Types of Treatment

Patient Based: Your doctor or chiropractor has determined that you need “medically necessary” massage treatment and has written a prescription for massage. A prescription is almost always needed if you want insurance (managed health care, PIP, or any other type of insurance) to pay for the treatment. Your massage practitioner is bound by law to only treat what is indicated by the prescription. Your LMP will likely use some combination of medical massage, trigger point, deep tissue, myo-fascial release and relaxation techniques.

Client Based: You have decided that you want or need a massage. You and your LMP decide what needs to be treated and what techniques will work best. Some of the options are:

Medical Massage Treatment. We use medical massage, trigger point, deep tissue and myo-fascial stretching to achieve results. Expect some “this feels good” pain. Your verbal feedback will help us avoid going to deep and causing “get away from me” pain. We sometimes use a few hot and or frozen stones to help speed trigger point release.

Please Note: Remember, poor posture (misalignment) is almost always the cause of chronic pain. It is much harder for me to determine where to work if I am guessing at where the problem is.

The Medical Massage techniques I use employ range of motion movements and stretches. It is appropriate to wear shorts and a sports bra or tank top. It is helpful if neither of us has to think about exposure during a medical massage treatment.

Relaxation massage can be just the ticket when what you really need is a “mini” vacation. If you have significant neck and shoulder or low back pain, you probably will be better served with a Medical Massage Treatment. Expect to be fully undressed or at least minimally dressed under the draping.

Hot Stone massage is the ultimate relaxation technique. The heat from the stones gliding across your tissues sooths and relaxes tired muscles while sending a “grounding energy” deep through your body.

BODY ALIGNMENT EVALUATION I believe that chronic pain is almost always the result of mis-alignment. Your muscle imbalance may be the result of an acute injury or come from years of poor functional movement mechanics. Think about it: If the wheels on your car are out of alignment the tires wear out quickly and unevenly (uneven wear on your shoes). If you continue to replace tires with out correcting the alignment, eventually the wheel bearings will have to be replaced (a new knee or hip). Meanwhile, the mis-alignment has still not been addressed. Consequently, you still have the chronic pain and the new joint needs to be replaced every few years.

One common example of body mis-alignment stems from Morton’s Toe. An astonishing number of people with plantar fasciitis, knee, hip, or neck and shoulder pain were born with a genetic anomaly called “Morton’s Toe”. The website at http://www.triggerpointbook.com/mortons.htm has great information and explains an inexpensive solution.

Benefits of massage include:

> IMPROVES BLOOD & LYMPH CIRCULATION WHICH HELPS ELIMINATE METABOLIC WASTES

> HELPS BALANCE BLOOD PRESSURE

> DECREASED MUSCLE TENSION
> INCREASED FLEXIBILITY, SUPPLENESS AND ELASTICITY OF MUSCLES
> DETOXIFICATION of CELULAR WASTES
> DECREASED STRESS AND STRESS RELATED ILLNESSES

> HELPS ADJUST ATTITUDE (addressing depression)

> DECREASES HEALING TIME FOR SOFT TISSUE INJURIES
> ENHANCED IMMUNE SYSTEM
> OVERALL IMPROVED CONNECTIVITY OF BODY, MIND and SPIRIT

> CAN BRING HEADACH RELIEF (including Migraines)

> IMPROVES AND PROMOTES A DEEP NIGHT’S REST