covering or bare skin starting at the top edge of the pelvic bowl and slowly applying pressure downward wall following the bone within about three finger with of the groin. Now you might say if someone has extra weight does that matter? It can, but for most people that have very tight soas muscles they tend not to have enormous amount of belly fat. We simply apply gentle pressure and bring our hands slowly inward by the public bowl and gently work the muscles from each side, one at a time because they also tend to be fairly uneven and the goal should be to even pressure out, which will reduce things like back pain for some people and hip pain for others. This is also an area of the body that is quite sensitive similar to the muscles and so we want to ask permission and explain what we're going to do before we do it. A good note here that if the therapist is properly trained, they can also do a lot of this work in a facedown position that often times makes some people feel much more comfortable.

Glute Tightness

Don't be a tight ass. Glute muscles help keep us upright and help our legs to flex as we move. They're absolutely vital to walking. Take glutes are often one of the most common issues for people with sciatica. Though is not always the cause of their sciatica pain. It is often a contributing factor one that should be looked at along with the nerve root at the back of the spine. Learn more about sciatica elsewhere on this page. When it comes to at home care and massage of the Glute tissue foam rollers are a great at home care device and as far as massage goes massaging with a fist or a tennis ball is often times highly effective.

Knee Pain

Human knees are delicate and in contrast when you consider how much work, they do incredibly durable. Pain on the sides of the knee on the back of the knee and coming from underneath the kneecap can be some of the most painful experiences for people and can lead to the greatest amount of concern for people aging. My recommendation with knee pain is to always consider recent past activities to look for a sign of what may be causing the knee pain. If the pain is sharp or sharp, only in certain ranges of motion and x-ray would be a reasonable assessment tool. If it's intermittent pain with limited swelling massage might be a viable option. If you have chronic pain with swelling and you haven't had an x-ray go get one first before even scheduling massage appointment. A qualified massage therapist will both understand how to be gentle and provide you with good basic assessment. That may be a quick referral out for more information or provide limited treatment when results come back based on your habits and the nature of the pain you're having.

Ankle Pain

Ankle pain is less common similar to a human knee and angle is an area that takes a great deal of punishment and has many complex structures around it that provide us with an enormous amount of power and stability necessary for every day movement. When looking at ankle pain a massage therapist will often times look for the most common signs of swelling, redness, or heat along with living mobility factors. Because feet are incredibly complex structures often times it's a freak accident that causes a lot of the pain associated with this part of the body or it's long-term structural damage that needs to be addressed. A good massage therapist can gently work the foot and ankle in such a way as to see If this requires more help from someone like a podiatrist. Because ankles are so complex it is recommended to make a short first appointment with a massage therapist to see if there's anything they can actually do for you and if there isn't, they should be able to refer you out to a qualified medical professional like a podiatrist or a qualified general practitioner.

Bottom on Feet

Massage Therapist’s often times get questions about the bottom of peoples feet. The reason for this is pretty simple actually because though the bottom of the foot is complex, there are many ligaments, tendons and muscles in the bottom of the feet and if any one of them is sore, stiff or in pain. It is very noticeable most commonly the reason somebody will come in in and complain about their feet is tightness around the middle of the foot they think is plantar fasciitis or they are getting hammertoes or other foot related long-term pain caused by a structural problem. This is also an area like the ankles that tends to get referred out quite often and a shorter visit to a massage therapist is typically recommended to at least figure out if this is something that needs an immediate referral or can be relieved using massage therapy.

Information by Condition

Migraine Headaches

One of the most common and one of the most misunderstood things a Massage Therapist can treat. Having two major causes one being mechanical pressure from the muscles on the back of the head or hormonal in balances which are treated by a primary care. Physical migraine headaches are much more treatable than they've ever been. Massage therapy can be very effective for the mechanical causes of migraine headaches people often overlook massage therapy as a possible treatment option for migraine headaches because they seem so chronic and intense. It also appears to people to be one of the most expensive options to dealing with migraine headaches but the truth is that through regular bodywork you can see significant reduction in frequency and intensity.

TMJ

Tight jaw clenching and even more severe versions like TMJ are one of again, a very common condition that Massage Therapy can help with if done consistently over a longer period of time. By helping to reduce muscle tension in key muscle areas in the jaw and in the lateral neck, this can be very well controlled with the help of a dentist, massage therapist, and even an acupuncturist. If you were suffering with this condition, it is very important to get a proper diagnosis of whether it is jaw, clenching or TMJ and looking at the condition of your teeth. Once you have that established seeing a good Acupuncturist and Massage Therapist or even both can be extremely beneficial and won't break the bank.

Sinus Pressure / Tension

Sinus tension can be associated with several causes. In the case of sinus pressure due to muscle tightening around the back of the head and sinus pressure caused by nasal mucus, a qualified Massage Therapist can release the pressure on the back of the skull, which then allows the sinus to open the other option is specifically called the butterfly lift, and this is where the practitioner will grab the top of the nasal canal and gently pull straight upward when in a face up position as the client breeze into the mouth and out through the nose, a craze is positive pressure in the sinus cavity, causing sinus drainage. This can also be achieved, though less comfortably by laying face down on the massage table, and if the mucus is soft and fluid enough, it will start to drain.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Massage Therapy can significantly help carpal tunnel syndrome in its early stages. By relaxing the muscles in the upper arm and releasing the facial tissue in the upper arm, we can help reduce carpal tunnel pain. In the later stages when surgery is typically used recovery from carpal tunnel syndrome isn't typically more than a few massage appointments to help regain small amounts of flexibility and again continue to work the upper arms, muscles, and facial tissue. The important thing with carpal tunnel syndrome when it comes to massage is helping you recognize when the symptoms have crashed to a point where further medical intervention is necessary. But in the early stages, there's a significant amount of relief that can be seen through massage therapy.

Hip replacement(s)

When a person is suffering with hip pain joint replacement can be necessary. Massage Therapist who specialize in orthopedic work like myself can help work the soft tissue around the hip joint itself prior to surgery and typically 6 to 8 weeks after surgery with a doctor supervision. Before surgery, we can make it easier for the doctors to get into those areas to have soft muscle that's pliable and easy to move out of the way. Surgical recovery having softer looser hip muscles can make it easier to get up and stand and to walk more easily. When it comes to post surgical recovery typically under a doctor supervision, a Massage Therapist can start working with you as early as 6 weeks. Some doctors may suggest sooner however it depends on the individual person. For post surgical hip replacements, the prognosis is generally very good and working with somebody to keep their quads, calves, glutes, and areas around the hip joints mobile less tight is nothing but be beneficial. Often times there are questions about scar tissue, both internal and external And there are post surgical scarring reduction techniques that massage therapist can use with the most important in my opinion, being the internal scar tissue. Access scar tissue only hinders mobility, but some scar scar tissue is necessary internally to keep the structure of the incision intact. But a qualified Massage Therapist can help you figure out where you are on that spectrum of scoring and muscle development and help improve that situation significantly.

Knee Replacement(s)

Knee replacements are another area of specialty for me because knee replacements are more common. They are using better and newer equipment and less damaging techniques to work on the knee joint. Massage therapy can help reduce swelling, pain and tight muscle muscles prior to knee replacement, but it can also be very helpful postsurgical as well. Similar to hip replacements we work under a doctor supervision typically around 6 to 8 weeks after the replacements are complete. We helped to manage the scarring that is forming both external internally, as well as to ensure that there are no residual complications that you as a patient might not immediately notice. A word of note on knee replacements. It is very common that surgeons will want to do both knee replacements within 8 to 12 weeks of a first knee replacement after years of working on people and seeing the changes and technique and technology, I can honestly say the best outcomes come from people who get them at least a year apart. The reason for that is this people tend to coordinate their movements better they tend to regain strength or steadily and keep it on when they only do one need a time in a one year period. People that have had it done in a narrower timeframe from the first knee replacement to the second knee replacement often times regret it because they're not giving their body enough time to recover from the first surgery and ada. After all, if you think about it knees, go bad slowly over a period of time most of the time and the body adapts to those changing conditions and when you replace somebody's knee, it drastically improves their mobility, but the body and the brain have to adapt to that change if you don't give it enough time to adapt to the first knee, it's gonna struggle even more with the second. I have seen physical therapist and surgeon. Say there's no statistical difference when it's studied between people that get surgery less than a year apart and those over your apart, and I can tell you I strongly disagree because when you look at the long-term outcomes, they tend to be a little different. Many of those studies only look at time frames five years out or 10 years out I'm thinking more long-term somebody in their 70s and 80s not somebody in their 50s or 60s.

Sciatica

One of the most common areas that a Massage Therapist treats. Starting in the lower spinal column going between two of your medial glute muscles and down the leg, Sacia is not only painful but debilitating. Massage therapist can help you determine based on your lifestyle and through palpation if an x-ray is necessary to determine if the sciatic nervous is being pinched at the spinal column or if it's being compressed by tight muscles in the glute. One that determined the use of foam rollers, percussion guns and a regular massage therapy can significantly reduce pain and increase mobility. This is one area of the body, where if you have one of these therapeutic devices at home, bring it to your massage therapist and let them show you how to use it properly for your particular circumstance. If a massage therapist determines that it's most likely an issue with the spine and x-ray is often recommended. Even if they find no significant collapse of the spinal column affecting the nerve, it can also create a benchmark for future spine issues, possibly related to sciatica. Either way a visit with a massage therapist for this particular problem is a very good idea.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a relatively common condition. The reason it's so common is because the human foot changes shape and size throughout our lifespan and changes in our movement patterns even our footwear and what we walk on in terms of flooring or rocks or hiking boots, ice skates all sorts of things can affect the shape of our foot and the way that the muscles, tendons and ligaments function. The human foot and ankle complex is considered some of the most complex tissue in the human body. there are several different at home therapeutic devices that we can recommend and show you how to use properly to help reduce the pain associated with plantar fasciitis. An important note here that nothing happens quickly when it comes to the feet it is slow. It is steady work and it needs to be consistent in order to get true results. So if you have pain know that there will never be a quick fix they can only be consistent effort to yield positive result.

Degenerative Bone & Disc Disease

Considered one of the most devastating conditions that a human being can endure a long-term degenerative bone and disc disease is becoming one of the more treatable conditions. A person can have, but also still some of the most painful and lifelong debilitating diseases. Massage therapy realizes that as bones and discs start to degrade overtime that soft tissue attempts to assist in taking over some of their responsibility of supporting the body. So in this circumstance, it's not about loosening up the muscles too much. You need to keep some of that soft structure that flexes to stay strong tight. The idea is to create transsexuality in the body so that a person can move more effectively and for a longer period of time. Proper diagnostic palpation on a regular basis by massage therapist can ensure integrity ensure stability and keep someone with this dreadful disease mobile for longer.

Tendonitis

Some people don’t fully understand what Tendonitis is, it is the inflammation of the tendons (the tissue that connects muscles to bone. This inflammation can be helped through medication as well as physical therapy and often times in modern medicine medications. Massage therapy can assist clients with this condition by soft gentle rhythmic massage to help reduce the inflammation. Typically sessions tend to be an hour or 90 minutes before flareups happen or after flareup start to clear out. We work in a timeframe at a pace and at a pressure that does not increase the inflammation but will soothe it.

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is one of the most treatable conditions that massage therapy is ideally suited for. Thought to be a condition involving the overactive nerves in the body as it relates to the connective tissue fascia. Steady, slow, rhythmic massage usually done at a lighter pressure can help to organize the nervous system and reduce pain and discomfort. It has been known to help people reduce their pain level, increase their sleep, and the depth of their sleep cycle. Flareups tend to occur when people are stressed, emotionally or physically so going to a massage therapist would make a lot of sense. A formal diagnosis is usually the preferred way of determining how a massage therapist will provide a treatment plan, but this does not mean massage every week, sometimes not even every month depending on the individuals needs so it's important to get a proper diagnosis before going to massage therapy for treatments.

Arthritis

Inflammation of the joints tends to be something that people think massage therapy can help with or they've never heard of it. There's never a middle ground, but study have proven arthritis can be reduced, and the pain can be reduced by regular massage therapy. The reason behind it is that the inflammation of the joints can be lessened by simply preventing gentle massage near the joints in order to reduce muscle strain on the joints from movement. This would be part of a overall plan you and your doctor would make. Larger joints tend to get the most benefit from massage therapy from somebody with arthritis. These are typically areas that bear a lot of weight or produce a lot of range of motion movement. Arthritis tends to get worse as people age reducing their mobility and increasing their pain so if you have arthritis at a younger age, getting into a good habit of massage therapy is not the worst idea. Even short sessions can produce very good results so depending on where the body it is and how severe it is you and a Massage Therapist can work together to find an affordable long-term schedule.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a difficult condition to deal with on so many levels because it affects every day life so much. Massage therapy can help people with anxiety to come into a quiet environment that is consistent and safe. The rhythmic nature of massage can reduce heart rate and blood pressure and can promote sleep which often sometimes people with anxiety do not get enough of. It is not uncommon for this to be difficult in the beginning when you have no prior massage experience but regular massage closer to bedtime or during peak hours in which you experience hearing anxiety, which for some people can also be in the morning or mid afternoon can help bring those anxiety levels down the blood pressure down and promote meditation. A Massage Therapist can also help somebody with their breathing at the same time to reduce anxiety during the session and provide them with a way to self soothe when not getting a massage through assisting them and understanding how slow steady rhythmic breath can help center their anxiety and reduce it.

Depression

Depression is a wide spectrum and therefore requires a spectrum of treatment options massage therapy can significantly help depression by helping to expose people to physical touch, constancy of expectations within a schedule, and an environment that is safe and comfortable. People with depression often times choose to isolate themselves because they find it to be more comfortable. This isolation can be helpful, but also very hurtful in dealing with depression so it's a middle ground. Slow rhythmic steady massage in a dark environment can often times help people with depression. Settle those difficult thoughts provide them with human contact that is difficult to replicate elsewhere. Many psychologist and doctors recommend massage therapy for people dealing with depression for all of those reasons.

Insomnia

Insomnia typically happens in short bouts and I can have a number of triggers. Doctors and psychologist have studied massage therapy treatment for insomnia for an extensive period of time. Though modern medication's do significantly help massage therapy can help induce the bodies, natural hormone cycle of rest and relaxation because of the darkened environment the wa table and the lack of stimulus from outside sources such as televisions cell phones and radios. Some people that suffer from insomnia massage therapist will sometimes just turn off all music so that their brain can focus solely on the rhythmic physical contact. If you're suffering within insomnia, consider talking to your medical provider about massage therapy as a possible drug free solution to bouts of insomnia.

Information About Sports Specific Conditions

Tennis & Pickel Ball

An interesting sport on the human body in involving rapid acceleration, pivoting and rotation of the spinal column. Some of the chronic things that come up for these players are things like ankle problems, stemming from rapid acceleration and turning for arm, pain and hip pain. One of the keys to providing relief for individuals playing this game on a regular basis is to examine the full spine and all the musculature involves in twisting of the spine and torso, and a good examination of from the knees to the ankles. Often times scar tissue in the ankles can affect the players game quite substantially, but can also be released overtime using massage therapy. One of the best ways to reduce injury is to see a Massage Therapist before the season is set to begin and during the middle of the season to look for any injuries that are occurring that are also getting worse due to inflammation and healing being less noticeable.

Biking

Biking creates create some very interesting patterns due to its repetitive nature. When a person gets on a bicycle, there posture and stride length in the pedal is very important to reducing injury, but also in making a pattern of tightness muscle strength in range of motion for a good portion of the rest of the body. Common issues with biking are hips, low back and shoulders, hips because of the stride length due to the pedals being incorrect. Low back pain depending on the persons posture in the bike can lead to stretch, stretching of the low back muscles or compression of the discs forward, which can degrade them overtime, causing sharp pain in the low back overtime due to discs wearing down. Shoulder tissue can become stretched along with upper back tissue, depending on persons handlebars. Overall biking is a very good activity to reduce wear and tear on the knees and other parts of the body will still burning a good amount of calories, so it shouldn't be discouraged, however it should be checked regularly for compensation patterns or wear and tear patterns on major joints and muscles.

Disc Golf

A sport that was very popular for short time and still has quite a following this unique sport presents some interesting body mechanics issues that massage therapy can be very effective in treating. If you think about the game itself, they act of flicking at disc long distance using good aim present some interesting challenges for the upper body and actually not all that similar to baseball or even aspects of tennis. Things that we tend to see as patterns in those playing this game tend to be more things like elbow, pain, shoulder pain, and twisting pain in the mid back or low back. It is less common to see discomfort in the hips and knees.

Golf

Golf is a very popular sport to play, and in my humble opinion, the absolute worst sport for the human body other than football. Football is a high impact sport that requires most players to carry extra bodyweight over a long period of time by golf does something fairy unnatural to the human body as well, and that is high speed rotation of the torso. The human spine was not made to do repeated high speed rotations of the torso. Over time what happens is that by constantly twisting in the same direction storing kinetic energy between the mid back and the low back causes severe wear and tear on the discs in the spine. One of the most famous cases of this is Tiger Woods. Considered one of the premier golfers of the 20th century, his unique form made him a very powerful and precise golfer. The mechanics of which were devastating to his spine in that he stored a lot of kinetic energy rotation in the spine within only a few vertebrae that means that if you consider the human spine, a rotating spring coil. The very bottom of the spine was super charged while the remainder of it was less so which is a very atypical way of storing energy in the human spine for golfing because most golfers do not learn to do that. He has had to have many surgeries, long, physical therapy sessions, and enormous amount of massage. So if you're going to enjoy the game of golf, my recommendation is this enjoy leisurely and relatively infrequently in order to reduce the wear and tear on the spine. Your spine cannot be replaced once the damage is done. It's pretty much done and massage can only help the soft tissue. It cannot help the discs or the bones and once you realize that you're most likely cherish every single hole on the golf course a little bit more.

Football

Football players pay some of the most severe consequences for playing sport of any sport in existence, and in my opinion is the worst sport human beings can engage in. Football is brutal and aggressive, and the constant collisions of not only people's heads, but also their joints causes significant damage that ages of persons body significantly. There is still very little medicine can do to reverse the utter brutality of the sport of football. Most significantly a massage therapist will deal with the extraordinarily tight muscles in the upper body and lower body from chronic weightlifting sessions as the muscle tissue grows faster and faster. Soft tissue, depending on its tight grows at different speeds and similar to weightlifting football players can't damage the tissue they're growing by growing too quickly. Ligaments grow slower than muscle fascias slower than muscle tissue yet muscle tissue grows extremely fast. Most Massage Therapist treat all of these issues during sessions so it's important to realize that massage can help those issues significantly, but if someone is so aggressive in the sport for training and doing the sport, you're only buying time you're not improving.

Long Distance Running

Long distance running is a very popular sport in the United States it doesn't require a lot of money to get started and it can be done almost everywhere during every season. As a massage therapist, there are a couple of things that this particular sport does to the body of note that we look for and treat on a regular basis. The first being that people must make sure they're wearing good shoes for long distance running because it has an effect on the ankles, knees and hips. The second item is that when people are running long distances, it has a severe impact on the knees and the low back from a structural standpoint so the discs and the joints tend to wear out faster in runners. Foam rolling and other facial release techniques and devices are very good for runners. Runners may also have issues in their shoulders if they have prior shoulder injuries from moving them back-and-forth on a regular basis.

Volleyball Baseball

A very popular among men and women, it is actually one of the better sports a person can participate in for the simple reason. It's relatively low impact and requires of a variety of physical movements and that prevents chronic tightening of specific muscles. Volleyball players in general need a lot of calf, hamstring and quad work and they also need some ankle work because the ankles do twist and move under pressure more than other sports because of the uneven surface that you play on typically (sand). For those individuals playing on a hard surface, the sport becomes less low impact and more habit-forming when it comes to things like chronic tightness in the calves, shoulders and pelvis. Playing this game on a hard surface creates more sharp, jagged movements and more twisting because there is not a significant opportunity to do things like dive.

Basketball

America's game baseball is in ways a very good sport for the human body and a very bad sport for the human body. So if there was a middle ground between high impact and low impact, this is the sport I would pick. Baseball players for massage. Therapist tend to need hip and spine care because of the swinging of the bat and the running aspect. Baseball players tend to have significant inflammation in their joints and muscles so a smooth for massage of the legs. The back in the arms is essential to maintaining your body for the sport. These sessions tend to take longer so 90 minutes to 2 hours is a very common timeframe to get a massage if you're a baseball player. Use of percussion guns is common in the sport and having a massage therapist show you how to use it properly can make a world of difference.

Hockey

The great sport of the great North that hockey. A wonderful form of cardiovascular exercise having a lot of impact on the joints and with significant number of collisions you would think it's on the same spectrum as football, and in many respects, they are quite similar. However, hockey players have a significant wear and tear pattern in that massage therapist look for and that's in their calves, hamstrings, quadriceps. We tend to need to work those areas more and we also tend to need to work, the hips more. Shoulders also tend to be affected similar to how football players have to deal with constant collisions, but there's also this interesting aspect of using the hockey stick. Hockey sticks are more or less swung in the shoulders not from the elbows like baseball so when they get massages, we focus on their shoulders and neck. If your hockey player massage is very good for you and even a monthly or biweekly hockey centered massage can do wonders to keep you healthy and injury free.

Weight Lifting

One of my specialties is working with weightlifters. They are some of the most dedicated athletes I encounter, which means many of them are on an extreme of a spectrum either they are very thoughtful patient and gold driven so they tend to be more sensible when it comes to changing up their routines or changing their weight levels or reps. On the other extreme, there are people who will not listen to healthcare professionals who will abuse drugs, and push their bodies to a very unsafe and unhealthy extreme. Weight lifters tend to have a lot of need for deep muscle work, and joint work due to the fact that muscle grows faster than facial tissue, ligaments and tendons. This means that they typically feel very sore. They need a lot of pressure and to maintain or gain muscle mass they have to weight lift quite often and for extended periods of time these particular clients tend to get the most homework for me in order to stay uninjured and healthy. They also need very long sessions usually between two hours and three hours typically monthly or split up into weekly one hour sessions.

Swimming

Swimming is listed in this information page for one very specific reason and that is in my opinion it is one of the healthiest sports any person can do. Swimming is lower impact. It can have the therapeutic effects if it's cooler, water or warmer water you can do weight bearing exercises in the water. And not only is it good for the young, but it's also good for the old who have their own specific type of wear and tear needs on their joints and spines. If there was one sport, I could give to every person to increase her longevity and reduce the wear and tear on their muscles bones joints it would be swimming. When I see a swimmer because of the variety of techniques in swimming and the fact that it's lower impact these tend to be the athletes that come in that require the least amount of pressure tend to relax better and tend to see better overall consistent results.

Information by Body Shape

Being Tall

The world is not made for exceptionally tall people (those over 6 feet tall). What challenges do these people have that a short person does not have or a person that falls with the average height range? Taller people have to sit more deeply into a standard size chair and they require more legroom in order to sit in a standard height chair. Taller people have to bend their spine further in order to reach things no matter how light or heavy those objects are this requires significantly more flexibility than people realize. Taller people also have to be more concerned about their knees and hips because their legs are longer. They move further with each stride which creates a unique wear and tear pattern on those joints. Whenever a massage therapist gets a taller person on their table one of the most common things is that the table is too short for them so a table extender is a wonderful option to have because after all if you're tall, it's hard to fit into bed. The leverage on your hips if you sleep on your side is much more extreme. This can cause a lot of issues for people's low backs, hamstrings, and knees. When an experience massage professional see a tall person they're always gonna be looked at a little differently because their body mechanics are so different and we need to pay close attention to their specific knees like those listed above so if you are taller when you make your appointment, don't be afraid to say so it might actually get you a better fitting table and a more experienced therapist.

Being Short

The world is not made for short people the average height of people is getting taller as a result of that lesson less of the world is accessible to short people. A prime example of this is overhead bins in an airplane. For a lot of shorter people they simply cannot reach it. But what consequence does that have to your physical body? If you can't reach it anyway? The answer is actually a pretty clever one, and that is that when you were short, it also means that you have to apply more effort or force to do things. Other people can do more easily because they are closer to an object. A good example of this is watching a short person open and close I have a car door or get into a truck in which they are required to take a bigger step to get into or have to jump to get into it. This is something that a lot of people don't have to do that provides wear and tear on a person's body that is common to shorter people. What are some of these areas that a Massage Therapist would look for in shorter people that does have extra wear and tear you might ask? The feet, the knees, the hips and the shoulders.

Extra Weight

Having an extra weight on the body is one of the most common topics in media. And instead of preaching to people about the consequences of extra weight on the body, I would like to take a little bit more of a mechanical approach. For every pound of weight on the body, you have to carry that weight every day. That means that you'll need more muscle tissue to move that weight around. You'll have to endure more pain and less flexibility as a result of carrying extra weight. And because you're caring around the extra weight joints wear out faster. Muscles tend to be stronger, but they also tend to have less endurance. Meaning that you have to have more times of rest to do basic activities than people that carry around less body fat. All of these things combined and change your massage experience.

Larger Chests (Breasts)

Having a larger chest can have a significant impact on a person's quality of life. How can a male massage therapist understand what it is to have a large chest? The answer is pretty simple, I deal with the consequences every day for my clients. When a client has a lot of breast tissue, no matter if they wear a bra or not the muscles in the upper back have to react by helping to pull the shoulders back in order to keep the body in proper alignment so that people do not fall forward. So you might ask what musculature is involved if you have larger breast tissue and what bone structures are there that you have to deal with when you have more breast tissue than the average? Well let's start in the upper back because the head will sometimes need to roll forward because the shoulders roll forward this has a consequence for the muscles and bones in the upper back mid back and lower back. The additional weight in the breast tissue affects every disc in the human spine that lies below the breast tissue. Along the sides and around the back of the bra, the straps can cause irritation that can cause internal structur like small muscle knots around the rib cage and around the back. The pelvis has to also indoor the additional weight and the glutes must be stronger in order to help pull the back of the spine back to keep us upright. These are a unique set of issues for people with more breast tissue. One of the most important things a massage therapist can do is to recognize how structures of the body help support the extra breast tissue as well as support movement with the larger breast tissue on the body. As a point of interest, many massage, therapist will purchase breast bolsters. These are bolsters that allow people to put their exes breast tissue into them and it helps to take the pressure off of the chest while receiving a massage in the facedown position. Making the experience much more comfortable. If I had a large chest and I wanted to go in for a massage it would be one of the first questions. I would ask any massage place. I'm making an appointment at if they have breast holsters because it will make a significant difference.

Information About Sleep Posture

Getting good sleep is more important than people realize. The way that we sleep is extremely important when it comes to the quality of their sleep our sleep posture is very important. What do we mean when we say sleep posture? What we mean is just as good body mechanics is important in sports or while working at a desk. It's just as important if not more important when we sleep. So what are some key things that you need to know about sleeping with good posture?

A firm mattress is remarkably important as long as it does not cause pressure points. A firm mattress can help you keep your airways clear, keep your spine better aligned even create a recipe for getting out of bed significantly easier. Much like a good mattress good pillows are very important. I'm going to run through a couple of key things. People need to know when purchasing pillows and which type of pillow might be best for you. Look at your pillows for their primary purpose. In other words if you'd like to sleep on your side get a pillow that makes up the difference between the top of the mattress and if you keep your neck straight +10° (for the weight of your head) that gap needs to be covered completely with support so those pillows should be thicker. This is in contrast to a neck sleeping pillow that will help reinforce the arch of your cervical spine and allow to keep your airway clear to help reduce snoring. The last pillow that people should consider are those for your legs. Yes, I said legs when a person has a very sore low back and pelvis, and they like to sleep on their back, they should be placing something under the back of their knees that lifts their knees a little higher than their chest. This will allow their legs to naturally spread and take out some of the curvature in the low back. This can significantly reduce back pain. If a person likes to lay on their side, consider getting a body pillow or pillow, thick enough to make up the gap between the knees and the ankles so that the top leg is at the same height as the outside of the shoulder this alignment will help you in reducing hip tightness gluth tightness and hamstring pain. This can also significantly reduce knee pain.