There’s a French meaning for the word that they took from the Arabic word, “massa” which comes from the same Latin word that means “mass or dough”.
However, the oldest known origin of the English word “massage” comes from the Biblical Hebrew word “me-sakj” which means “to anoint with oil.”

Massage Therapy is known to promote health and well-being and is probably the oldest healing discipline known to man.

Therapeutic Massage promotes healing to tired and aching muscles and gives relief to aching joints, and it’s good for you!

Having said that… there’s a saying in our Armed Forces that proclaims “Pain is just weakness leaving the Body”.

I disagree!

Tight and aching muscles not only cause pain but can make you feel lethargic, lose energy, productivity and sometimes can have a major affect on your lifestyle and family life.

Pain is there to tell you something.  It’s telling you that something is nor right and something should be done about it.  Fortunately, many of our lads and girls in uniform who cross my table realise this, and address the problem before it becomes too debilitating.  It’s not a sign of weakness.  It’s showing the sense to do something positive to address a potential problem and actually improve their stamina at the same time.

In my clinic, patients mark a chart showing where pain exists.  Quite often, I’ll suggest they place an ‘x’ on the calves.  The response is often “Oh, they’re alright”, but when I start to work on them, it’s a different matter.  It’s amazing just how many Trigger Points I find and often hear “Where in the world did they come from?”

Usually, pain in the body is a manifestation of a problem somewhere else.

Tight hip flexor muscles across the front of the hips or weak abdominal muscles often are a significant contributor to lower back pain. Muscle tightness in the chest often leads to pain in the neck, shoulders and mid back.

One joint hip flexor muscles (ie the Iliopsoas group) goes from the side of the spine from mid to lower back and down across the front of the hips to the top of the legs.  When they are tight, they tilt the hips forward, which causes the smaller muscles in the lower back (from the top of the hips to the spine) to also tighten by default.  This is where you feel sore.

Think about the sore lower back you get after driving or sitting at a desk for several hours without a break.

When you get up to stretch, you generally lean backwards, not forwards.  In other words, you stretch your hip flexor muscles… across the front of your hips… to make your back feel better.

If the spine is too rigid from tight muscles, then the muscles moving the shoulder blades need to work harder and can fatigue or become sore.

Pain in your back, shoulders or knees is usually due to tight or strained muscles in those areas but, in fact, it is often the hip flexors that have caused those muscles to be tight in the first place.

There are times though, when the pain is simply because muscles have been pushed to their limits and are making you pay.

If you regularly endure headaches – muscle contraction, tension or migraine – there’s a strong chance tight muscles other than just those in your neck and shoulders are a contributing factor.

Therapeutic massage improves functioning of the circulatory, lymphatic, muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems and may improve the rate at which the body recovers from injury and illness.

If you’ve never tried massage, you don’t know what you’ve been missing.  Give me a call and arrange an appointment  for some annointment… today.

The Rotator Cuff is a group of  four muscles along their tendons working together to give the Glenohumeral (shoulder) joint stability.  Each Rotator Cuff muscle moves the arm (from the shoulder joint) in a specific direction, and work together to stabilise the shoulder joint.

The Rotator Cuff muscle group include:

* Supraspinatus
* Infraspinatus
* Teres Minor
* Subscapularis

Causes of Rotator Cuff Injury:

A strain or tear in the Rotator Cuff may be the result of an injury such as a fall, or it can happen gradually from constant overuse.

Due to the function of these muscles, sports which involve a lot of shoulder rotation including involving repetitive overhead movement such as swimming, tennis, contact sports or continual high reaching.  These sorts of activities put the Rotator Cuff muscles under a lot of stress.

Minor injuries that are not given a chance to heal can cause severe inflammation and degenerative changes in the tissues, so early treatment is important.

Whether injury develops gradually from overuse or suddenly from a traumatic injury, it is often because the Rotator Cuff is not strong enough for the given task

Poor posture and slouching also places unnecessary stress on shoulder joint.

Tears of the muscles and or tendons  tends to happen as a result of a sudden, powerful movement. It can include falling over onto an outstretched hand at speed, making a sudden thrust with the paddle in kayaking, or following a powerful throw.  Test cricketers are high risk candidates for Rotator Cuff injuries.

Symptoms of Rotator Cuff Injury:

The main symptoms of Rotator Cuff injuries are shoulder pain and weakness, and appear to worsen when lifting the arm above shoulder level.

Symptoms may occur suddenly if the Rotator Cuff is injured by a traumatic injury – like an accident or fall -or a blow during contact sport.. Though majority of Rotator Cuff injuries occur gradually and symptoms appear gradually, the  massage therapist should not mistake the symptoms for that of a Frozen Shoulder.

Massage Therapy:

Deep tissue massage is often used in the treatment of soft tissue injuries of the Rotator Cuff. Massage therapy relieves pain and increases range of motion while it improves blood  circulation and speeds healing. Massage therapy also reduces stress.

If there is swelling of the joint, massage should be lightly applied.

If you’re experiencing pain in the shoulder and haven’t tried massage therapy make a call today.  Arrange an appointment and experience the many benefits that massage has to offer.

Massage is the manipulation of muscle and connective tissue to enhance the function of those tissues, improving relaxation and well-being.
There are many benefits that can be obtained through massage therapy. Relaxation, stress and pain relief are just some of them, but there are also many added benefits that can be achieved through massage therapy that you might not even be aware of.
This can include better physical and mental health, as well as anxiety relief.  Sometimes just talking to a caring massage therapist can take a load off your mind.  Much study has been done on a variety of massage therapy techniques and their effects on patients, and the results have been so very promising.

The benefits of massage therapy proven through research-based studies showed that people who get a massage before an exam or other potentially stressful situation had a significant reduction in anxiety and respiratory rates, as well as an surprising increase in white blood cells.
Another study showed that office workers who get a regular massage are more alert, perform more efficiently and are less stressed than those who aren’t massaged on a regular basis.
It has also been shown that seniors and elderly nursing home residents ane likely to be less agitated after massage.
Another study showed that heart surgery patients showed a significant decrease in anxiety and stress after receiving a massage, suggesting that their post operation health could be better since stress and anxiety are directly related to heart conditions.

The essence of massage is touch… and, through it, healing.

It’s healing power is attained from the fulfillment of a basic human need for human contact.  As siblings, physical contact with family was in the form of holding, stroking, cuddling and touching. Touching is essential for our emotional and physical well being that the lack of it or its withdrawal can lead to serious disturbances such as depression and lack of self-esteem in children.

Touch is the magical ingredient in massage that does not exist in modern medicine.

Not too many doctors touch their patients much any more.  Touch just isn’t there. Years ago massage was a big part of nursing. There was so much touch, and so much care communicated through touch and massage. Now nurses are as busy as doctors writing charts, dealing with insurance notes… they’re busy with procedures and sadly, there is no room for massage in their duties, at least not in the Queensland Health system.

Massage is also becoming increasingly popular. Many people are having massage on a regular basis, and discovering they have less stress and anxiety, and better general health.  With any massage however, it’s advisable to wear comfortable underwear that’s not too tight as the flow of Lymhatic Fluid can be impeded.

If you haven’t tried massage therapy make a call today.  Make an appointment and experience the many benefits that massage has to offer.

The different types of massage and the various techniques that encompass them stem from our most celebrated civilizations and the traditional beliefs of ancient Greece and Rome, ancient India, Japan and China.

The Chinese wrote the first book about massage 3000 years ago, and as far back as 2,700 BC, ancient Eastern Chinese cultures practiced massage to heal a variety of ailments from labor pain to paralysis.

Ancient Egyptian tombs have been discovered adorned with images of figures being massaged.  Even Roman and Greek heroes such as the great Julius Caesar underwent daily massages to treat nerve pain, and George Popodopolis took them regularly because he just wanted to feel good.

Swedish massage as we know it today has been developed in Europe over several hundred years.  In the eighteen hundreds, a Swede started to collect all the different techniques and methods and put them together into a system.  Therefore, the name!
Today, the most practiced form of massage in western culture is undoubtedly Swedish massage.
Many of today’s modern massage practices were created in order to heal specific health conditions. Soldiers who fought in World War I were given massage for nerve damage and to soothe the harrowing effects of shell shock in western hospitals during the 1930s.

Stress Relief:

Massage is extremely useful in reducing stress, promoting relaxation.  Because of its pleasant physical effects, the patient feels cared for and good about himself.  Close and trusting relationships often develop between patient and therapist resulting in a feeling of security and freedom for the patient to express his or her thoughts and concerns.

Relaxes the Nervous System.

Massage increase activity in the nervous system and has a generalised sedative effect when used widely.  There is a likely effect on the central nervous system as well as local effect on the sensory and possibly the motor nerves that stimulate muscle contraction.

Reduces Pain.

Areas of pain often contain reflexes which, when stimulated, can reduce the pain without working directly on the pain site.  This occurs because the reflexes give information to the nervous system about the pain, information the body responds to.

Improves Circulation.

Energetic, stimulating massage increases blood flow into that area, causes a more complete interchange of blood vessels and allows a greater supply of fresh blood to be brought to the region.  Systolic and Diastolic blood pressure can decrease.  Deep massage effectively increases the blood flow in muscles, allowing greater oxygenation of tissue and removal of waste products such as lactic acid.

Improves Lymphatic Drainage.

As movement of lymphatic fluid is determined by external factors like gravity, muscle contraction and passive movements, massage can increase the flow.  Lymph drainage is particularly useful in the treatment of oedema, fractures, congestion of the lymphatics and chronic inflammatory conditions in which fibrosis is sure to develop if tissue fluid and lymph remain inactive.

Improves Muscle Condition.

Muscle fatigued by work can be healed much more rapidly and thoroughly by massage than by rest of the same duration.  Massage can cause relaxation of both voluntary and involuntary muscles.  In the treatment of injured muscles, massage stimulates and accelerates healing (helps prevent wastage of muscles) and decreases the likelihood of adhesions forming.

Respiratory Treatments.

Percussion and Vibration Movements, combined with postural drainage, and used extensively in the treatment of emphysema, bronchitis, asthma and pneumonia.

Increases Haemoglobin and Red Blood Cells.

Abdominal massage has been proved to assist anaemia and increase the oxygen capacity of the blood.

Improves Skin Tone.

Texture and appearance of skin is improved by stimulating subcutaneous nerves and capillaries.  Massage also loosens adherent tissues and reduces scarring.

With any massage however, it’s advisable to wear comfortable underwear that’s not too tight.  If you haven’t tried massage therapy make a call today.  Arrange an appointment and experience the many benefits that massage has to offer.  With any massage however, it’s advisable to wear comfortable underwear that’s not too tight.