You know you’re a massage therapist when…. Everyone wants a massage when you go to a barbie Finding towels to mop up floods and leaks is no problem Having bad breathe is your worst nightmare Needing to protect your hands gets you out of doing gardening or manual labour People will highlight their life story in 60 minutes Wearing jewellery is a thing of the past When your dog sits on your lap and demands a shoulder massage Whenever someone…
I’ve been a mobile therapist for quite a while and as a mobile therapist going into people’s homes things don’t necessarily go smoothly all the time. Pets, kids, visitors, distractions, tvs can all modify my ideal image of how a home massage should go. Most of the time all is well in the land of the Sydney mobile massage client, they are happy and relaxed at the end of their massage. Most of the time all is well in the…
The “Starbuckisation” of massage has been extensive in America over recent years through a number of franchised massage chains. Probably the most visible of these is called “Massage Envy” (weird name in my view but I’m not in marketing). Massage Envy has been successful at bringing massage to the masses with the marketing focus being on affordable (“cheap”) massages normally through membership type packages and there are many customers who are very happy with the massages and the services they…
This blog post uses www.truemovement.net/manual-therapies-make-space/ as a starting reference point. It is an excellent article and well worth reading. ====== There are frequent posts by massage therapists in social media groups that go along the lines off I was shocked today. I had a client come in and tell me about a horror story where their last therapist used too much pressure and they were sore the next day after the massage. Why do therapists constantly think that it is…
Coccyx pain is a relatively common problem which can be range from mildly annoying to quite debilitating for some people. Often it is the result of an impact or fall directly onto the coccyx which can have happened a long time previously. The impact caused structural damage or dysfunctional alignment to the coccyx which may not necessarily lead to pain at the time but only manifest years later. There is some dispute whether a normal coccyx should have some ability…
Most therapists who blog about massage will at some stage include an article about massage etiquette. Their post will normally include answers to questions such as what time should I arrive do I have to shower before a session should I shave my legs did I just drool/snort/snore during the massage – should I apologise do I need to tip and so on. Many of the same questions will apply to etiquette for mobile massage although there are probably a…
If you have never had a home massage before or just had a few and unsure about the etiquette then you may be a little nervous about making a booking. Inviting a stranger into your home to give you a massage is a big commitment and if you are making a booking based on information from a website then it does pay to make sure that you will be comfortable prior to committing to a booking. Whilst I endeavour to…
Testing strength and range of motion as part of assessment of the musculature of the shoulder girdle is important and useful as a first step in reducing shoulder pain and improving shoulder function. There many assessment techniques that are used by massage therapists and physiotherapists (although obviously massage therapists are not permitted to diagnose conditions). Typically the assessment of the shoulder will include the following steps: 1. Visual assessment – including active movement of the shoulder. 2. Passive movement of…
The vast majority of the clients I see will request that I spend some time working on the neck. Tightness in the neck can lead to headaches or just result in stiffness and limited range of motion. Turning your head to look to the side can become a challenge. With the stresses and strains we put on our bodies through our daily actions, the muscles of the neck often feel tight, sore and compromised. Sitting in front of computers, looking…
Seated on corner of massage table with legs slightly splayed. Slump with hands behind back and bend forward with neck flexed, slight over pressure on head. Pull affected leg out to increase abduction. If abductors are tight then let head come up – if pain goes away then more likely to be nerve involvement. To stretch nerve then let head come up slightly and when client flexes head move leg in when head goes up then stretch leg out. 2.00…