Your Session is Your Own
At Massage for Pain Relief, I don’t hold back anything I know or can do to help you. We don’t have different rates for different modalities. If I know how to do it and I think it will help, I’ll include it in the session. As a result all sessions are individually tailored to you and what you need right now. I take the time to get to know what you want, what you need, and what you are expecting from your massage session, and then try to provide exactly that. I have learned a lot and practiced a lot over the last 20 years, and I have found the following modalities are the ones that I come back to again and again, and are what I draw from to structure our massage sessions.
Myofascial Release
Myofascial Release uses sustained, slow pressure to create ease in fascia, the tough, fibrous tissue that gives us our shape and structure. Fascia might need to be released if it becomes bound up, shortened, or stuck to things it should move against. These fascial adhesions arise because of some trauma to the tissue. This could be a sudden trauma, such as an injury or accident that causes the muscles to become tense and guarded. It could be a repetitive action that over time causes chronic wear and tear, or it could be a postural distortion that the body is attempting to compensate for. In any case, the fibrous connective tissue can lock these patterns into place, and thus lock in the cause of some kind of pain complaint. Myofascial Release can work through these chronic patterns to bring ease where there was bind before.
Neuromuscular Therapy
Neuromuscular Therapy, or NMT, is a very specific technique to locate and treat an immediate cause of pain and discomfort. Often, a pain that we feel can be traced back to a specific muscle, soft tissue, joint, ligament, or some other structure that is in distress. with NMT, we are searching out these spots and applying treatment directly there to provide relief to symptoms. This can involve a little detective work. We use orthopedic tests, movement, stretching, and specific palpation to differentiate what is painful from what is not. We will treat what we find, then re-assess to determine whether our intervention has improved your symptoms. NMT is great for addressing specific pain complaints in a precise and intentional way.
Deep Tissue Massage
Deep Tissue Massage is closest to what you would traditionally think of as massage. It’s primary goal is to provide relaxation to both mind and body, fostering a feeling of ease and well-being. It can be a great compliment to my other modalities, as sometimes the healing process can itself be taxing. After working through longstanding, bound up areas, or areas that are exquisitely tender or painful, we can use deep tissue massage to rest and restore.
