2 Most Embarrassing Situations During a Massage and how to avoid them

vincemassagetherapy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:56:19 +0000

Today, I’m going to talk about the two most embarrassing situations that my clients normally face when massage therapists are around. At times, clients feel embarrassed to the extent that they don’t call up the same masseuse again. On a number of occasions I’ve seen people move out having a shameful look on their face. Well, if they only knew that this type of situation was common, I’m sure they wouldn’t do that. To ensure responsibility on my part, I’ve explained the two most embarrassing situations that my clients face and how should they actually react to it:

Pool of drool
It is common that people feel at peace after a relaxing massage and often drift to slumber. However, when they wake up, they find their pillow or massage table wet with drool. This is a common occurrence which happens because of excess saliva production during sleep. Simply ask for a tissue from the massage therapist, or keep it near your pillow before the massage begins.

Erection
Male clients are worried about erection during massage therapy session. It is true that erection happens while massage, but it is nothing to worry about, or feel embarrassed. People do get erection in regular therapeutic massage. The parasympathetic nervous system of your body activates when it senses touch. This causes partial or full erection.

Your massage therapist is experienced enough to understand this and will ignore it. If you still feel conscious, you can wear boxers or men’s bikini bathing suit during the session.

Apart from this, there are other hesitations, which keep people from going for a massage. This includes obesity, not knowing how to tip a massage therapist and finding the right massage parlor. I will deal with them in the upcoming posts. Until then, happy massaging!

The Massage Guru

How to Relieve Sciatica with Massage

secretsofmassage — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:55:16 +0000

Drastically

Alleviate

SCIATICA

I have become very adept at massage in recent years, especially since my client base grows larger and larger. I have come to understand the human body in ways I never knew possible and I keep learning more techniques to help my clients get the benefits they need. Sometimes I am the clients last resort when nothing else seems to work, which is the basic reason I continue doing therapeutic massage today.

Through the years of massage I have learned that no one technique is better than another (at least in my experience). It is the understanding, skill, care, and proper education of the therapist that makes his or her technique affective at all.

In the case of Sciatica or Piriformis Syndrome, I have learned by combining certain Myofascia (Myofascial Release) techniques, specific Trigger Point Therapy techniques, and basic Swedish Massage techniques that I can help alleviate the client’s pain to the point that they have very little pain or no pain at all. I can do this on 90% of the people who come in for this treatment. Some people can take as little as one treatment to significantly improve, while others need months and months of treatment. I have found that the 10% that I can’t help are usually dealing with a repetitive situation or a life situation that needs to be changed on their end. Keep in mind, however, that everyone is different.

For example, one of my clients improved by 50% after the first visit. She came in weekly for several months, with no more improvement than the original 50% on her original visit. Her job situation, however, contributed to the majority of her sciatic pain. She was in retail sales and stood on concrete for nine hours a day, five days a week. The day she started standing on a rubber mat during work, was the day the rest of the sciatic issue started to disappear. Ever so often, however, she would have a flare up and would have to come in. The flare ups would occur once every two to four months. She just came in and it had been three months since I had seen her last and she is pain free by the time she leaves the office.

Another client who had been dealing with sciatic pain for seven years came in to my office a couple of months ago. I had her come in once a week. By the second week she was pain free. I had her come in two more times to keep her muscles trained to be in that healthy state – the state that relieved her pain. I haven’t seen her since, but all of her referrals keep telling me how much she raves about me.

Our Free Information Blogs and Our e-Course on Sciatica

In the Secrets of Massage e-Courses we show you exactly how to work on most of the conditions that massage therapists see, such as sciatica, carpel tunnel, restless leg syndrome, and basic headaches. The best way to learn is from the e-courses, which include what is written in the blogs and supplies you with better diagrams, more written information, and great video content that gives you a step by step process of the techniques. Or, you can simply read the blogs. They will give you adequate information to help you advance as a massage therapist and they are free – just not as good.

I have spent several years learning these techniques and working on clients to master the Secret of Massage techniques. I, however, had to put in the time (in most cases, overtime), study from the best therapists out there, and give a lot of free massages. I didn’t have to give free massages, but I didn’t want to charge them something I didn’t know worked (this is something I don’t recommend any massage therapist to do). I wanted to make sure what I learned worked. Once they did, I thought, wouldn’t it be great if other massage therapists got incredible results like I do? There are a lot that do, but not enough. Finally, years later, I am working on helping massage therapists learn the best techniques that I know.

Sciatica

In Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, they explain Sciatica as a “set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression and/or irritation of one of five nerve roots that give rise to the sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve itself. The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, and/or various parts of the leg and foot. In addition to pain, which is sometimes severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg. Typically, the symptoms are only felt on one side of the body.

Although sciatica is a relatively common form of low back and leg pain, the true meaning of the term is often misunderstood. Sciatica is a set of symptoms rather than a diagnosis for what is irritating the root of the nerve, causing the pain. This point is important, because treatment for sciatica or sciatic symptoms will often be different, depending upon the underlying cause of the symptoms.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciatica

Piriformis Syndrome

Wikipedia also explains Piriformis Syndrome rather accurately. They explain that Piriformis Syndrome is a neuromuscular disorder that occurs when the sciatic nerve is compressed or otherwise irritated by the piriformis muscle causing pain, tingling and numbness in the buttocks and along the sciatic nerve. There is no definitive way to diagnose the syndrome which may result from anatomical variations in the muscle-nerve relationship, or from overuse or strain.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piriformis_syndrome

How Many Sessions?

Massage is not widely known as a beneficial modality for Sciatica. Sciatica is a group of symptoms that can last from several months to several years. I know somebody who had sciatica for 17 years. My own mother had it for four years until I learned how to help her using these massage techniques. It took one massage to help my mother relieve a quarter of her pain. It then took three months of massage once a week to relieve the rest of her pain. If she wasn’t so busy and was able to come in twice a week, which would have been easy for her (I don’t charge her), then she would have experienced the sciatic relief in half the time. On another note, another woman had sciatica for seven years and after only four visits was pain free and still is.

Expectations

When a client is told that you, as a massage therapist, have helped his or her friend, relative, or associate with massage in only two to three sessions, they expect the same. They don’t realize that people can have a different severity of the same issue and that no two people have absolutely identical problems. It must be explained to the client that every person is different, no matter how much their friend boasted about you. Some clients can take two to three sessions and some clients can take 10 to 20 sessions or more. In my experience the clients that have to come in for over twenty sessions do get better each and every time they come in – slowly, but surely. This comes as a huge relief for the client, because after many attempts with other modalities, they finally find something that is working. You become their best topic of conversation and they become your best referral source.

Simplicity

“I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.” – Albert Einstein. That is why I use very simple techniques. I get better results and I don’t confuse myself in the process. I have seen therapists do a technique that contorted their body and the clients body to ease up a specific muscle in ways that could have been completed in a more simple manner. Simple is genius.

The Basic Techniques I Use

I am going to explain the basic techniques I use that ease up and help alleviate the Sciatic or Piriformis Syndrome issue. I assume that you as a Massage Therapist know the anatomy pretty well. You should know the muscles and bones – not all of them, but most of them. If you do not, then don’t worry. You can look up my other articles or blogs (I’ll call them blogs) to see exactly where these muscles and bones are and what they do. I have also found Wikipedia a good source for online information when looking up bones and muscles. I will also show pictures of the appropriate anatomical area of the muscle, bone, tendon, joint, etc., that I write about.

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Step By Step Secrets of Massage Technique for Sciatica

Below is a list of exactly what I do, from the beginning of the session to the end of the session. I then want you to look up the other blogs that I have written and see exactly how to work on the muscles listed below. For example, the 1st thing I do is release the psoas muscle. I have explained exactly how I do this in a subsequent blog, so I have only a small summary about the psoas release below. I do this because I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much information at one time. It is best to learn one thing at a time.

1. Psoas Release: I use a basic trigger point release to help relax the psoas muscle. The psoas muscle is one of the most important muscles in your body. I call it the “body balancer” as it does just that. In my experience, releasing this muscle sends a gradual domino affect throughout the body, literally unwinding the body and putting it back in balance. Be careful with elderly people. The psoas is beneath the colon and too much pressure in this area for elderly people can cause the colon to bleed. You need to ease into the muscle very gently. Make it comfortable and easy for them.

2. Iliacus Release: The iliacus is the cousin, brother, sister, or whatever you want to call it, to the psoas. It does virtually the same function as the psoas. You may want to call it the psoas’ assistant. I show you how to release this muscle in my “Psoas” blog. Sometimes you don’t even need to work on this muscle, however I always do. It’s just my preference.

3. Thoracolumbar Fascia: Very simple and easy technique. I show you how to use Myofascial Release to take the fascia’s strangle hold off of the muscles.

4. Quadratus Lumborum or “QL” for short: Again, a basic trigger point technique where I apply pressure to three of the four trigger points in the muscle. Sometimes a “QL” release can lengthen that all too common “one leg is shorter than the other leg” problem and bring equilibrium back to that area of the body.

5. Sacral Iliac Joint or “SI” Joint: Another Myofascial technique (that seems more like trigger point) is used with this joint, which is held together by very strong ligaments. I also show you some strengthening techniques for the “SI”, so that you can give your client homework. Clients don’t necessarily like receiving homework, but they look at you more as a professional when you do assign them stretching exercises or strengthening techniques.

6. Piriformis (and other lateral rotatating muscles): The piriformis and lateral rotators can cause pain or numbness down the leg by being in constant contraction and pushing on the sciatic nerve. There are two techniques that I use for the piriformis and lateral rotators. The piriformis, along with the psoas, can make a world of difference in getting your clients better.

7. Gluteus Minimus and Gluteus Medius: These muscles can cause something called, “False Sciatica”. Sometimes the “Gluts” can be the main culprit for pain going down a client’s leg, so working on these two muscles can save you a lot of heartache and time. They are usually the missing link when nothing else seems to work.

- Brandon Ellis, LMT #12645 is a Licensed Massage Therapist in the State of Oregon. He is a teacher of Trigger Point Therapy, runs a very successful massage practice, and is a co-creator for the website SecretsofMassage.com. He has written numerous articles on massage therapy for several reputable magazines in the health and wellness field. You can contact him at ellismassage@gmail.com.

*The techniques and excersises on this page are for information only. They are not to replace any medical diagnosis, medical advice, or medical routine necessary for your health or for your client’s health.

Massage Therapy Spa Massage Therapy Sweedish Body Massage Therapy in Philadelphia

massagetherapyspamassagetherapysweedishbodymassage — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:39:15 +0000

In Philadelphia, Frankford Health Associates – Massage Therapists offer full body massage therapy, spa massage therapy, full body Sweedish massage therapy, foot massage therapy, therapeutic massage and other types of massage therapy.

Thirty minute and sixty minute sessions are offered.

Fees: If we are in your insurance companies network your cost could be as low as $22.00 for a thirty minute massage.

Call Now and Schedule Your Massage: 215-332-4770