Treatments
I use a combination of techniques and tailor each treatment to the needs of each individual client. I work with each client in a way that does not promote pain but seeks to allow their body to find its own route to healing. This is important for everyone especially people suffering with long-term pain conditions like fibromyalgia or EDS or deep scar tissue adhesions from operations which can be decades old.
Advanced Clinical Massage can incorporate trigger point therapy, soft and deep tissue massage, acupressure, myofascial release and a range of facilitated stretching exercises.
Myofascial Release (MFR) is a specialised physical and manual therapy used for the effective treatment and rehabilitation of soft tissue and fascial aches, pains, tension and restrictions.
How I work
Any journey from pain to wellness takes time . This is why I ask clients who are suffering with long term restricted movement issues, repetitive strain injuries, migraines and chronic pain to begin their work with me by coming for regular sessions. I would expect to start to see changes in 2-6 sessions. There will never be any 'fixing', 'pushing', or 'forcing' because the work we do is done together.
Advanced Clinical Massage
Clinical research has shown that massage therapy has benefits for many serious medical conditions. It may alleviate pain and aid in the healing process. Advanced Clinical massage combines and applies a range of techniques to achieve relief of pain and reduce it significantly enough to improve quality of life, increase range of motion, improve posture and to assist clients in their recovery and rehabilitation.
The aim is to reduce aches and pain, often due to muscle spasm or deep congestion in the tissues and improve mobility. A clinical massage treatment usually consists of the application of different techniques including myofascial and soft tissue release, Trigger point therapy, muscle energy techniques and stretching. Treatments focus on the realignment of the deeper layers of connective tissue and muscles and is especially effective for the upper back, neck and shoulders and low back problems.
Conditions such as sciatica, repetitive strain injuries, carpal tunnel, chronically tight shoulders, stiff necks, headaches, lower back pain and many more may be eased with a clinical massage treatment.
Advanced Myofascial Release
Fascia is the main connective tissue in the body. Fascia surrounds every cell, muscle, bone, nerve, blood vessel, and organ in the body, creating a three-dimensional web from head to toe. Like other body tissues, fascia can be damaged by injury, overuse, and other trauma and stress. This damage leads to myofascial restrictions.
Our body reacts to pain of any kind by creating a protection response, that while, initially is a good thing, over time can lead to increased pain, buildup of toxins and reduced blood flow and oxygen to the area. When we experience a slight amount of tissue damage—this can be due to a physical injury, or a psychological one such as depression & anxiety —pain signals are sent to the spinal cord which then triggers the muscles around the injury to contract in order to provide support and protection for the surrounding tissues.
This response, left unchecked, creates a vicious cycle of pain as more blood flow is restricted to the contracted area. More signals are sent, and more muscles tighten to protect the growing epicenter of pain. What may have started as something small has now grown....
Compared with muscle, fascia contains higher percentages of both collagen and water, and this causes it to respond differently to therapeutic touch. Working slowly and gently with the natural qualities of fascia, myofascial release creates movement and change, until the tissues ‘melt’ and release. These myofascial releases take the pressure off pain-sensitive structures such as nerves and blood vessels, and restore alignment and mobility to muscles and joints.
Massage for Oncology
Massage is often offered as part of cancer care in cancer centres, hospices, community health services and some GP surgeries.
Massage is considered a type of complementary therapy which aims to treat the whole person, not just the symptoms of disease. They are used together with conventional or mainstream medicine & are not used instead of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or drug therapy.
While massage doesn’t treat the cancer itself, it may help reduce the side effects caused by conventional treatments and improve quality of life and wellbeing.
A large American study (1) published in 2004 looked at the effects of massage therapy on almost 1300 people with cancer over three years. People in hospital had a 20-minute massage, and people treated as outpatients had a 60-minute session. The study found that overall, massage therapy reduced pain, nausea, fatigue, anxiety and depression. The benefits lasted longer in the patients who had the 60-minute session.
Scientific studies have looked at the effects of various body-based practices on people having cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery. These studies have shown that massage may reduce:
- pain
- fatigue
- nausea
- anxiety and depression.
- sleep
- the health of the scar tissue
- quality of life
- mental clarity and alertness
- the range of movement.
Oncology massage is a non-invasive technique, specifically adapted for individuals of all ages and types of cancer.
Cancer patients should only receive massage therapy from a therapist educated in oncology massage.
1 Cassileth BR, Vickers AJ. Massage therapy for symptom control: outcome study at a major cancer centre. J Pain Symptom Manage 2004 Sep; 28 (3): 244–9.