What Can Massage Do For You?
A complete answer is as individual as you are.
Working with people to achieve lasting relief from pain is one of my favorite things to do.
I study and practice effective treatment modalities for injury rehabilitation and pain conditions — including tendonitis, plantar fasciaitis, and nerve entrapment syndromes like carpel tunnel. Clients/patients and I work to re-establish comfortable range-of-motion in damaged or dysfunctional joints. We are getting excellent results in relief from chronic as well as acute low-back, neck and shoulder pain.
People recovering from surgery work with me to minimize adhesions and scarring. Increasing the flow of blood, lymph, and energy through the site eases discomfort and speeds their return to health.
My internship with Cancer Care of Iowa City (Mercy) prior to graduation led me to research and practice therapeutic tools for work with lymph edema, immune system enhancement, and comfort during chemotherapy. I still work often with people living through cancer.
Re-establish a healthy mind-body connection
When we suffer trauma — emotional or physical, injury or disease — as we all do in this life, it is sometimes easier to bear if we disconnect, to some extent, from our bodies.
Often people feel their bodies have failed or betrayed them. Fears and anxiety put us off balance, making it difficult to relax. These natural responses to trauma can interfere with our ability to fully engage our whole selves in the process of healing.
Massage can help re-establish a positive connection between your mind and body--for some, it will be a whole new way of feeling that connection.
Relax
Our bodies function and feel best when fluids flow freely, and our soft tissues are actually soft.
Injury, illness, stress, and hard times can begin a cycle of tension, pain, inactivity, hardening, and constriction in our bodies that feels bad, and is self-perpetuating.
Massage can help break this cycle by separating adhesions between tissues, and manually "pumping" fluids and oxygen through our systems. This can be especially important in areas with scarring.
As we feel better, it becomes easier to move around and enjoy our lives, leading us to cycle toward health.
Enjoy an active life
Whether you work a job that is physically challenging, or participate in sports — as an amateur, professional, or weekend warrior — your body will occasionally let you know you have over-extended.
Massage therapy increases the circulation of blood and lymph fluid through your muscles, bringing oxygen and nutrients to, and flushing metabolic wastes (perhaps the cause of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) from those muscle tissues.
Massage thus reduces the likelihood of injury, and increases the longevity of your enjoyment in your activities.
