Listening

How Much Pressure

How Much Pressure

How much Pressure  do you like? Is a strange question when applied to massage. Intake forms can be a bit silly when they ask this question. The question is far too general and tempts you to vote with their feet – as it’s not a fair question – and you don’t know your therapist. The other thing about the how much pressure question is…where? And at what stage in the massage? Not only does the amount of pressure differ all over the body, it also depends greatly on the overall flow of the massage, and the body type you’re working on. A massage therapist can and will go deeper, if appropriate, once their client is more into the massage session, more relaxed, and has been having the benefit of preparatory and warming strokes, such as petrissage, tapotement, and even a more vigorous effleurage. (Additionally, I use a table warmer – which goes a long way to preparing the muscles and mind of your massage client for deeper work.)

How Much Pressure 1

 

How much pressure is used also refers to the circumstances and type of massage you are looking for. For example, I work in spas in  Jackson Hole,  and travel to out-call appointments, where clients are mostly looking for relaxation massage with some specific thrown in – such as ‘tight shoulders, neck and upper back’. These tend to be ‘one-time’ clients – looking for a bit of feel-good pampering while on vacation (and many people find that vacation is very stressful). When I am a sports therapist working on a specific problem with an athlete whom I see weekly in our office,  that’s a whole different context, where how much pressure is used  is arrived at in a whole different way: the clients needs have been assessed in previous sessions, and a plan has been developed.

 

In writing in a massage blog about how much pressure to apply , there’s a whole lot of peripheral information that needs to be considered – all the way from that silent, energy-filled ‘communication’ with the client on the table, to the much more physical aspects of the therapist’s size, weight, strength, experience with skills and knowledge of anatomy. And there’s a feeling that grows from the first moment of touch.

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Once I have the client comfortable, warm, secure, and have done some over-the-drapes work and good warming strokes – I’ll get down to the business of massage and figuring out how much pressure to apply, and when and where. I use my senses as I move along slowly sensing how much pressure to apply in whatever stroke is appropriate for that moment. By this time I have found the right amount of oil to suit the client’s skin type and depth of massage they’re capable of handling. More oil means a lighter massage, less oil means deeper – it all has to do with the enabling or the curtailing of the speed of the stroke. With more oil, you’re going to zoom along the surface of the muscle, not spending much time there. Less time means less pressure.

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So the question of how much pressure really means much more than putting a check in a box on an intake form – it’s an opportunity for a discussion with your massage therapist. And as you have this discussion, you’ll find that your therapist is gathering a whole lot more information than just about how much pressure you would like – an overall idea of your massage is forming in your therapist’s mind.

Be well,

Hamish and Rochelle,
Massage Professionals of Jackson Hole

 

 

 

in Blog / Deep Tissue Massage / General / Massage / Uncategorized  by 25 Nov 2014 0 comments

You Gotta Go Deeper Than That, Man

You Gotta Go Deeper Than That, Man

Image showing deep tissue massage

Yes, those were my client’s actual words. And, believe me, for the first hour of this two-hour massage – that’s precisely what I thought I had been doing…and exhausting myself in the process. I should qualify that – and I explained this to my client before he got onto the table – it can’t ‘all’ be deep tissue massage. Perhaps a third of it will be – and then only in areas that merit deep work (in my view) and aren’t ‘danger zones’ (poplietal, lower back, for example). The other two thirds of the time consist of gentler work where, first, I am bringing the client into a comfortable relaxed zone in both body and mind – this in order for me to gain ‘permission’ to go deeper. To the same goal I am also warming with vibration, loosening with tapotement, assessing and ‘melting’ muscles with both soft and more aggressive effleurage and sometimes still pressure.

 

This post is a continuation of the previous post ‘Taking it Easy’ – and the client has skied a combined vertical of 30,000 ft. that day at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Having employed a mountain ski guide in uniform – he didn’t have to wait in lift or tram lines.

 

This client is an athlete through-and-through – every muscle an element of a highly-tuned machine. A body-builder and a TRX exerciser. He has every right to ask for a deep tissue massage and frankly I was apprehensive going into it. He is accustomed to receiving sports massages from his sports trainer twice per week. And so, back to the beginning, after giving it all I had in the way of ‘deep pressure without hurting’ – I discovered that he actually wanted me to hurt him. My client, nicely, let me know that nothing I had done so far had made much impression. The expectations had been high. It is also worth noting here that, in deep tissue or sports massage – communication is everything (unlike Swedish massage where I, and usually the client, prefer to keep quiet). He should have felt free to comment much earlier – and I should have solicited.

I’m no slouch either…a mountain athlete myself with a regular workout schedule. I understand the human form – especially from an athletic perspective. I’m 6’2, 195 lbs and can deliver a good, strong massage – not often letting people down.

 

By this time I was massaging the calves – often a tender area, especially on skiers, and there was nothing – no amount of pressure I could lay on with all of my weight – that could elicit a twitch in those tell-tale fingers or any sign of pulling away. Yet he still described having discomfort that HE thought I could address – which I could only contribute to the peroneal muscles -where, I admit, I rarely ‘go’ with clients. ‘OK – you asked for it – I thought – and went in there deep and long with the very point of my elbow and stripped like crazy. Aha – that did it! I could feel him breathing into it and enjoying the pain and, yes, relief that it gave him. This gave me confidence and much more ‘permission’ from both him and his body to go deeper to the point of pain (and – for him – relief) – which I did for the rest of his massage – including, incredibly, a strong elbowing of his biceps and triceps tendons (he had considerable tendinitis there, I think, from the TRX exercises and a hand-dragging trick in snowboarding called ‘pat-the-dog’).

 

My experience as a massage therapist grew with that session. Beyond knowing that I had done well by receiving the biggest tip of my career, my confidence soared along with my ability to expand my offering of (very) deep tissue massage to well-tuned athletic hard-men (and women) who need it.

 

Be well,

Hamish and Rochelle.

 

 

 

 

 

in Blog / Deep Tissue Massage / In-Home Massage / Massage  by 27 Feb 2014 0 comments

What is Sports Massage?

Sports Massage – What Is It?

 

There are several important differences between sports massage and Swedish massage – and even a regular session of ‘deep’ massage. That’s not to say there isn’t any crossover of techniques or benefits. A sports massage will be more vigorous, more specific in muscles / joints worked with, they can involve even deeper work than deep massage (but not always and only as indicated), are often at a 5 – 7 on a pain scale up to 10, and are generally more intense with shorter, faster strokes. There can be much more attention paid to stretching.

 

As a client, you can expect a much more rigorous pre-session interview, where your therapist will be listening carefully to detailed descriptions of the work you are requiring, the type of lifestyle / sports you have, your goals wit therapy, and your areas of pain or dysfunction.

In order to warm the muscles, either to work deeper, or in a pre-sports event massage, strokes will be much faster and should actually cause excitement, rather than relaxation.

Because sports massage is about warming muscles, therefore using friction, much less oil is used than in Swedish massage. There are also certain muscle-lengthening methods, such a ‘pin-and-stretch’, that are best done with no oil at all – or even over the drapes or clothing. Many sports massage therapists prefer lotion over oil is it is less viscous.

 

In the case of performance athletes, pain at some level is expected in sports massage. It’s part of what you get, and expect, for being an athlete. Sports at a higher level will eventually cause pain anyway with over-exertion of muscles; pain will eventually decrease performance. So it makes sense to prepare the body to last longer before getting to this stage – and that can be painful. However, on a pain scale of 1 – 10, where at 1 there’s not even awareness of touch, and 10 in unbearable pain, somewhere between 5 and 7 is the zone of therapeutic effectiveness. The therapist should keep in touch with you constantly about the pain level, watching your breathing, finger-twitching, and restive body motions. There is no need or good reason to endure pain beyond about a level 7.

 

Participation is a big part of sports massage. Forget about setting your face in the cradle and falling asleep. You will be asked to assist with stretching moves, roll onto your back, side or front several times, lift this or push that while the therapist resists in the opposite direction – and constant feedback about your experience.

 

In next week’s post I will be discussing what to expect from sports massage at performance-sports events specifically.

 

Be well,

Hamish and Rochelle.

Massage Professionals of Jackson Hole.

 

 

in Blog / Massage  by 26 Nov 2013 0 comments

Listen, Just Listen

This blog is about the adventures, trials, tribulations, emotions, pleasures, fears, frustrations and joys of starting a new out-call massage business in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The blog is written by T. Hamish Tear, one of the two owner / partners of Massage Professionals of Jackson Hole – which is then carried forward into the Social Media sphere by Rochelle Ganoe – the other owner / partner.

LISTEN, JUST LISTEN

 

When a client comes to you for a massage, the entire session from intake to goodbye is about the client. The client wants, and is paying for, your attention. Some need more, some less. Some are more demanding, others very humble. But whatever it is, a good listening ear will make this massage extra meaningful to your client and hopefully be at least part of a successful conversion from a first-time client, to a regular customer.

 

With the intake form filled out, it is of course normal and customary to review what the client has written – especially if this is a first-time client with you. Whilst the massage therapist must repeat the information on the intake form back to the client, ask questions and make comments where appropriate, it is essential to do much more listening than talking. If the client has certain specific reasons for coming to you for a massage, listen, empathize, show your understanding of what is being said – but without saying too much. Let the client do the talking.

And it’s not necessary or even advisable to get caught up in small-talk or add to the client’s complaint by adding examples of your own similar issues – just ‘zip-it’. For example, today I had a client, a young lady, who warned me that she had badly bruised her Coccyx about three months previously – and that it still hurt. Well, that was very interesting to me as I had had that exact same injury earlier this summer. I asked her how it happened (MOI, Mechanism of Injury, could be important knowledge to the massage) and she told me that she had fallen on (not off) her bicycle – and landed on the rear wheel hub with her Coccyx. Well – my goodness – there’s an incredibly strange coincidence – that’s exactly how I suffered my own injury. So in fact there was quite a conversation I could have had with her. I could have gotten into the whole story of how this same thing had happened to me and all such other time-wasting small-talk. But the that would have been about me! – And how could this possibly have helped or contributed to the massage or the way I would give the massage? Not one little bit.

So of course I made empathizing noises, said ‘Ouch’ to show that I, as a massage professional, understood the nature of the pain of an injured Coccyx, and left it at that. Therefore she got to do 95% of the talking at the time of discussing the intake form, and I’m sure she felt satisfied that she had been listened to. And after all, what is it we’re after if it isn’t a satisfied customer?

Be Well,

Hamish and Rochelle

 

 

in Blog / Uncategorized  by 26 Sep 2013 0 comments