Sometimes massage therapists are faced with a whodunit – and it takes a good bit of detective work to unveil the unusual suspect. The fun of massage therapy, I find, is solving these puzzles and giving a client not only relief but also the confidence that they will get better. Recently a client came in … Continue reading Stalking the Numb Thumb
Right about the end of the year, or sometimes the beginning of the year, I do an audit of my massage therapy practice. Years ago I started doing because I found it was easy to slip into a groove – also called a rut – and because I usually take at least a few days … Continue reading Yearly Goals, Triumphs, and Mulligans
In an effort to bring your more value, Find Touch has partnered with Dreamclinic, Seattle’s top-rated massage business, to deliver a weekly newsletter with tips for a thriving practice. We hope you enjoy and please don’t hesitate to send along any feedback – we read every message! Practice Makes Perfect – Learn Your Craft Sometimes we … Continue reading Practice Makes Perfect – Learn Your Craft
The massage client who can’t turn the head, the headache that arcs over the ear to the ridge of the eyebrow, the sensation of steel cables squeezing the anterior neck: These are all signs of those darn sternal-cleido-mastoids. We massage therapists see these symptoms frequently, and I have made a hobby of asking other therapists … Continue reading Stalking those Darn SCMs
The footpath from the subway to my university led up the Boston Commons through the State House and down to the other side of Beacon Hill. I took the path often, going to the right side cut-through of the State House to avoid the somber figure sitting on a stone bench in front of the … Continue reading The Path to Progress
Massage therapists need enough information from our clients to understand where we are heading in a massage session. Working at spas, therapists get used to brief intakes and a question or two before starting a massage. In my practice, I get to take the time to do a longer intake and get more detail. … Continue reading Goals and Perceptions
Chair massage is a great way to deliver massage services – and it offers independence for many therapists who don’t want to be limited to table services. This new era of chair massage is a big step forward. When it started more than 25 years ago, chair was seen by some traditional massage therapists as … Continue reading Touching the Masses
When a massage therapist has been working for a while, it can seem as if some body parts are talking during the session. Well, not verbally, of course, but spinning a yarn, letting it hang, somehow bringing their troubles up on the table. Hey, we touch folks know verbiage and the written word are not … Continue reading If This Bicep Could Sing….
Massage therapists may think they are immune to injury, even though many of us came to do massage after recovering from injury. We’re helping people, after all, so that should be a win-win. We win, the clients win, all is right. Oh, and then that little thumb screams tingle-tingle in the middle of the night. … Continue reading Thumb Scrum
When will this get better? When will my pain be gone? When can I do what I want to do – when I want to? Tough questions for us massage therapists to handle. Truth, we don’t usually know. Massage does marvelous things for the mind, body and soul – but what it does is often … Continue reading Offering Reassurance and Hope to Your Clients