Massage therapists have a few tricks for using specific pressure techniques without straining their thumbs. Whether light, firm or deep, these handy tips provide support for precious thumb during massage strokes. These body mechanics require split legs, from 4 inches to shoulder width apart, one behind the other and slightly flexed at the knees and […]
Massage therapists are like musicians, athletes and dancers. We train, we practice, and yes, we ache. Those of us who are in it for real are often playing despite pain. Therapists should be doing all kinds of things to stay in the game, from stretching icing and exercising. But like our musician and dancer friends […]
Massage therapists often enjoy showing clients something they can do on their own to relieve a chronic trigger point. I do it too: “Here, try an old tennis ball and lean up against the wall. Just a little pressure, not your whole weight. Keep gentle pressure on the point for 10 to 15 seconds and […]
Body mechanics are important to massage therapists because they can make or break our careers We only have two forearms, two hands and ten fingers So why do many of us take such enormous risks with our thumbs? When you go to classes for massage, you will hear some jaded tales. “I did this one […]
Massage at the Top of the Spine People who have suffered whiplash are a good number of the clients in massage therapists’ practices. They seek relief from neck and shoulder pain, tension headaches, migraines and fatigue. Massage does wonders for sore muscles of the neck and shoulder even years after a whiplash. It opens fused […]
People who give massages hopefully like receiving massages. I know I do. When my therapist friends are out of town or otherwise engaged, I have a few places I will slip into to try their hands. I found one therapist purely by chance who really knows how to do meridian and nerve-based massages, something my […]
Massage therapists like to think we help people deal with stress, injuries and fatigue. But how do we know we help? Massage is, after all one-on-one. We are stars or idiots one hour at a time, and we often don’t take much credit for our clients’ successes or failures. Is a massage therapist a facilitator […]
Numb fingertips, cramp-y necks and para-spinals that feel like abandoned rock quarries. We massage therapists treat the injuries that computer technology can produce. My smart phone just updated itself (can it reproduce?) revealing the phrase “Lifetime Companion” on the home screen. Really? This whole phone thing has gotten out of hand. People are ruining their […]
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. […]
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 […]