(Part 4) Top products from r/massage

Zhitface has the best answer in so far as you're going to get a quick answer to this. To elaborate on something he brought up and a couple things he didn't mention:

1. use less oil and go slow to let your client's body set the pace of the work. You should NEVER think of dt technique as a push - it's a sinking into the tissues. Think of it like entering your clients home - you don't barge in and bust down the door, you knock, they open after a minute, and you only enter when they step away from the threshold and allow you to. The force is applied along a parallel plane and never at a 90 degree angle - that's how people get hurt. When your client tenses and the friction stops your hands mid stroke, never fight and force but wait until the client's breathing and tone relaxes and your hand starts gliding naturally.
   
   
2. BODY MECHANICS ARE ESSENTIAL. it takes getting used to, but you need to learn how to glide and how to use your bodyweoght to direct force, not your strength. Some tips- keep the table low - like the 1 or 2 setting. Try not to hover over the client - no pushing down. Find the natural crevices and paths in the body musculature and glide along. Start at the attachment of a muscle and glide along until the insertion - not just where the knot is to the end.
   
   
3. BREATHING is absolutely necessary. Ideally you want to be on the same breath pattern as the client - slow deep inhales and exhales. It's impossible to listen to the body when your breathing isn't synced, the client doesn't relax and open the door, and the tension of holding the breath and muscles is entirely counter productive to what you are trying to do.
   
   4.)always go from broad to smaller surfaces. Start with the palms (thenar eminence is your best tool, spread and separate muscles, move to forearm, and transition through an entire stroke from the fingers, ulna, to the elbow if you are going to use them. Youh can use the elbow to apply static pressure after you've done a few stroke s to a knot - but that is trigger point therapy, don't think of that as neuromuscular. I tend to find that the side of Palm and fingers is more than sufficient for that pointed pressure. Finally - save your thumbs. You'll have to use them to fit some crevices of the body, but 9/10 times there is a much better option that will give you a natural fit.
   
   This is only the surface. I highly recommend reading art Riggs to begin to understand deep tissue and neuro work - this book is an easy read and has great pictures. You can only gain so much about an entire system of massage from tips here.
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1556436505?pc_redir=1413775382&robot_redir=1
   

I think you should find out exactly what he is, if you can get your hands on a business card that would be great, or if you can search him on the internet. There are many different practices that are similar to chiro.

Most of the careers involve a good length schooling program, they aren't just something you can go an apprentice in.

And if you can go somewhere with a longer/heavier course load, the better. Body work is one profession where I think it really pays off to get as much information as possible.

If you're really interested about going down this path, whether its dealing with muscles, bones, soft tissue, energy patterns.. whatever, I recommend you get a book and start to get familiar with your human anatomy. If you can have a firm grasp on high school cellular biology.. that is great too.. if you suck at bio, maybe get some tutoring or just brush up on it.

Here are 2 good little books that can help to build your knowledge base, i recommend getting them :) They aren't filled with a bunch of medical language so they are easy to interpret. They are good for newbies

Book #1 - helps to understand human anatomy, and a good grasp on some medical terminology

Book #2 - explains all the systems in the body - their structures fuctions ect. As well as great pictures

I've always heard it's because it is just like a workout to your body. You drink after a work out, so drink after a massage. The toxins line is a total and complete myth, along with several other ideas that hang around the massage world.

article # 1 here in massage today

Article #2 here from Save Yourself. awesome link! He has some incredible write ups on massage and I highly recommend reading all of them if you can. Yes some of them are highly skeptical but we can all do with a little reality check now and again. It's healthy. ;)

Article #3 (video) from Laura Allen. She is a nationally certified massage therapist and body worker, and an approved provider of continuing education under the NCBTMB.

I've recently read some chapters in Job's Body that encourage me to come to the conclusion that massage works a lot like Yoga does in stretching the muscles and keeping the skin and connective tissues healthy. I've yet to start my program but am a bit of a reader so...
Massage is a wonderful, holistic and therapeutic practice on it's own. I'm not sure we need to go around adding mystical properties to it. ya know?

I don't know about the MBLEx, but Orthopedic Physical Assessment by McGee, and Clinical Massage Therapy by Fiona Rattray are fantastic. Grey's anatomy is always excellent for another anatomy reference if you need it, and the Netter Atlas and flashcards is what saves my butt time and time again.

Even if you don't need those books for your exams, they fantastic references to have in practice.

Yes! These are the absolute Bible of trigger point therapy. They're pretty expensive, but they go muscle by muscle and show you the trigger point locations, where they refer, the effects of the trigger point, exactly how to deactivate them, and ways to prevent them from flaring up again. If you can afford them (Vol 1 is upper body, Vol 2 is lower), they are wonderful.

If the cost is prohibitive, an Amazon search will give you a lot of options. There are everything from wall charts, small booklets, pamphlets, notebooks, to giant tomes.

I don't always know the precise referrals (it's a lot of material) but if I'm finding an area where I feel like I'm spending too much time and not making much progress, that's usually a sign I'm not working efficiently and should look for the real source elsewhere. Good ones to memorize are one in the triceps that affects the front of the shoulder, there's a big trigger point in the quads that tends to release a lot of nearby ones, and there are a couple of major ones in the pecs and biceps that are like off-switches for muscle tension.

It's all about a mix of business for me. I work at two different spas, do some corporate chair massage, and private clients. I've done work through soothe and honestly, I didn't think it was worth my time when they dropped the rate paid to the therapists by $10. So I haven't used the app again since that. With travel time, gas, laundry, etc, it wasn't worth it.

I suggest finding an Equinox and working there. If you do well and maintain a good client base, you get paid really well. I average $55-$60 a massage hour with tips after about 6 months of working there. Plus at a spa, you can stack clients and not have to worry about travel time and other expenses. I have another chill spa where I just get to sit around and wait for clients. Try to find a spa that pays you to be there whether or not you have clients.

Zeel pays really well, so if you are down for the traveling, I'd give them a try before Soothe.

I used this study guide and crushed a 790. Mblex study guide

anatomy trains is a really good postural analysis book
Assessment and Treatment of Muscle Imbalance the title says it
but i use these books a lot they are really good

I've been reading this book a lot at my clinic. I have hyper mobile, really slender fingers and I'm not even a quarter of the way through and it has changed my massages already.

He's really big about learning to use your forearms and elbows from someone else to save your hands, and supporting your working fingers and hands with your non-working fingers and hands. It makes sense, and we "know" to do it, but he gives so many more examples that I learned in school.

this is the book I believe SirRamen was spaking of. You can find it cheaper if you look hard enough. I ended up finding it for $90 brand new somewhere a few years back. this is also a fun book if you're into this sorta thing

Look into Peter Levine's work, called Somatic Experiencing. Even reading his books, either Waking the Tiger or Healing Trauma will give you a ton of insight on how to deal with trauma beyond the basic "giving respect ".


Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body https://www.amazon.com/dp/159179658X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_V3w0AbCFGAJT4

I have these posters for $32, like them.

https://www.amazon.ca/Trigger-Point-Therapy-Poster-Chart/dp/1926534786

I borrowed this book from a classmate and it really helped.

Becoming a supple leopard is a good resource for working through your own aches and pains. He also has hundreds of youtube clips oriented towards athletic performance that run through the self massage type treatments.

Youtube MWOD and you'll find it.