Chances are if you are like most Americans you have had a headache, as a matter of fact when it comes to the rate of chronic headaches in America, studies have shown that roughly 45 million Americans suffer from headaches each year. While I would suggest that seeking the service of a professional massage therapist, many times you can utilize self massage techniques. These techniques can be used for everyone who is suffering from a migraine or headache but results will vary from individual to individual.

Men suffer slightly more from headaches than females, 25 million men on average, compare to females who average about 20 million who suffer from headaches. This statistic represents roughly 1 out of every 6 Americans. Here are some more startling statistics that might be alarming to you, do you suffer from headaches or migraines?

Headache statistics according to the American Headache Society:

• Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States goes to the emergency room with a headache or migraine.

• More than $1 billion is spent on over-the-counter medications to treat headaches and Migraines.

• The lost work due to migraine disease costs more than $13 billion every year in the U.S.

I have listed here some very effective self massage techniques that are great for you if you happen to be suffering from a headache, please share these massage techniques with a friend. Follow these self massage techniques that are listed here and you will diffuse the severity of your headache or migraine, until you can see a professional massage therapist or Reiki Master.

1.    Drink plenty of water before and after doing these massage techniques (most important)

2.    Take your thumbs and press them firmly into the bridge of your nose, just underneath your forehead. Direction of pressure is in towards one another at the bridge of your nse, pressure is firm but not causing pain. Hold for 7 – 10 seconds, breathy deeply. Repeat 2 -4 times

 3.    Take your thumbs and now place them just underneath your forehead, with the pads of your thumb very close to the bridge of your nose. But this time you will press firmly upwards towards your forehead, again not causing pain but utilizing firm steady pressure. Taking deep breathes while holding this pressure. Hold for 7 – 10 seconds and repeat if necessary.

 4.    Take both hands and pinch and pull your skin tissue just below you eyebrows and hold. Direction of and pressure of pinch is away from face and pressure is firm, with a hold of about 5 -7 seconds and repeat.

 5.    Take your thumbs or your middle 3 fingers and press them firmly into the sides of your temple. You can add a slight circular motion here as well, this is very effective. Hold for 7 – 10 seconds using firm but steady pressure.

 6.    Sinus suffers can press into the sides of their nose and move fingers firmly away from their nose towards their cheekbones. Working both sides at once and working multiple points along the ridge of your nose. Direction of pressure is in towards your face and moving away towards your cheekbones.

 7.    Optional: If you have something that is firm in nature or hard plastic protected with some padding, the goal here is to get something that you can put behind your head and lay the back of your head on just underneath your skull (sub occipital area)

 
I have tried and used these massage therapy techniques many times in the past with great results; most times headaches disappear almost immediately. If you have any other techniques I would love to hear about it, thank you.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

“Our Online Massage Appointment Scheduler, Has Been a Time and Stress Saver”

Our massage business has seen a dramatic increase in our massage services, which is great, but I could not help to think, “wow, what if we did not have our online scheduler? Would we be able to keep up with the massage appointments?” And I know that answer is, “no we could not.” I recently wrote a blog post about the 7 essential things a massage therapist needs in their massage business. I briefly mentioned the online massage scheduler within it.

Before my partner and I signed up with Appointment-Plus offer of a free 30 day trial, we were making all our massage appointments by phone and re-booking after each session. This was driving us crazy as you may imagine. When you don’t have a receptionist, you cannot answer the phone when you are working on clients. So in between massage clients we went to our phones to check messages, return calls, schedule existing clients, canceling massage appointments and rescheduling them, as well as getting new clients on our massage schedule. This will also eliminate phone tag. If that sounds like allot of work and time, you’re right. Time that could have been spent taking an extra client; time spent that could have been used for resting up for our next massage client; time being spent that could have been used to grab a bite to eat, stretch or emotionally disconnect from your last client.

If you are a massage therapist and/or bodyworker and taking on all that responsibility after each massage session you cannot, nor will not, give your body the proper downtime that it needs emotionally or physically. You will wear yourself out prematurely. Also what about all those missed calls? How many of them do you think were missed potential massage appointments?

Appointment-Plus (30 day free trial)

Click Here To Sign-Up

Appointment plus has been such a time saver for us. It has allowed us to book our existing massage clients online as well as book new clients without us having to answer the phone. The other great thing for us is that Appointment-Plus also requires new clients to sign in with their information (pre-screens clients for you):

• Name

• Address

• Phone Number

• Email address (great for building your list to send future promotions and specials)

• Date of birth (great for sending out birthday cards)

• How they heard about us (great for tracking marketing efforts)

Appointment-Plus more than pays for itself, it saves paperwork. Like mentioned above, it does the pre-screening process for you. Clients with wrong intentions will NOT go through the registration process. This also means less paperwork for your clients to fill out when they come in for their massage appointments. It sends out appointment reminders. It will notify your clients that have not been in for some time to come back and book another massage appointment with you. You can keep notes on each client as well as each massage session to track their progress and when your massage clients booked their massage they could inform you via the bookings of any “issues” which gives you time to prepare yourself accordingly or refresh your knowledge of that “issue”.

Click Here To Sign-Up

San Jose Massage Therapist Robert Vignoli, Starts A Social Networking Website, Called Massage and Bodywork. Now San Francisco Massage Therapists And Bodyworkers Can Make New Friends, Share Business and Marketing Idea’s, As Well As Massage Techniques With Other Massage And Bodyworker Professionals.

If you love Myspace and enjoy making connections and building relationships through social networking, this website is for you. As you may have heard social media websites are huge right now for many different reasons, but mostly social networking websites allow for you to “connect” with other people, who share the same likes as you, Massage and Bodywork has all the features that make social networking so fun.

Click Here To Join, Its Free!

• Members can invite new members, meet new people, and make new friends on your network.
• Full message center with address book importing from Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Hotmail.
• See which members of your network are online now.
• Customizable profile pages.
• Photo slideshows, video players, music players, and network badges, that can be embedded anywhere on the Internet, seamlessly funneling new people to your network.
• Members can set different privacy settings for every photo, video, group, or blog post they contribute.
• RSS feeds of your network’s features, such as members, discussions, photos, videos, music/podcasts, and blog posts.

“I started Massage and Bodywork as a simple and easy way for San Francisco Bay Area massage therapists to learn and to connect with each other, locally”, says Robert. I am a massage therapist who understands the power of technology and relationship building and there is a huge population of bodyworkers here. My goal is to bring this platform to other bodyworkers so that, they will have a place to interact with each other th, like that of a Meetup, Myspace or Facebook.

Photo Sharing

• Upload photos from a computer, mobile phone, or Flickr account.
• Add photo comments, ratings, tags, locations, favorites, and share via email.
• Create, organize, and view albums.
• Create, view and “embed” photo slideshows branded for your network.
• View all photos across the social network.

Video Sharing

• Upload videos from a computer, mobile phone, or any video service on the web.
• Add video comments, ratings, tags, locations, favorites, and share via email.
• Create, view and “embed” Flash video players.
• View all videos across the social network.

Discussion Forum

• Start and tag a discussion.
• Add discussion posts and reply to those posts.
• Organize discussions by categories.
• Click through the personal profile pages of other members engaged in the discussion.
• View all discussions across your social network.

Groups

• Enable members of your network to create groups.
• Enable members of your network to make groups public or private.
• Add group descriptions, images, discussions, and members.

Music & Podcasting

• Create music and podcast playlists for both the network as well as for each individual member of your network.
• Create, view and “embed” Flash music and podcast players.

San Francisco Bay Area Massage Therapists and Bodyworkers Sign Up Now.

To advertise on Yelp.com,

Ok be honest how of many of you thought this would be an offer for sex?

Yelp.com is a great service our massage business has seen a tremendous increase in business in the last 2 months. I recently wrote a blog post personally thanking everyone on yelp.com for all their great comments. I was recently contacted by a representative from yelp.com, with an offer of $3600 for the year to advertise with them.

So my question is this, is anyone paying this rate right now and what kind of returns are seeing to your business?

At $300 a month minimum for their annual contract, it is not easy just to write a check, I will be locked in that contract for a whole year whether it is working or not. Especially when all the free stuff is doing so well for us, I say free but honestly it is not free, we work very hard for the positive comments on yelp.com. As far as I know we are the first massage business in the Bay Area with a 100% guarantee on all their therapeutic massage services. And we also take most of our competitors gift certificates, and donate them to individuals who cannot afford to get a massage and really need one. Yes you read it correctly we do accept gift certificates from other massage businesses, in trade for getting your massage work from us.

In these times where foreclosures are at an all time high, gas prices sky rocketing at almost $4.00 a gallon, and talks of us hitting a recession daily in the media. I would like to hear from someone who has some experiences with the pay options on yelp, please share with us.

P.S. Please if you have some time create a free acct. it only take a couple of minutes and if you look below you will see a place to stumble, del.icio.us and add us to mixx we would appreciate it if you choose 1 or 2 of them and bookmark us, thank you.

I am a massage therapist who co-owns a small massage (brick and mortar) business, and I am an entrepreneur, who is studying internet marketing strategies. Not only for positioning my massage business online but also as way for creating a supplemental revenue stream that will support my business whether I am working or not.

I had recently connected with a massage client named Corinne Phipps; who also owns a small business called Urban Darling, and I know that this is not proper, but during our massage session we started to talk about our businesses ( I hope that she didn’t mind ). During our talk, I mentioned to her that I am a blogger studying internet marketing strategies for my massage business. I suggested ways for her to use her blog to gain more interest in what her purpose of the business was and those simple pointers, she recognized to be valid points. Anyways not to get off topic too much, she emailed me a list of “Free Internet Marketing” sites that were given to her by a friend, in which she can join to increase her SEO ranking and she wanted my opinion on them.

As I looked over the list I knew of all of them in one form or fashion. There was the Google’s and the Yahoo’s, MSN’s and even InfoUSA, but there was one in which I had heard of before but did not pay attention to it until now. It’s Merchant Circle.

Merchant Circle is one that I personally believe to be the best choice out there for someone like a massage therapist or any small brick and mortar business who does not have the resources to get a $500 or more website built and/or have the knowledge to get that website positioned on the internet. And let’s face it that just getting your business on the internet will not help you if you do not target your local traffic. Local traffic is the most important thing for a small business owner, especially in the service sector as we do not have products or services that we can sell to the online community. Our revenues come through from actually providing a service to our potential clients. You can check out the ad/website that I created on Merchant Circle here.

I will not get into all the details of why I think that Merchant Circle is the best choice out there but I will say that creating a free ad that is more like a website was very easy. Here is a small list of the free benefits which Merchant Circle offers…

• Your title tags keywords are specific to your local community

• You can offer coupons to potential customers

• You can upload a company logo, and your website address

• You can blog directly from their website without installing any software or paying for hosting services fees

• They have a great Alexa rating (this measures overall web traffic to a website or blog)

• You can tag your website with keywords that are relevant to your website.

I was actually really surprised to see all the free offerings. They also have paid options as well, that will not only give you more resources but clicks for even more web traffic exposure. Merchant Circle is not paying me for this; I am only sharing this with you for your benefit as well as Corinne Phipps. They have allot more features and video tutorials that you can take a look at. I would be interested in hearing from you as well should you have another great resource or comments. If you are already using Merchant Circle and have some strategies that you can share please do, thank you.

I also have here a podcast with owner & founder of Merchant Circle below.

P.S. Please if you have some time create a free acct. it only take a couple of minutes and if you look below you will see a place to stumble, del.icio.us and add us to mixx we would appreciate it if you choose 1 or 2 of them and bookmark us, thank you.

Thank you to everyone who left the wonderful comments for us on yelp.com, because of you, RPM Therapy of San Jose has seen an increase in massage business in the last 2 months.

We at RPM Therapy understand that you all work very hard for your money, especially in these times where the topic of recession is on everyone minds and in the media. We take pride in our massage work and try to show that to you, in our massage sessions.  This is our dedication to you, our valued massage clients.

The San Francisco Bay Area has many massage therapists that you can choose from, so we really take your business to heart. You can be sure that when you schedule a massage with any of our massage therapists you will receive the best possible massage experience guaranteed. Yes, that’s right, every massage therapy session booked with us is, 100% guaranteed. If you are not completely satisfied with your massage session for any reason we will not charge you for it.

We are not perfect, as we have logged in 2 free massages since implementing this policy at the beginning of 2008, but we feel like it is a very small price to pay, for your continued business and positive reviews on yelp.com, thank you, it is re-assuring to us that our efforts are appreciated.

Every massage therapist here at RPM Therapy is a seasoned professional, so if it has been a while since your last massage, schedule it with us, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

RPM Therapy is located in San Jose, Ca near Santana Row, with spring right around the corner come in for a wonderful Hot Stone massage, rain-drop therapy or any other massage service and then go have lunch/dinner at Santana Row.

Check out our Yelp reviews, also we are looking for a few quality massage therapists to join our team.

P.S. Please if you have some time create a free acct. it only take a couple of minutes and if you look below you will see a place to stumble, del.icio.us and add us to mixx we would appreciate it if you choose 1 or 2 of them and bookmark us, thank you.

As a massage therapist you will have customers who seek your massage services because of an injury, from playing sports, a car accident or stress induced. Their body will want to heal itself naturally, but when the body tries to heal itself it cannot re-create brand-new healthy muscle tissue. This is when the body will have to put together new fibers, but this serves as only a protective barrier around the injury, this protective barrier is not stable or suitable for strenuous activity it will not work as well as the original tissue. What you will have once it is completely healed is called scar tissue.

Most individuals think that if the muscle in their body is torn, it would be repaired with new tissue but unfortunately that doesn’t happen, it is replaced with scar tissue. People also do not realize that once the scar tissue heals, it is never going to be fully the same. This can especially be hard for athletes as they tend to injure themselves in the same spot repeatedly. This where you a massage therapist can help alleviate this cycle. The buildup of scar tissue over a period of time can cause a person serious problems.

Massage techniques such as advance deep tissue massage, active release techniques and cross-fiber friction has been proven very effective for scar tissue removal. In addition to massage therapy, you must help that individual in limiting the amount of new scar tissue that may form. By doing the R.I.C.E. program, R.I.C.E. stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation. By implementing this type of regimen followed by your massage work can help to lower the chances of having a build-up of scar tissue. I recommend that this be done after every massage session; especially with scar tissue removal just in case your massage work may sometimes re-aggravate the area.

What is Scar Tissue

Scar tissue is the fibrous connective tissue which forms a scar; it can be found on any tissue on the body, including skin and internal organs, where an injury, cut, surgery or disease has taken place, and then healed. Thicker than the surrounding tissue, scar tissue is paler and denser because it has a limited blood supply; although it takes the place of damaged or destroyed tissue, it is limited in function, including movement, circulation, and sensation, that can lead to adhesion in the muscle. Other than with minor cuts and scrapes, scarring is a common result of any bodily damage. In some cases you can actually feel the scar tissue under the skin, but a professional massage therapist will definitely feel it.

One of the biggest downfalls of having scar tissue form at an injury site, is it will never be as strong as the tissue it replaced. It can also cause the flexibility of the tissue to decrease therefore it will become not as useful as it was prior to the injury. This could mean that a person such as an athlete will have a weak spot from this type of scar tissue which can easily cause further damage down the road.

Athletes and Scar Tissue?

Athletes depend on their muscles working at optimal levels to help them in their chosen sport. If they have a weak spot at the location of where past of present injuries occurred, they will not be able to perform to their fullest. They will find that they are constantly re-injuring themselves usually in the same spot. This will only make those spots with scar tissue become weaker and weaker and more of a problem. Which in turn forces all the surrounding muscles, tendons and joints to work harder, putting these areas at risk for injuries left untreated.

Also when scar tissue is present, it can limit the full ability for muscle to contract and retract as it is supposed to. This means the weakening of the tissues as well as the shortening effect of the muscles will definitely limit a person’s ability of movement in that area. This can be detrimental for athletes as well as any with anyone. Scar tissue can form from any type of injury, whether it be from a sporting events, a car accident or a plain old trip and fall.

Scar Tissue Removal

Massage therapy is only one way for removing scar tissue there are different methods to get rid of unwanted scar tissue. And here is a list of them, if I missed please let me know about it, thank you.

• Deep Tissue
• Cross-fiber friction
• Muscle stripping
• Active release
• PNF stretching
• Ultra sound

Unfortunately as a massage therapist ultra sound is prohibited, (at least the last time I checked), I outsource ultra sound work. Ultra-sound is used to heat the injured area hot but the heat doesn’t help to remove scar tissue. But the heat from the ultra-sound can make the scar tissue more pliable, massaging with deep cross fiber friction will do that.

You can have your client do self massage techniques right in your own home by yourself depending on where the injured area is, and I do recommend that you do. The only problem you might have with doing it yourself at home, is that you do not know how deep to go or what types of massage techniques to use or how to apply it correctly, but you can show them some basic massage techniques on how to do it.

Now keep in mind that when you first start working with the area it is going to be quite tender and painful. You want to start with very light strokes than gradually work up to increasing the pressure so you’re able to use firm deep strokes. The more you use the massage techniques on the area the deeper and harder you’ll be able to massage. Scar tissue removal can be a great revenue source for you, due to the fact that some many individuals suffer from it, and it is more effective to schedule massage sessions out over several session depending on how long they have had scar tissue.

Lately our massage business has had an increase of bicyclist who are experiencing back and neck pain from cycling. So I thought I would share with you what I have been finding and treatment plans for these individuals.

Much like computer users who suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome and other ergonomic related issues, cyclist are suffering from being in a “static position” for prolonged periods of time. And unlike their computer counterparts who may not be getting much enjoyment from their invested time, bicyclists love the time spent going on 100 plus mile rides and never miss an opportunity to get out, when the weather is nice.

I will address only the two most common pain symptoms associated with cycling which are neck and back pain and poor posture. I would suggest to do further research if you are suffering from wrist, shoulder or knee pain, or if I receive enough comments on these issues I will write another blog post.

Neck

Poor cycling posture is the main factor for both neck and back pain among most cyclists, but equipment fittings and bike ergonomics also have a big role. A helmet that is too far forward on your head will cause you to extend or tilt your neck more upward putting the neck in extension in order to keep your visibility from being block. Riders with a more aggressive riding position need to wear their helmets farther back, than those who sit more upright.

Sunglasses that are also poorly fitted will impact your visibility and cause you to tilt your head upward as well to keep your sunglasses from falling forward down on the bridge of your nose. So be sure to get sunglasses that fit properly not only when you purchase your glasses but also consider how they will fit when you begin to sweat.

Back

Jolts that result from road irregularities and rough terrain associated with mountain biking cause most of the back pain.

When riding a bicycle, the back should be arched, like a bridge, not drooping forward between the hips and the shoulders. If the back is properly arched, bumps will cause it to flex slightly in the direction of the arch; acting as a “shock absorber” this is harmless. If you ride swaybacked (your back rounded off), bumps will cause the back to bow even farther in the forward direction, which can lead to severe lumbar pain.

Some back-pain sufferers modify their bicycles with extra-high handlebars so that they can sit more upright, with their spines straight. This is actually counterproductive in most cases, because a straight spine has no way to “give” when the bike hits bumps. Road irregularities will jam the vertebrae together, often aggravating existing back problems.

Posture

Many inexperienced cyclists adopt a posture which allows their upper bodies to be supported entirely by their bones. This has the advantage that it requires no muscular effort, but can lead to discomfort or injury when road conditions are transmitted through the rigid bones. The elbows should be slightly bent, not straight and locked. This allows the arm muscles to act as shock absorbers. The shoulders should be pushed forward so that the muscles in the front of the chest help carry the weight of the upper body. Many cyclists make the error of letting their upper spine dangle forward, held up by the collar bones.

Your ability to adopt a good posture on a given bicycle will depend on correct fitting and adjustment of the bicycle. See this resource on frame sizing for more on this.

So how does massage therapy help?

• Massage therapists will quickly analysis the condition of your muscle tone and make a determination on what muscles are tight and weak.

• Break up any muscle adhesions and scar tissue that may be influencing your muscle pain.

• Help flush your body of metabolic waste and lactic acid from tired and fatigued muscles.

What else can I do?

Or course as with any form of exercise proper warm up prior to riding is important, but also after your ride properly cooling down is also critical. Stretching is essential for both the warm up and cooling down phases.

Strengthening is also very important here most likely you will want to strengthen the muscle of the upper-back and neck area. And stretch the Pectoralis muscle (chest), when this muscle is tight from being in a riding position it will pull on its opposite muscles and make them weak.

• Rotator cuff (shoulder-blade muscles) strengthening with either a dumbbells or thera-bands will increase muscle tone and help to “balance out” the pull to the front.

• Reverse Flies (intra scapula muscles) either lying on a ball or standing, basically the important thing here with this exercise is you want to squeeze your shoulder blades together for maximum benefit. If possible to increase intensity hold each contraction for a count of 2- 4 seconds.

• Seated Rows-again the important thing here is to use proper form keep your elbows close to your body and squeeze your back muscles with each repetition.

• Shoulder shrugs-this exercise can do done also with a thera-band or dumbbells, with your arms by your sides and elbows straight throughout the movement slowly lift your shoulders towards your ears and squeeze the muscles at the top before returning to the starting position.

• Doorway stretch or corner stretch- this is so important as it will not make any difference how much strengthening that you do without releasing your pectoralis (chest) muscles these muscle will always continue to pull your upper-back and neck muscles.

• Adjust your frame to fit your riding style

*On each exercise listed above I would use a weight that allows for you to do at least 3 sets of 12 -18 repetitions.

Get a massage from an experienced massage therapist, have them evaluate your body, what I have outlined for you today is only a basic assessment and everyone will be different. And remember you should never stop what you love doing even if your doctors advises you to, get a second opinion.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Kevin Shanahan worked for 11 seasons as the Giants’ massage therapist, so players knew he had strong hands.

Not only did this massage therapist have strong hands but he also had a strong heart and passion for his work, the massage industry lost a very special individual.

Now they know all about his strength of character. Aside from a couple of veterans and members of the training staff, nobody in the clubhouse was aware that Shanahan battled cancer over the past four years. Even as his condition worsened to a terminal stage, Shanahan kept his condition private and worked until the final day of the season.

More on this story,

Mercury News

Deep tissue massage is a very therapeutic method of pain relief and staying active. It can help clients feel wonderful and relaxed, but it has great health benefits as well. It is often used to treat injuries that are sports related. The depth of the massage can be used to relieve muscle strain and muscle adhesions that lie deep in the muscle tissue.

When circulation is blocked, not only does the muscle suffer, the entire body suffers. Your well being and overall health are reduced. When these circulation blocks are eliminated through the use of deep tissue massage, the body experiences enhanced circulation of blood, lymph, interstitial fluids and cerebro spinal fluids. This can, in turn, result in enhanced functioning of the body and organs as well as improved health. It also helps with the connective tissues to repair and be healed.

Deep tissue massage therapy is beneficial for all levels of massage seekers, offering an experience that is both healing and corrective. It can heal nearly every area of the body, making it function more optimally and efficiently.

What is Deep Muscle Therapy?

Deep muscle therapy is a type of massage therapy technique where the deeper layers of muscle are the primary focus. The goal is to release tension in the body with the use of deep finger pressure and slow strokes on affected areas that are contracted. It either follows the fibers of the muscles tendons and fascia, or the strokes go across the fibers. These advanced massage techniques are generally used to alleviate chronic muscle tension and fatigue.

This technique uses slower strokes and deep pressure or friction that is more direct and moves across the muscle grain as opposed to moving with the grain. It can help to break down scar tissue and eliminate it. Clients may experience soreness either immediately after or during the massage, and adequate water intake after each massage session is essential for proper recovery. If the massage is done correctly, though, the client should feel significantly better within just a couple of days.

Why is Deep Muscle Therapy Effective?

When a person is stressed neurotransmitters are overly worked and active this causes a lack of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles tissues. This blockage can lead to a build-up of toxins in the muscle tissue as well as inflammation of the muscles and tendons. Muscles can be left feeling very painful, tired and stiff. Deep tissue therapy helps to loosen those tight, inflamed muscle tissues and release the toxins. Additionally, it works to improve your overall circulation.

While all of this is happening on the inside of the body, your body will become more relaxed as the stress melts away. Deep muscle therapy works on the mind, body and spirit of a person, going far beyond the physical. It is important, though, to advise clients to drink plenty of water after a deep tissue massage. This is due to the fact that toxin are released from the muscles into the body. The water helps to flush the toxins from the body. Salt baths using Epsom salt is another very nice touch, and Epsom salt can be bought any retail store.

How is Deep Muscle Therapy Applied?

Deep muscle massage is usually focused bodywork and somewhat intense, but it is fairly easy to learn. The best way to begin is to warm up the muscles first, not going too deep, and then working your way into the deeper muscles, slowly. Gradually ease into the muscles, going deeper and deeper a little at a time, this should be done to what is tolerable for you. This is particularly important because each client will feel the pressure differently. Some people may feel that the massage is soft and gentle while other clients may perceive the handling of the muscles to be very rough. It is your job to feel out your client and work into the massage, taking your cues from them.

Another reason to ease into your deep muscle massage is because if you start too aggressive and apply pressure too rough and too frequent, the muscles may contract in an effort to protect the area. This will cause your client a great deal of discomfort as well as injure them. In fact, serious injury can come from over aggressive deep tissue therapy.

How do Massage Therapists use Deep Muscle Therapy to Help Clients?

Massage therapists use deep muscle therapy to help their clients by eliminating scar tissue, releasing nerve entrapment, relieving conditions such as muscle adhesion and carpal tunnel, and reducing stress. It releases the muscle fibers while working to help the body get rid of deeply held patterns of tension. It helps remove toxins from the muscle tissues and both soothe and relax the muscle. t can also help to alleviate headaches and overall body aches. Deep tissue muscle therapy is both therapeutic and corrective.