The Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage – Increased Blood Flow

One of the best benefits of a deep tissue massage is the increased blood flow it causes. Because massage therapists are applying so much direct pressure on the muscles, this increases the blood circulation throughout your body. As a result, increased blood flow boosts the oxygen supply to all of the tissues in your body. With more oxygen circulating in the blood, toxins such as lactic acid are removed from your muscles at a higher rate.

A professional athlete can especially benefit from a deep tissue massage since the speedy removal of toxins can help speed up the healing process for distressed muscles. In addition, a deep tissue massage can increase the mobility of certain muscles and loosen up tight muscles.

The Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage – Stress Relief

Another positive benefit of deep tissue massages is stress relief. The forceful and firm pressure forces the body to relax and ultimately relieve tension. Not only do deep tissue massages help rid the muscles of toxins thanks to the increased blood flow, but flushing out toxins also helps to put the body and the mind in a more relaxed state. This can more easily lead to physical relaxation of stiff muscles.

An experienced massage therapist will concentrate on massaging various trigger points on the body that are known to hold the most stress. By working out the muscles in these areas, your body can relax much more easily and much more simply. If you are someone who has a busy work life, who travels a lot, or who just has a lot of stress in your life, a monthly or even bi-monthly deep tissue massage can do wonders for your long-term relaxation and mood.

The Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage – Reduced Chronic Pain

If you are someone who suffers from chronic discomfort such as arthritis, muscle inflammation, or even a bad back, a deep tissue massage can help alleviate some of the pain. For some people, deep tissue massages have proven to be more effective and useful than daily prescriptions or other medications.

Once again, because the deep tissue massage is increasing your blood flow, it is also reducing inflammation in the affected area. The firm pressure eases the pain and alleviates tension, loosening tightness and buildups of painful lactic acid that accumulates with repeated stress of muscles. When done regularly, a deep tissue massage is similar to physical therapy and can be a great alternative for someone who is not interested in prescription drug use.

The Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage – Lowered Blood Pressure

A side effect of relieving stress and tension involves a reduction in your blood pressure. As the deep tissue massage reduces muscle tightness, it can have a positive effect on blood pressure, especially if you are prone to high blood pressure or if high amounts of stress in your life are known to negatively trigger your high blood pressure.

Because stress relief has been proven to promote more serotonin in your body—a hormone that is responsible for making you feel happy and content—a deep tissue massage can be an ideal and relaxing way to lower your blood pressure.

Common Massage Catastrophes for the Massage Therapist:

1. Not Maintaining Proper Massage Ethics

As a professional massage therapist, you should be well read and well rehearsed in the area of massage ethics. Receiving the proper education and certification to become a masseuse often includes instruction on the boundaries of a therapist-client relationship. However, if you have been practicing massage therapy for several years and your code of ethics has lapsed in any way, you have a professional obligation to refresh your memory.

As a general rule, massage therapists should not discuss client information with other clients. If a client has divulged pertinent medical information to the therapist, for example, that information should be kept strictly confidential.

Massage therapists should also remain wary of beginning an intimate relationship with a client. This means that calling a client at home—unless you are calling to confirm or cancel an appointment—would be inappropriate. It is also inappropriate to accept personal gifts from clients, outside of standard industry gratuity or tip.

2. Not Offering Professional Customer Service

Customer service is important in any industry, but it is especially important in massage therapy because a client is likely to repeat business only if he or she has had a pleasant experience.

For massage therapists, this means taking the time to greet each client as soon as he or she arrives, and to make them as comfortable as possible from the moment they walk in the door. A greeting does not have to be a complicated gesture. Merely offering your client a seat in the waiting room or a glass of water can instantly put them at ease.

It is also important for massage therapists to look and act in a professional manner. This should include a clean and presentable uniform. Clients should not feel offended or embarrassed by how you present yourself or by your wardrobe. If you are a smoker, be sure that your clients cannot smell the smoke on you. Some clients may be allergic, and others may simply not return if they have to smell smoke during their massage.

Common Massage Catastrophes for the Client:

1. Not Arriving or Leaving on Time

It may sound simple, but arriving and leaving on time for your massage appointment can mean a great deal to a massage therapist. Not only is it the polite and courteous thing to do, but it shows awareness that your masseuse or masseur’s time is valuable.

Most massage therapists are performing massages all day, which means they have a schedule they need to adhere to. If one client is late, it could throw off the entire schedule. Plus, you don’t want to start off by establishing a bad relationship with your masseuse and you don’t want to have a rushed experience.

2. Not Being Honest About the Experience

One of the biggest mistakes a client can make is not speaking up or being honest about his or her experience. If anything makes you feel uncomfortable or if you experience pain at any point throughout the massage, say so. Most professionals work to make the experience enjoyable for you, so a few constructive comments can help both of you make the most of the appointment.

Your massage therapist will likely be more offended if you remain silent, or worse, if you don’t say anything and then tell all your friends about how much you didn’t enjoy the experience. Above all else, your massage should be an enjoyable experience, so don’t cheat yourself out of letting that happen.

The main goal of emergency massage therapy organizations is to give these public servants some relaxation in times of great stress. Organizations like the American Massage Therapy Association provide trained masseuses, many of which are volunteers, that make themselves available in times of need, such as after large natural disasters or damaging fires. Emergency massage therapists are dedicated to help those that are helping the victims of disasters, including ambulance workers, firefighters and law enforcement officers.

Massage emergency responders also contribute to the well being of administrative personnel contributing to the battle against natural disasters. Organizations that provide disaster relief from their office may experience mass amounts of stress as well. While it may seem like a less stressful experience, the victims of disasters rely on administrators as much as they rely on on-site personnel. Administrative disaster personnel still feel the responsibility they have for protecting the fates of thousands of people in need even if they are not working directly in the field.

The earthquake in Haiti that occurred in early January 2010 reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale and was followed by more than fifty aftershocks that reached up to 4.5 on the Richter scale. Some estimates claim that roughly three million people were affected in some way by the earthquake, either through death, injury or displacement. Many countries and organizations took immediate action to bring relief to the people of Haiti. To people around the world, stress reached unhealthily high levels.

Partners in Health is a Massachusetts based organization that provides help to those in need that cannot afford it. They use their bountiful resources to do whatever possible to contribute to the solidarity of the world. They believe that all people have a moral obligation to help those in need, and through great acts of selflessness have contributed to the well being of countless victims of natural disasters.

Emergency Response Massage International worked with Partners in Health for three weeks during their disaster relief efforts in Haiti. They provided stress-relieving massages to the staff members working hard to help the victims of the earthquake. These massages gave the employees of Partners in Health a moment of relaxation, allowing them to be more productive in helping the well being of those affected by the disaster. According to a representative of Partners in Health, the emergency massage therapy was extremely beneficial to employee morale, and was an important factor in the success of the project.

Similar emergency massage foundations have helped public servants and disaster reliever workers deal with stress for the past several years. Decreased stress almost always causes increased morale, and increased morale means increased productivity. In times of need, emergency massage therapists are intricate to the recovery of both emergency workers and the people those workers are trying to help. Though trickle-down economics may not work, trickle-down humanity does.

On a typical Monday morning, Mary’s schedule may look like this:

8:00 a.m. When she arrives at work, Mary meets with a 50-year-old male patient suffering back pain. She is given the patient’s medical history and notes from his primary care physician. She spends an hour meeting with the patient to get a better understanding of his condition and goes over some exercises that he can benefit from. Afterward, she documents the exercises that he completes, his pain level, and his treatment goals.

9:00 a.m. Mary has a half hour off before she needs to attend to her next patient. She then has three consecutive appointments, each lasting about an hour. Mary spends this time evaluating the patients’ conditions, going over some exercises with them and documenting their progress. She spends most of her time helping patients learn exercises that they will be able to do at home, because patients need to perform these exercises every day in order to benefit from them.

12:30 p.m. Mary begins attending to her administrative duties, such as filling out paperwork and speaking with other service providers. She has to work diligently, because she knows that she may be called to the hospital to perform inpatient evaluations at any time. She is able to get most of her work done before she gets a call about a patient who needed a knee replacement.

1:30 p.m. As soon as Mary takes the call, she heads over to the hospital to meet with the patient. This patient is a high school student who was involved in a car accident. He seems to be recovering from the surgery, but Mary needs to determine what he needs to work on before he can be discharged from the hospital. Since he has responded well to the surgery, the doctors are likely to discharge him if Mary feels it is appropriate to do so. She decides that he needs treatment to improve both his strength and balance. After working with the patient, she consults with his physician and recommends that he discharge the patient. She makes sure the patient is provided with the necessary instruments that he will need for mobility during recovery when he gets home.

3:00 p.m. Mary goes to the chiropractic clinic across the street to meet with one of the patients. On some days she has to see multiple patients at the clinic, who are all suffering from back or neck pain. By 4:30 p.m., Mary is finished with her day and ready to go home. On days when she has to work with more patients, Mary may be at work until 6:00 p.m. or later.

Mary typically works about 40 hours per week. These hours may vary depending on her case load at any of the sites she visits. While her schedule is fairly consistent, the challenges she faces every day may be unique. She is happy to help people who have been injured continue living steady and fulfilling lives.

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Physical therapists generally have a specialty and first-time patients are usually sent to a PT based on referral or word of mouth, depending on the particular ailment.  If you have insurance, chances are your physical therapist must be referred by the doctor in charge of your surgery or your general practitioner.

On a first visit to a physical therapist, it is important to be prepared to ask and answer many questions.  The more informed you and your PT are, the more sophisticated your treatment, and the better your results will be.  Learn as much as you can about your ailment and open up the lines of communication right away.

Through the course of your treatment, it is important to keep the lines of communication open as well.  The goal of your therapy should be to get you back into a state of comfort and mobility that you possessed prior to the incident that necessitated therapy in the first place.  In many cases, people feel better than they have in many years, having finally dealt with the source of their pain and discomfort.

Listening to the advice of your therapist is of great importance as well.  If he or she recommends a small amount of weight loss or change in physical activity, heed what they are telling you.  Your well-being is at stake, and your PT is trying to help you by getting you involved in activities and habits that won’t only help the treatment, but will help long after the treatment is over.

You will also be given a schedule and set up appointments for your treatment on your first visit to a physical therapist.  It is important that you do your very best to make it to every single one of your scheduled appointments.  There is a rhyme and reason for why things are done in a certain way, in a certain order, at certain times.  Remember to keep those lines of communication open and ask questions.  If you’re unable to meet the requirements of your treatment schedule, work with your PT on fixing this problem.  
Learning what you can do and how you can facilitate your treatment goes a long way in physical therapy.  Keep your mind open, listen, communicate and heal yourself with the help of your physical therapist. 

1. Start simple and be reasonable.  It took a long time to develop the habits that are now part of your daily life, but by simply making a conscious effort to take your health back into your own hands, you are well on your way.  Make achievable goals for yourself and be reasonable.  Don’t start so hard that you immediately give up, but begin to infuse some daily exercise into your agenda.  Do exactly what you can and see how soon you will be finding extra opportunities to better yourself.

 
2. Work with what you have.  Again, you will not be able to turn your life around overnight.  On the other hand, don’t make excuses. You don’t need to be a member of a gym to do push-ups or sit-ups; you can do it from the comfort of your own home.  You have two legs and walk around all the time.  Get up twenty minutes earlier and go for a brisk walk before you start your day.  There are many simple exercises you can do alone, with little or no equipment, so just get to it.

 
3. Eliminate any obstacles.  If you find yourself running to the pantry for unsavory snacks, throw them out.  If you are tempted by the burger joint on your way home, find another route.  When it comes to making changes in our routine, we are our own worst enemies.  Get rid of anything that will stand in the way of your goals.  Find suitable replacements for your unhealthy snacks; look for alternatives to sitting around watching TV.  Be conscious of what is getting in your way and make the appropriate changes.

4. Be an opportunist.  Once you have begun to settle into your new lifestyle, opportunities to keep in shape seem to pop up everywhere.  On your lunch break, go for a walk, or walk to the nearest restaurant or café rather than driving or carpooling.  On breaks at work, fit in a few brief exercises rather than grabbing a coffee and chatting in the break room.  Walking is always something that releases tension, gets the blood flowing, and helps you to stay fit as a result.  When you are at a loss for something to do at home, fit in some simple exercises.  You’ll feel better about yourself and these extra reps will begin to benefit your physique as well.

 
5. Be flexible.  Naturally, there will be times when you can’t be as strict as you’d like.  You are human, after all.  Don’t let your zeal for health and fitness overshadow the rest of your life.  Some days will be busier than others; don’t be hard on yourself if you get off your routine.  However, continue to adjust your new lifestyle to suit your needs to the best degree possible.