Hello,

this is just a quick post to say sorry that I haven't posted for a while!! 

I've been pretty much fully booked for most of this year so far and in between giving massage treatments, I've been working on a new website as well as continuing with professional development courses; hence I just haven't had the time to write any articles.

I love being busy helping people through massage and hope this continues.  I feel excited to finish my website and have it go 'live' hopefully by Christmas. I'll then be able to start writing again and spreading the word about how great massage is :)

In the mean time come and experience this for yourself by booking in and having a treatment!

I look forward to seeing you soon,

Best wishes
Beth

The knead for Regular Massage

Massage is often regarded as a luxury, an extravagance or an expense that needs to be justified rather then a viable form of medical and preventative treatment which it is.  Hippocrates, the father of western medicine himself was a great advocate of massage therapy.

''The physician must be experienced in many things, but most assuredly in rubbing.  For rubbing can bind a joint that is to loose and loosen a joint that is to rigid''

When you think about it, the first thing we do when we bump our head or stub our toe is try and rub it better.  It's a genetically programmed reaction to place a hand over an injured area; and massage is an appreciation for the simple notion that human touch promotes healing.
It's not so well known but most pain conditions that we go to our doctor about originate in the soft tissues of the body; muscles, tendons,ligaments all respond to touch and through regular palpation many soft tissue pain conditions can be eased/prevented thus reducing the need for pain killers and even surgery.

We live in our bodies and movement is life in which our musculature system plays a major role; keeping it healthy and injury free is really important because we all know that a bad back or even a stiff neck can really impact negatively on the way we feel and our ability to be able to function in our day to day tasks let a lone engage in the activities we enjoy. Regardless of our occupation, hobbies, sport/exercise program a regular massage session will go along way in improving and maintaining the health of the body's soft tissues.

Getting a feel for the body's soft tissues.
Through the practice of informed touch the health of soft tissues can be determined. For instance a muscle that is weak or hypo tonic has reduced muscle tone and feels flaccid whist a muscle that is tight or hyper tonic feels tough with easily identified rope/cable like fibers that produce discomfort when touched.  Healthy soft tissue on the other hand is soft, pliable, resilient to pressure and doesn't cause any discomfort when palpated. The health of the soft tissue may fall anywhere between these states.

If a muscle being worked on feels tender or painful then it's constricted and unhealthy. The degree of constriction depends on the muscles state of contraction at rest. A deeply contracted muscle that remains in an extreme contracted position may be due to neurological dysfunctions, chronic muscle imbalances, emotional/physical trauma or repetitive strain. Circulation is reduced and as a result the muscle(s) lose elasticity, becomes fixed in a shortened position and there is a loss range of movement.

In some cases increased muscle tension or a previous injury/trauma creates a disturbance of collagen scar tissue and various adhesion's whereby muscle fibers within the muscle themselves as well as fascia and other tissues stubbornly stick together. If this is the case then there is a reduction in overall flexibility in the body and an increased chance of injury.

Improving the health of the body's soft tissues with massage
One of the most obvious ways in which touch/palpation increases the health of injured tissue is through improved circulation to the area thus encouraging the uptake of oxygen and nutrients which help the tissue repair quicker. Waste products such as lactic acid (often the cause of muscle soreness) is also taken away through the improved movement of lymph.  Massage for this reason is particularly beneficial after exercise or a sporting event.

Manipulation of the muscle tissue using different massage strokes/techniques releases tension from the muscle(s) and helps them to relax whilst at the same time stretching the muscle tissues that can't be stretched in the usual way.  Bundles of muscle fibers as well as the sheath of fascia that surrounds the muscle are stretched both length ways and sideways so as to soften and improve pliability of the muscle and surrounding tissue.  Passive and active stretching is often incorporated into the session so as to work at improving range of movement.

Through specific cross fiber release work massage aims to improve the function of the muscle by breaking down adhesion's and scar tissue and realigning muscle fibers.  Areas of stickiness where muscle tissues have adhered together (for example the shoulder blades to underlying tissue) is separated and an improvement in overall flexibility can be felt.  As neighboring muscles and the individual muscle fibers glide pass each other smoothly they are able to function properly and are less susceptible to injury.

Preventing chronic pain/injury through awareness of the body
A massage session puts you in touch with your body and can often be an education to the client who are sometimes surprised at how tender muscles feel when massaged.  It's often the case that soft tissue pain/injury is more chronic in nature and that the damage has been happening for some time before symptoms are felt. A regular massage session brings awareness to potential injury; for example maybe during the session you notice that your right shoulder and side of neck feel more tender and in trying to determine why this is you realize that the bag you carry on your right shoulder is too heavy or your t.v is positioned to the right of your vision and needs rearranging.

Muscles don't always become overly tight to the same extent all over the body and tightness in one muscle group may not be balanced by similar degree of tightness in opposing muscles.  The best example of this is people who bench press and have well developed pecs that are often in a permanent tight condition; whereas opposing muscles in the back are not as well developed/maintained causing a hunched over posture.  This is also true of people sat at a computer every day.

Unfortunately the tighter a muscle is, the stronger it becomes at the expense of opposing muscles that become weaker and more stretched.  These muscle imbalances pull the musculature structure out of alignment and places strain and inevitable injury on tendons joints and ligaments.  Massage brings awareness to these potential problems by highlighting areas that are particularly tight and need more massage work/ specific stretching as well as areas that need strengthening. In this way massage helps create balance in the body and is a great preventative treatment.

An investment in overall health and well being
Massage involves manipulation of the soft tissues but there is also a respect for the fact that the mind, body, emotional and spiritual self are interconnected and that an imbalance in one part effects the health and balance of the whole; hence the definition of holistic therapeutic massage.  It may be that your achy stiff back is making you feel irritable and fearful, or perhaps a build up of emotional stress is aggravating an already problematic area and making it feel worse. Sometimes feelings of depression can be reflected in our posture and yet poor posture itself feeds into feelings of low mood and tiredness.

Now a days there are many self massage tools available which can be used to help release tightness from a muscle and yet whilst these are good for self care in between sessions (and I often recommend them) there is nothing that can replace the healing potential of human touch to bring balance to our whole being.  In today's fast paced society even relaxing can feel like a extravagance that we don't have time for; and even when we think we're relaxing by watching t.v for example our mind and body are still active.  Sadly it's this inability to fully relax and let go of physical/mental/emotional tension that causes/exasperates many of the illnesses and imbalances we suffer from.

If you've ever had a massage then I don't need to sell it to you just how relaxing it is and how good it makes you feel.  Massage calms the nervous system and puts us in a safe place where our body's systems can return to homeostasis allowing healing to take place; and indeed many chronic pain conditions can be eased in this way.  Sometimes clients are surprised at how emotional and tearful they can feel after a treatment and again this is healing because that tension is no longer going to be carried around in the muscles and other organs of the body.


So you see, receiving regular massage (at least once a month) isn't a luxury or an extravagance, nor an expense that needs to be justified; it's an investment in our overall health and well being and should be viewed in the same way as any other healthy lifestyle choice such as eating a good diet and getting adequate sleep and exercise. 
In todays fast paced society, with high levels of stress and increasing amounts of time being spent at computers or looking down at hand held devices there has never been a greater need for massage therapy to help us tune into our bodies and ourselves. A regular massage session empowers us to take charge of our own health by creating space in our busy lives to fully relax, keeping us on top emotionally and easing and preventing soft tissue pain in the body which ultimately affect our enjoyment of live.