Massage therapists know that when a client has been pulling something – wire or cable, storage boxes, dogs, etc. that they will find a host of sore and overstretched muscles. Ergonomically, it is not good to pull, but to push. Push we can do much more easily and with much less fatigue. Somehow the design … Continue reading The Push
Massage therapists have their favorite spots to approach changing patterns of movement and improving function. Over the years, I have asked the question often: Muscles or tendons? My early experience dictated muscles. There we find bunched-up, dysfunctional fibers and endplates. Trigger point theory called for a full cleansing of these scatterbrains, along with their associates … Continue reading Muscles or Tendons?
One of my most fun massage therapy clients likes to update me on his activities and the connection between what he has been doing and what is going on in his neck, back, hands, etc. I don’t get a laundry list of precarious Christmas lights installations or kneecaps wondering off by themselves on Audubon bird-sighting … Continue reading Zombies vs. Massage Therapists
The nice man who likes to run every day came into my massage therapy office looking for some relief. I thought I was going to do a massage – but it turned out to be an intervention. This man had gotten a hold of a trigger point therapy workbook. He had been doing his own … Continue reading They are Called Trigger Points for a Reason…
So many people work on computers and in hunched positions that massage therapists are seeing more clients for acid reflux and heartburn problems. Recently I doctors have referred clients for massage to relieve reflux, and the results seem good. I wanted to offer some treatment tips. First, reflux symptoms – burning in the throat, burping … Continue reading Massage Relief for Reflux and Indigestion
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