Too much

So it was my good intention to do this blog and keep up with it day by day. I have found that this task has become a bit overwhelming for me since I cannot adequately manage my time between being a mom, a massage therapist, a wife and a school volunteer. Although I do love my job, I cannot do this part of my job right now... so for now I am abandoning my blog... since I don't think anyone reads it, I find I am at peace with my decision. If someone is reading this, I apologize profusely but when the time is right again, I will be back.

~Sandy

Healer...

I don't believe I personally am a healer... I help facilitate what the body is capable of doing--- healing itself. Often times it just takes a touch to help the body heal faster. Some therapist will call themselves a healer of sorts, I am not one of those therapists.
Now, I am a Christian... which means that when God created humans, He made their bodies capable of healing itself. When the body gets stuck, I am there to help what God created the body to do, facilitate healing.
I get tickled when I hear that I have helped someone... that is why I got into massage therapy but I don't heal people... I just help them ;)

Pregnancy Massage

Pregnancy Massage has a lot of benefits. Here are some just to name a few:

Benefits that a mother may experience:

• Reduces swelling in hands, feet and ankles
• Lessens sciatic pain
• Eases muscular discomforts in areas like the low back & neck, calf cramps, it also helps with tension and tightening that can be experienced throughout the body
• Tones lose muscles relaxes tense muscles and can help increase flexibility.
• Helps with relaxation which in turn can decrease insomnia
• Increases blood and lymph flow which can help increase the elimination of toxins through the circulatory and lymphatic systems, this can also help with fatigue.
• Increases oxygen in the blood, sometimes on up to 10-15% after a massage.
• Strengthens the immune system
• Stimulates the release of endorphins, the body's natural pain killers, into the brain and nervous system.
• Helps relieve anxiety or depression
• Helps increase blood circulation, which in turn delivers more oxygen and nutrients to the mother and baby.
• Can be used during the birth as well as after making both experiences easier and more comfortable
• Eases stress mothers often feel after the birth

(taken from website: http://www.pregnancy.org/article/benefits-pregnancy-massage)

The most important thing to remember is that a pregnancy massage is only recommended to be done during or after your 14 week gestation. But just as there are many benefits to pregnancy massage, there are some contraindications as well. Talk to your therapist to find out what those are.

Headaches

Did you know that you have 8 little muscles located at the base of your skull and one of them is actually connected to the dura mater around your brain. This muscle (which I cannot remember the name of off the top of my head) is the one that  more than likely causes headaches--- a tension headache because when it contracts, it pulls at your brain.  This type of headache, of course, can be treated with massage.
The trick is trying to determine what type of headache you have at the time:

• tension headache
• migraine
• cluster headache
• mixed headache
• sinus headache
• headache due to dehydration

Perhaps in the next post, I will post the symptoms of each... but this is it for now!

The term -itis

So you've been to the doctor and they told you that you have tendonitis or bursitis or some other -itis...
all that means is that you have an inflammation of whatever. The best course of action for this is ice... yep water frozen in the freezer to make ice.
Sometimes I don't think docs know exactly what is wrong with a person and they just throw that diagnoses on someone when they present with pain somewhere. {This is totally my opinion}
Well I hope this explains that... I get people who present with this (when I am out and about) and now here is a solution.

Rhomboids

If you are like me, you spend some time on the computer or worse, you have a computer desk job. When this happens, your posture gets more out of whack than it already is. Your shoulders are more rounded inward and your neck is jutting forward. This over stretches your rhomboid muscles. So when a therapist massages your back (especially the area in between your shoulder blades) you are like "that is so tight in there."  When in fact, it isn't tight, it is over stretched and MAD!!! So I have given you a website that shows you different strengthening exercises:

http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8292950/rhomboids-exercises-rhomboid-strengthening-exerc.htm

Strengthening is different than stretching because after all they are already over stretched. You want to strengthen them and your posture will greatly improve!

Mind your belt line

No, I am not talking about losing weight... I am talking about wearing a belt in general. Did you know that tight belts cause pinched nerves which then causes numbness in your leg (meralgia paresthetica)?
This past week I have noticed clients having really tight QL's (Quadratus Lumborum muscle) [lower back area or kidney area]... here's the low down on that... wearing a belt or having a tight pants on causes you to overflow your pants... the "overflow" muscles/fat tightens up when you sit in that position for a long period of time. This of course causes low back pain. I found a website that will show you how to stretch that area:
http://www.floota.com/QuadratusLumborumStretch1.html


That "overflow" will pinch muscles which in return pinch nerves. When that happens the condition is called meralgia paresthetica-- when you have numbness on the outer side of your thigh.


So before you tighten up your belt or try to squeeze into those pants... give your muscles a break and go for those elastic waist pants ;)