One of the things we have had to become very good at over the years is explaining very clearly to our clients why we are hurting them. When you are making people cry, scream or recall childbirth as a fond memory they don’t want complex, theoretical explanations. You won’t get any of that here either.
We are massage therapists. We don’t burn candles, burn incense, play music or dim lights. Our clients are usually sore for 2-3 days afterwards and may, in some cases, later sport some really cool looking bruises. They tell friends they are going to get a massage and usually hear, “OH, you are SOOO lucky!” Their response is almost universal. “You REALLY don’t understand. It is paaaaaainful.” Why would they schedule a session where pain is practically guaranteed? Here’s why. The thing that most of our clients have in common is that they have been in pain, sometimes for years and have tried practically everything else to get rid of it. Nothing has worked. This, they say, does.
Nothing
New
“This” is nothing new. Here’s an illustration of how ‘not new’ what we do is. Once, when I started working on a client of Hispanic decent her eyes got wide with recognition of the kind of pain she was now feeling. “Oh my God!” she yelled, “This is exactly what my granny down in Mexico used to do to us kids when we were little. She would grab us where we were hurting, make us move it, (arm, leg, whatever), until it stopped hurting and THEN she’d let us go.” The most important part of that story was, “stopped hurting…” Who knows who granny learned her ‘technique’ from…probably her granny.
What
Do You Call What You Do?
People ask for
some name for what we do so they can find someone who does the same thing
in some distant city for a family member or friend. I tell them that we
have done workshops titled “Three Dimensional Balancing”. They
smile and nod but are not at all satisfied. They want more detail, something
they have heard of, (something they can tell their spouse to explain the
pain and bruises, I think). So then we tell them this.
"It
is a combination of Myofascial Release, Ischemic Pressure and Deep Tissue
Massage with movement through targeted ranges of motion of the area(s) being
treated. This lengthens contracted/unbalanced muscle and fascial tissue
which helps realign the body structurally. When all of the components of
the imbalance caused by traumatic injuries, repetitive stress injuries or
postural deficits are corrected, pain is eliminated."
They frown. "But
what do you CALL IT?" When you really think about it, how can you,
in good conscience NAME something that someone’s grandmother, (or
great, great grandmother for that matter), figured out how to do years ago
and then, in effect take credit for "discovering" it my naming
it? Okay, okay… we’ll call it P&M Myofascial Release.
(P&M=pin and move.) How’s that?
Basically, we "pin" the muscle, (and fascial sheath covering it), with our thumb(s), finger(s), hand(s), elbow, forearm or whatever the situation calls for. We then move (or make the client move, or have a family member or another therapist move), an adjacent body part, (their finger, wrist, forearm, shoulder, trunk, head, foot, knee, hip…you get the idea), which creates a ‘taffy pull’ of sorts. As the tissue passes through the pinned area it pulls it apart, stretches it...lengthens it. Once it gets to the proper length, believe it or not, it stops hurting!
Read
More>
Series 1 Continued:
Fascia
Why
It Hurts... and Then Stops Hurting
Why it Hurts...
There
How Long Will
This Last?
Insurance
Bruises
Pressure
and Duration of Treatment
Where to Start?
Ice or Heat?
