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 … Continue reading All Thumbs Massage
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 … Continue reading Taking Chances with Your Massage Muse
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 … Continue reading Plumb Out of Thumb
Got Magnesium? Turns out that might be a great slogan for massage therapists – if they look both ways and proceed with caution. Magnesium as a topical aid, and along with ingested and intravenous magnesium, has been used for a very long time in the treatment of muscular cramps and spasms. Magnesium is the other … Continue reading Adding Magnesium to Massage
Here’s my shortlist for what a good massage therapist needs to know: Talk to the client first, not during a session. Get enough information to know what the client seeks, whether they want a complete massage or spot work, and if they have medical conditions that should not be massaged. This communication takes only a … Continue reading The Good Massage Therapist
My education in massage did not stop with graduation from a massage school. If anything, it intensified. Now a practicing therapist, I was learning every day from the most prolific of authors, the best logisticians, the brightest of the best. It has been hard to keep up sometimes, but very rewarding. The classroom has been … Continue reading A Degree from Massage University
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
Effleurage & the Flaming Snowplow Most massage therapists make a habit of getting massages, as do I. A good massage is always appreciated, but at times it is hard not to be a “back-seat” massage therapist. Recently I was looking forward to some relief for a strained deltoid when the effleurage began on my … Continue reading Effleurage & the Flaming Snowplow
We massage therapists see a lot of people seeking relief. If it isn’t the upper back and neck, it is the lower back and legs. I’m a fan of giving people something they can do, on their own, to loosen up. Most people go from doing a lot of movement in their salad days to … Continue reading Playground Moves
We had a wonderful time picking out decorations for my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday party. Pink table-covers, birthday lawn signs, a banner and bubble-making bottles, clean fun for all of us youngin’s. We’ll also be running around next weekend picking up a vanilla cake with white and pink frosting, tamales, sandwiches and the “Happy 90th” balloon. … Continue reading History at Your Hands