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Category: Massage for Pain Conditions

September 14, 2012 by

Massage for Pain Conditions | 0 Comments

More research that shows massage works

You know massage feels good and can be helpful to make your aches and pains feel better.  You have experienced at some point in your life some sort of pain relief from a holistic approach i.e. chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy or physical therapy.  For years these medical approaches have been less invasive than surgery and have fewer side effects than pain medication.

Below you will find an article that explains what actually goes on in your body when you receive a massage.  At Relaxation Works I am always education myself and staying ahead of the curve to bring you exceptional information and therapies that will help you with your physical pain and stress.  Pain relief is attainable with massage therapy and other holistic approaches.  I’ve one client tell me that since seeing me for his low back pain he has stopped using his pain medication with his doctors approval.  That is outstanding!  Pain medication is not supposed to be used for long periods of time, it was intended to be used for a short period of time.
What massage won’t do
There is not a gold pot at the end of the rainbow or sparkly unicorn that is going to whisk you off to an island of happiness and joy after you receive a massage.  But what massage can do is give you hope that your chronic pain issue will decrease and your range of motion and flexibility will increase all without side effects.  All of these research case studies incorporated massage CONSISTENTLY and for weeks or months at a time.  Massage CAN be a quick fix in certain circumstances.  But for chronic pain sufferers, massage must be cumulative even if it is for 5-8 sessions.  Webster dictionary states that the word chronic means “marked by long duration or frequent recurrence : not acute; always present or encountered; constantly vexing, weakening, or troubling”.

This study found evidence at the cellular level that massage therapy may affect inflammation in a way similar to anti-inflammatory medications.  YAY!
https://www.amtamassage.org/research/Massage-in-the-News.html

September 12, 2012 by

Massage for Pain Conditions | 0 Comments

3 ways to “heel” foot pain

# 1 -- Roll a tennis ball under your foot to help stretch the tight fascial ligament that connects from your heel to your big toe.  For reducing inflammation and numbing the area, roll a frozen water bottle under your foot.  Both of these tips work great.

# 2 -- There are specific stretches than are very useful for foot pain, especially plantar fasciiatis.  Holding your stretch for longer than 20 seconds is key.  Watch the video to see how long and what you should specifically do for self care.

#3 -- Throw out your flip flops, just throw them out.  They will not make your condition better.

These simple but extremely useful tips are a great way to provide self care at home in addition to your weekly massage therapy sessions.  Any pain condition that is keeping you from doing your job, taking care of your family or restricting you from daily exercise requires attention and therapy.  I work with many men and women that wake up in pain and go to bed in pain.  Especially those with foot pain because this type of pain typically goes in waves or cycles of feeling good and then being painful. 

It is best to find a massage therapist that is well versed in pain conditions and offering detailed specific work.  You can even ask if your massage therapist uses heat and ice in the massage treatment and offer self care homework after the session.  That is one way to get the most for your money because you will typically be scheduling massage sessions 1-2 a week for a month or two for your foot pain treatment.  You want to receive the best care possible.  Booking a session at Relaxation Works means that you will see results within the first 60 minutes of working with us and that your pain will drastically decrease within 6 sessions.  We specialize in detailed chronic pain issues, repetitive stress injuries and postural injuries.  I welcome you to book online or call the office at 774-766-2385 to work with a therapist that best suits your pain relief needs.

sIGNATURE 3 ways to heel foot pain

September 11, 2012 by

Massage for Pain Conditions | 0 Comments

How to treat vertigo while receiving a massage

Vertigo is when you can’t see straight and your head starts to spin and you begin to get light headed. I have a few clients that get vertigo while laying on the table.  Check out these easy remedies we do here at the office to help with that.

Remedy #1- Use towels
By using a small towel rolled up under your head often times this alleviates the problem.  It’s simple and so easy!  I always have a few extra towels around to either lower or raise my clients head and neck.

Remedy #2- Switch positions
Side lying position is oftentimes used for pregnancy clients or those that have severe back pain and can not lay on their stomach; but using our oakworks side lying cushion system is also a great alternative to nagging vertigo.  Some clients vertigo acts up only when they turn their head either to the left or the right.  So sometimes during the treatment we have to adjust but that is again simple and easy to do.

Remedy #3- pressure points
There are a few pressure points around the face, eyes and ears that can help with relieve vertigo symptom.  I will typically apply a drop of peppermint essential oil to the massage lotion which seems to help as well.

Remedy #4- medication
Take your medication before your massage appointment.  In certain circumstances your doctor will provide you with a prescription or tell you about an over the counter medication that will alleviate the symptoms.  

{ I goggled vertigo and found this unrelated Texas band.}

September 11, 2012 by

Massage for Pain Conditions | 0 Comments

{Anatomy Tuesday’s} Massage for Tennis Elbow

carpi radialis longus elbow extensor {Anatomy Tuesdays} Massage for Tennis ElbowDo you know about my new series called Anatomy Tuesdays?  You can see the video and submit your own pain question about it here.

In this first series we will be covering tennis elbow in honor of the 2012 U.S. Open.  Tennis elbow symptoms are actually more common in common every day workers than actual sports tennis players.  Injuring the muscles surrounding the elbow joint and not receiving correct therapy for the injury can can reduce your healing time for your tennis elbow.

What is Tennis elbow?

A slight tare or inflammation of the muscle that originated at the elbow and attaches to the top of your hand.  Per massage therapy educator Ben Benjamin says this about why you will not notice a tennis elbow injury until about two weeks after it happens.   Read on: “At first the pain from tennis elbow is hardly discernible, but about two weeks after the injury, the pain noticeably increases.  During this interim, the tendon has suffered hundreds of micro-tears with normal activity and/or sports, building a large V-shaped scar that begins to hurt.”

Pain Location

Wrist, hand, elbow, arm

Daily actions or activities that may indicate you have tennis elbow:

  • opening a door
  • shaking hands
  • lift heavy objects
  • massaging
  • swinging a hammer
  • racquet ball
  • playing the piano
  • scrubbing or mopping floors

When left alone tennis elbow can heal on it’s own but it takes patients.  The average healing time is 6 -12 months.  This specific and long term injury is quite common in those that do repetative lifting of heavy objects or clicking of the mouse at a computer all day.

Healing options for tennis elbow

  • Deep tissue massage, friction massage and trigger point therapy.

Friction massage is the application of firm pressure to the tendons, strumming the tendons back and forth like a musical instrument.  This action will subside some of the pain and help to heal the injured tendon’s.  It is very important to apply ice after friction massage to reduce the inflammation that was just caused.  I offer this treatment to clients at my office and it has proven to work very well for many of them.  For self-care at home I have them do hydro contrast therapy, which again has proven to cut the healing time down by a few months.  I have also found that adding myofascial massage to the forearm works wonders.

  • Ergonomic changes

Typically we hear the word ergonomics associated with computers and office life.  In this case try switching your mouse to a thumb rolling mouse or ergonomic keyboard.  Changing your chair height or even place a stool or box under your feet while at your desk can help as well.  Resting your body from doing the repetitive action is key to recovery from your tennis elbow symptoms.

  • Contrast Hydrotherapy

” Once the inflammation and swelling has gone down, you need to continue stimulating circulation to the area as much as possible. Do this with contrast hydrotherapy: the alternating application of heat and cold to the area really dramatically increases circulation to the area. By far the best method of doing this is in a double-sink: one filled with cold water, the other with hot water. You should do this regularly until you are fully healed. ” -- Saveyourself.ca

“One of the basic principles of healing is that tissue must not be irritated while healing, but nevertheless still needs some moderate stimulation in order to move tissue fluids and to induce connective tissue reorganization. This is the “use it or lose it” principle — biologically, it’s terribly important to avoid tissue stagnancy.” -- Paul Ingraham

Want to submit your own pain question? Go ahead and submit your simple one sentence question in the Anatomy Tuesday’s Form here.  I’m waiting to hear from you!

resources
photo credit: robswatski via photo pin cc

http://saveyourself.ca/articles/perfect-spots/spot-05-forearm-extensors.php

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kghlj {Anatomy Tuesdays} Massage for Tennis ElbowKristen Tammaro is a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Massachusetts, mentor and coach to other business owners and has a thriving successful massage therapy practice in her home town of Taunton MA.

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