Life on a daily basis.  The body continues to function, we eat, sleep, walk, etc.  And then an event of daily living that can disrupt normal body function or movement.  Not too long ago I posted the blog on TMJ and TMJ dysfunction.   I am going to relate to you a recent experience I had.

Occasionally I get hit with nasty migraines – maybe once a year.   One of them came to visit and stayed for two days ending ...

How often have you heard someone say “I have TMJ”?

In truth, we each have two TMJ’s.  TMJ is common abbreviation for the Temporomandibular Joint.  We have a left TMJ and a right TMJ.  There is an articular disc between the temporal bone and the mandible.   The TMJ is a synovial joint.  The subtype is a modified hinge allowing us to open and close our mouth; speaking, chewing, yawning.

TMJ dysfunction is a general term that applies to any abnormal function of the TMJ.  ...

The eight small suboccipital muscles are located at the top of the neck just below the skull.   These muscles are the deepest muscles of the upper posterior neck.  The action of these eight small muscles allows you to rock and tilt the head back into extension (so you are looking up) and the rotate your head to the same side (useful when driving).  These muscles can become stiff and sore even from having a cold draft on them or from over working ...

Hydro therapy can be an extremely valuable tool during massage, after an injury or just as a stand alone therapy for many medicinal purposes.

Hydro therapy includes hot water, tepid water, cool water, ice, hot stones that area heated to 112-120 degrees in hot water.

I have worked on several sprained ankles using a contrast bath.   In this therapy we use a two sided bucket with one side holding cold water 40-55 degrees F and the other side holding ...

Do you own a loofah?

Dry skin brushing using a very light touch, from the feet up the legs to the trunk and from the hands up the arms to the trunk is enough to help increase lymph flow.

Especially after traveling that requires many hours in a car or on an airplane, my ankles swell up for a couple of days.   I drink more than my regular amount of water while traveling and do ankle rotations, walk arounds, ...

Sternocleidomastoid(SCM) and Scalene(s)

Does your neck ever feel so stiff that you can picture a bowling ball stuck on top of a broom handle and not much movement in that scenario?  I certainly was one of those.

One of the main reasons I began getting regular massage was for a ‘stiff neck’ resulting in discomfort, pain and headaches.  The neck is a critical structure of the body allowing head rotation side to side, forward and backward flexion and extension.  The sternocleidomastoid ...

We use our hands to perform hundreds of tasks each day such as washing, getting dressed, cooking, working, lifting objects, holding items..  There are numerous small detail muscles in the hands.  Certainly compared to the large muscle groups of the body such a quadriceps the hands don’t take up much real estate.  However, when the hand does not open widely or close easily many of those hundreds of tasks done daily can not be completed in a satisfactory manner.

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What a pain in the butt!  Literally.

I have experienced the piriformis syndrome myself. I had been doing an exercise boot camp.   My body loved the intense workouts.   I was probably two months in to the boot camp.   One Sunday morning I woke up with hot shooting pain down both legs.   It was excruciating.   I had no idea what it was or what caused it.  A trip to the emergency room netted me some muscle relaxers but did nothing to ...

I have several clients come in with the chronic low back pain issue.   We discuss what their normal daily activities are, what kind of job they do, any repetitive motion routines, do they stretch, exercise and so on.  I explain that the Psoas muscle is an adductor muscle and how some of the movements they do and engage that muscle.

During the massage, as I work on their quadriceps I take note if they seem abnormally tight, which often ...

I request new clients arrive 15 minutes early to complete the health intake form.  The health history gives me information that would alert me to any contraindication(s)  that would prohibit massage either locally or whole body.

* You and I go over the health history and occasionally other issues are discovered during the discussion, perhaps recent falls or surgeries and so on.

* I would ask if there are specific issues that you would like to have worked on.

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