Back to blogTherapeutic Techniques:
Advanced Deep Tissue Massage Therapy is a form of bodywork focused on relieving tension in the large muscles groups and the deeper intrinsic muscle layers of tissue in the body. It’s a highly effective method for releasing chronic stress areas due to misalignment, repetitive motions, adhesions, scar tissue, fascia congestion, metabolic waste and past lingering injuries. The advanced techniques I use are combination of lymphatic, neuromuscular muscular movement, myo fascial unwinding, PNF stretches and/or mobilization, and trigger point therapy. Cupping and other therapies are also applied as needed.
Due to the nature of the deep tissue work, open communication and a degree of teamwork during the session is important to make sure you don’t become too uncomfortable. For example, we’ll work together on your breathing while you provide feedback on the amount of pressure you experience. Keep in mind that soreness is pretty common after the treatment, and that plenty of water with lemon should be ingested to aid with the flushing and removal of toxins that will have been released during the massage session. I also recommend applying arnica and moist heat after treatment.
Sports Massage therapy is a type of massage designed for highly active people who engage in athletics, professionally or for pleasure. Engaging in sports is tough on the body and can often lead to both short and long term injuries. Sports Massage enhances performance and prolongs your ability to participate in sports activities by helping to prevent injury, reduce pains and swelling in the body, relax the mind, increase flexibility, and dramatically improve recovery rates. Sports Massage is also highly effective in aiding the rapid recovery from an injury by encouraging greater kinesthetic awareness and, in turn, promoting the body’s natural immune function.
Different sports use specific muscle groups, so Sports Massage is customized to the athlete. I utilize massage techniques which help remove friction between muscle groups, improve muscle/tendon relationships, relieve trauma to joints and tendons caused by habitual and repetitive movements, and improve blood flow to oxygenate muscles. Treatment also incorporates neuromuscular movements, stretching and mobilization techniques.
Neuromuscular Movement therapy is a series of specific, simple body movements designed to work smaller muscles that are being compressed and restricted by larger muscles, and is often used in my practice with Advance Massage therapy and other integrated body work as needed. These simple, repetitive movements change the message sent from the brain to the smaller muscles, facilitating an actual release in muscle holding patterns, allowing both the smaller and larger muscles to work more easily with each other, resulting in less fatigue and soreness. Consistent use of these movements helps facilitate a faster and more sustained relief response. Please see “Assessing the Body at a Glance” videos for techniques and specific neuromuscular movements that might address your issues.
Myofascial Unwinding is accomplished by locating myofascial trigger points (they’ll feel like sore spots) and stretching the affected areas to release and smooth out the uneven tightness in the injured fascia. Fascia is the thin connective tissue which covers every muscle and every muscle fiber, allowing the muscles and muscle fibers to move smoothly against each other. When muscle fibers are injured through repetitive motion, physical injury or other trauma, the fibers and surrounding fascia become short and tight, much like a rubber band, and can even become brittle, causing scar tissue. While I’ll be able to find the trigger points just by feel, you may not be aware of them (or may have become used to them) until I bring them to your attention. The sensitivity of the trigger points diminish over the course of treatment.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage Massage (MLD) is a type of gentle massage which is intended to encourage the natural drainage of the lymph system, which carries waste products away from the tissues back toward the heart. The lymph system depends on the intrinsic contraction (peristalsis) of the smooth muscle cells in the walls of the lymph vessels and the movement of the skeletal muscles to propel lymph through the vessels to the lymph nodes and then beyond the lymph nodes to the lymph ducts, which returns lymph to the cardiovascular system. Manual lymph drainage uses a specific amount of the pressure, less than 9 ounces per square inch, to stimulate lymph flow.
Cupping Therapy is an ancient form of therapy dating back to the early Egyptian, Chinese and Middle Eastern cultures. One of the oldest medical textbooks in the world describes how the ancient Egyptians used cupping therapy in 1550 BC.