Lots of massage therapists recommend use of Epsom salt soaks after massage, and I’m one of them. Trouble is I felt bad when older clients confessed the last thing they would do is “slip” into the tub. I did a bit of research (read the package) and it turns out that while Epsom salt soaks … Continue reading Muscle Relaxers after Massage
Those pesky on-line reviews came in handy last week when I tried to order new sets of sheets. The picture on the website looked like the flannel sheets I had come to like, but the reviews told a different story. ‘I ordered these sheets because I had bought them before and liked them. But the … Continue reading The Original Sheets
Sometimes I get a client who “can’t fog up a mirror.” No, not dead, this client just had no visible signs of breathing. Her presentation was odd stiffness on the right side of the spine at T-3, not pain, but not feeling right. I was thinking some sort of paraesthesia. She uses her right arm … Continue reading Take a Breather
K-not, K-not! Who’s there? Ok, it is a set-up for a silly joke, but the k-nots I see every day in my massage practice have always fascinated me. Some seem to have layers, sizzling through separate muscles, fascias and actions, seeming to head into the center of the person. … Continue reading K-not k-not
There are many reasons why I decided to become a massage therapist. In many ways I’ve been a body worker since I was quite young, exchanging back rubs with my younger brother, and training him to walk on my back, until he was much too big and unwieldy for it. When I first sought a … Continue reading Why we do what we do
Massage therapists often meet people who are stuck – stuck shoulders, stuck vertebrae, stuck glutes. And we see the pathology that stuck creates – abnormal gaits, painful bending, leaning torsos, migraines, etc. There’s nothing more satisfying for a massage therapist than to get the stuck out and restore normal function to muscles, joints and ultimately, … Continue reading From Stuck to Unstuck
Today is the last day of February 2012–Leap Day, in fact. And today is my last blog post after three years of doing the job. Thanks to all of you who’ve read my blogs, contemplated and commented. I’ve been rather busy in this month of February. My daughter, Nola Grace, who was due to be … Continue reading Leap Day–and Leaps of Faith
A client wants to come in who is allergic to everything. I mean everything. And as desperate as she is for a massage, she is willing to take a chance on hives in hopes of getting the pain out of her hip. First, we talk on the phone. What detergent do I use? What oil? … Continue reading Nutty Massage and Flaming Oils
“Identify a need and fill it.” That’s what my co-worker had told me when I asked him how to sell products at a spa. I had no idea what he meant. Here I was, needing answers and he was feeding me riddles like the Sphinx. I was perplexed and frustrated. [this part 4 of 4; … Continue reading How to Sell Without Selling Out – Part IV
Working at a spa, the management had challenged massage therapists to learn how to sell some products and services to clients – and I had not the foggiest idea how to do that. [this part 3 of 4; see beginning of the story here] Thus far I had suggested an essential oil to a client … Continue reading How to Sell Without Selling Out – Part III