Women massage

Teenagers Benefit from Massage

Yes, it’s true – teenagers benefit from massage. Massage has been shown to help different issues that occur during adolescence.We have all been through those sometimes dreaded (and just as often wonderful) years between childhood and adulthood. We go through massive changes hormonally and physically – and while regular doctors’ visits are recommended for the hard, medical aspects of this growing-up stage, massage can also be an important component of a teen’s health and wellness. Here are 3 areas where teenagers benefit from massage

 

1. Poor body image and eating disorders.

Depression, social pressures regarding appearance, and participation in sports where leanness is valued (such as gymnastics, wrestling, and diving), are all associated with the development of eating disorders. Needless to say, high school provides ample opportunity for all of these.

Studies done at the Touch Research Institute with women who struggle with either anorexia nervosa or bulimia showed that regular massage decreased anxiety levels, increased levels of the feel-good hormone dopamine, and reduced depression scores. Participants in the study also showed better scores on the Eating Disorder Inventory, indicating better body awareness. While counseling is obviously of paramount importance, massage therapy can be a powerful adjunct to other forms of treatment for eating disorders. It’s just another example of how teenagers benefit from massage.

Teenagers living in Jackson Hole, or those visiting the Tetons, are not exempt from these health and mental concerns, so regular massage therapy with companies like  Massage Professionals of Jackson Hole should be a part of life.

2. PMS and menstrual pain.

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What’s worse than menstrual problems? Menstrual problems when you’re a teenager. Between the irregular cycles, the inexperience with managing symptoms, and the embarrassment about getting help, adolescence can be a rough time to have a uterus. Effective treatments like hormonal birth control can have negative social connotations, and require a pelvic exam to obtain, a procedure that most teen girls have yet to experience and may wish to avoid.

Yet once again it has been shown that female teenagers benefit from massage as it  has been shown to help with pain, anxiety, and feelings of depression related to PMS, as well as other symptoms like water retention. Girls can also benefit from learning self-massage techniques to use when experiencing menstrual cramps on a day-to-day basis.

3. Athletic injuries.

While high school athletes are injured at around the same rate as professional athletes, their growing bodies mean that they’re often injured in different ways. Since bones grow before muscles and tendons do, youth are more susceptible to muscle, tendon, and growth plate injuries. Sprains, strains, growth plate injuries, repetitive motion injuries, and heat-related illness  are among the most common injuries among young athletes. Boys are most likely to experience athletic injuries while playing ice hockey, rugby and soccer, while soccer, basketball and gymnastics lead to the most injuries in girls.

Sports massage has a long history, and can be especially effective when dealing with repetitive motion injuries like tennis elbow and runner’s knee. Massage therapists are now found at every kind of sporting event, from the Olympics all the way down to your local 10K. Given that teen athletes can be more vulnerable to injury and overuse than their adult counterparts, it makes sense to offer them the same opportunities for healing and pain relief.

Do you know a teen who could use a massage? Go to www.MassageProfessionalsJH.com today and book your massage online. Please see our weekly newsletter No.5 for more massage news.

in Blog / Massage / Uncategorized / Wellness  by 30 Oct 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

The Benefits of Side-Lying

The Benefits of Side-Lying

 

Side-lying position in massage therapy has to be experienced to be fully appreciated – and once you have tried it, you will find that you go back to the massage therapist that recommended it to you time after time.

Not only does your massage therapist have better access and angles to work on shoulders, hips, IT band,  outer-thigh muscles,  and adductors of the inner thigh, but the therapist’s body-positioning is more comfortable and more powerful – allowing the delivery of a much more controlled and effective massage.

 

Certain stretches, too, are greatly facilitated by side-lying – imagine the great side-stretches you can get if the therapist extends your arm up and out over your head, then down towards the floor whilst gently pushing your hip towards the other end of the table.

One of the nicer benefits is for those who don’t like to spend too much time with their face in the face-cradle. This can compromise the sinus channels in the front of the face and cause unpleasant pressure in the head. People with breathing conditions or allergies can find themselves all stuffed-up by the time it comes to roll over onto the back (supine) for the rest of the massage. Side-lying does away with much of that time in the face-cradle – and it allows for cleared communication with the therapist.

The side-lying position is especially beneficial for people needing extra care, such as pregnant women, the elderly, those with back pain, the obese, and those with medical devices such as clostomy bags, or medical conditions requiring extra comfort in the abdomen. Large-breasted and lactating women will also appreciate the relief offered by side-lying position.

Finally, Side-lying is a very secure and comfortable position and helps to reduce the ‘vulnerability’ or certain massage work that might otherwise seem invasive. The position is generally fetal, which is reassuring, and with pillows and bolsters held to the chest it is  a truly wonderful alternative to prone and / or supine positioning. Next time you go for a massage – request side-lying position from your therapist – you’ll love it.

 

 

in Blog / Massage  by 14 Dec 2013 0 comments

Women Are From Venus

Women Are From Venus

In a previous blog I wrote about the ‘unfairness’ of men losing massage work to women by a fairly substantial margin. I’d say that female requests cost me about two-thirds of the massages I’d otherwise be getting. Various scenarios, mostly unsubstantiated,  lead to this – and they have been discussed. But here’s a slightly different angle on that whole topic…massaging women is, and should be, quite different from massaging men – and if a man is giving a woman a massage – he should really be aware of those differences:

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1. Women are more prone to certain health conditions than men. Women are more likely to experience depression, stroke and rheumatoid arthritis. Some conditions, like osteoporosis, are directly related to women’s hormone fluctuations and smaller frames. Others, like fibromyalgia, are much more common in women, but scientists have yet to figure out why.

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2. Women do not always experience the same symptoms as men with the same conditions. While men are more likely to experience a heart attack than women, women are more likely to die of the same heart attack. The reasons may be related to the publicized symptoms: while everyone knows about chest pressure and pain down the left arm, these are symptoms typically experienced by men. Women may experience dizziness, lightheadedness, or fatigue. Knowing the different ways conditions manifest in men and women can truly be a lifesaver.

 

3. Women have different risk factors than men. Remember that bit about women being more susceptible to stroke? In addition to the risk factors shared with men, there are also many women-specific risks, including being pregnant, taking hormonal birth control pills, using hormone replacement therapy, and experiencing frequent migraines. Unfortunately, these additional risk factors don’t always show up in educational materials.

 

4. Women and men sometimes react differently to drugs and other treatments. Women wake up faster from anesthesia. Some drugs, like ibuprofen, seem to be more effective in men than women, while others like erythromycin (an antibiotic) work better in women. And of course there are medications typically prescribed for sex-specific issues that can interfere with each other. As an example, acetaminophen (AKA Tylenol) can interfere with the effectiveness of birth control.

5. In spite of all this, women’s and men’s bodies are more similar than they are different. We share 99% of our genetic material with every other person on the planet. We have the same basic structure, suffer from most of the same illnesses, and heal in the same way. A healthy diet, active lifestyle, adequate sleep, and positive attitude are beneficial to men and women alike. There are no studies showing whether massage therapy is better for any one subset of people than others. Maybe that research will be done in the future. In the meantime, if you’d like to know whether it works for you, there’s only one way to find out!

Be well,

Hamish and Rochelle

 

 

in Blog / General / Massage  by 07 Nov 2013 0 comments