What are the general benefits of massage?
Many people believe that massage is only for relaxation purposes, yet massage can be a tool for therapeutic change in the body as well. Whether the bodywork is geared to therapy or relaxation here are some of the benefits you will enjoy:
- Rid the body of toxins
- Stretches and releases superficial as well as deep tissues
- Assists lymphatic and venous flow
- Helps to break up and loosen subcutaneous scar tissue and adhesions
- Increases nutrition to the cells and skin
- Can help reduce certain types of Edema
- Increases respiration to the skin
- Stimulates the sensory receptors (nerves) of the skin and deeper tissue to facilitate healing
- Activates specific areas of the nervous system to affect either an overall stimulatory or sedative state of being
What should I expect on my first visit?
Upon arrival for your first visit, an intake will be performed. Questions concerning your general health, injury history and whether you are currently under a doctor's care will be briefly discussed. This is the opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have for Adrian about your massage and/or goals for subsequent future bodywork. This process should only take a few minutes.
Your massage environment will be quiet, clean and private. Music, aromatherapy or soothing sounds may be used to enhance your relaxation and the over all experience of your session. You are, of course, free to request that any or all of these be excluded from your experience.
What should I expect during a massage?
If you are visiting Adrian and Otium for a relaxation massage you are encouraged to take that time to settle into a quiet non-verbal space where the bothersome thoughts of daily life can be quieted. Many people even enjoy being soothed into sleep—the ultimate sign of letting go.
With deep tissue work, Adrian will periodically inquire to make sure you are tolerating the work and remind you to breathe and relax. Therapeutic work may ask you to be a little more active and participatory with the therapist. Adrian will sometimes use light conversation to distract his clients when doing very deep tissue work.
As the client, you control the massage—talk/no talk—music/no music—deeper/lighter tissue work. If you are uncomfortable in any respect, speak up! Do not ever “suffer” in silence. Make your wishes known.
What are the modesty and clothing expectations?
Massage in a professional setting can be an intimate experience, however never a sexual one. There is a level of trust and professionalism that will be maintained at all times. Clothing, modesty and draping issues are all a part of that client/therapist relationship.
Here are some things you should know:
- A massage therapist needs have access to your body.
- The level to which you disrobe is dependant on your personal comfort level and preference. However, to protect your clothing from damage by oils, and to facilitate effective massage techniques, it is best that you disrobe to at least your underwear.
- At Otium, as with any professional massotherapist, you will never be on the table without being covered by a sheet or towel.
- The only region of the body that will be exposed is the part that Adrian is working on.
- The breasts and genitals are never worked on during a professional massage.
- Adrian will be fully and appropriately dressed. It is his opinion that if a therapist works undressed or exposed they are not behaving professionally.
What should I expect after a massage?
When the massage is over, Adrian invites you to remain on the table for a few minutes to let the experience of the massage wash over you. Many times you will feel a pleasant tingle in your muscles and an overall feeling of total relaxation.
You need to drink plenty of water to flush the toxins, which have been released during the massage process, out of your system. If you have access to a steam room or whirlpool, they are ideal ways to continue cleansing the system. As well, a hot shower followed by a soak in a bath is also a great follow-up.
For the 24 hour period after a deep tissue massage you may feel a little sore or achy. This is a normal response and is part of the healing process. It should go away within 24-36 hours. Rest, healthy eating and fluids will help minimize this response.
What is Precision Neuromuscular Therapy all about?
Accurate Assessment:
Much of the training is based around tests and techniques that assure the therapist that the muscle they are treating is an important player in the client's discomfort. Just because a muscle is tender does not mean it is the cause of their pain.
Precise Treatment:
The heart of it all is precision. Move 5 mm in any direction and the therapist may no longer be on the source of trouble. In many cases, just the direction of pressure could make a difference. When treatment is not precise, therapists tend to press harder just to attempt to be effective. (As if greater volume would make a speech more effective!) Precision will allow a therapist to work with less effort and the treatment will not only yield great results, but be much more comfortable for you.
Stellar Results:
It is all about results! All the training, all the therapy, all the philosophy does not matter if the therapist does not get you the results desired. The assessment approaches we use become benchmarks for the effectiveness of the work. It will be very clear to you and your therapist when he is correct in the treatment approach. It will also be immediately apparent when the treatment did not work. This information is perhaps even more important. Change strategies and assess again. Perhaps there are other issues where you may need to see a doctor or explore some other kind of medical care. Real mastery is also knowing when to refer a client to another approach rather than continuing down the same road and hoping for the best.
What is Myofascial Release Massage?
Fascial tissue is most obviously seen as a thin white membrane which wraps all musculature. Pull off the skin on a piece of chicken and usually a sheet of fascial tissue will stretch between the underside of the skin and the surface of the muscle. What is not obvious is the fact that fascial tissue also wraps all the divisions of a muscle: muscle bundles, fascicles and fibers. It may surprise you to learn that about 40% of a muscle is fascial tissue. Fascial tissue is continuous throughout the body. There are no breaks in the fascial webbing. Muscle connects to a bone via tendons and tendons are of the same structure as fascial tissue, except that they have no intervening muscle fibers. Tendons do not connect to bones per se, but to periostium, the tough fascial covering over all bones. Fascial tissue also wraps and interweaves all organs, nerves and blood vessels.
Fascial tissue is most elastic in the young. Soft, pliable, stretchy, and slick, it serves as a lubricant. For some reasons of physical and emotional trauma, disease, habit patterns and the desiccation of tissue which accompanies aging, fascial tissue becomes hard, rigid, dense, fibrous, inelastic and short. It goes from being a lubricant to being an adhesive. With a Myofascial Release Massage you will be able to return fascial tissue to an earlier, healthier state.
