"Dedicated to your well-being"
Frequently Asked Questions
What does massage do for me anyway?
I believe the best way to explain the benefits of massage is to list some of them.
- Relieves stress and encourages healing.
- Improves energy and sense of alertness
- Calms nerves
- Aids in circulation and the flow of blood that nourishes tissues
- Lessens headaches, muscle aches, backaches and low energy
- Lowers blood pressure and helps the immune system
- Increases joint flexibility and range of motion
- Stimulates good posture and eases repetitive motion injuries
- Helps digestion and most types of chronic pain
What kind of massage do you use?
My training was in the use of Myofascial Release, Swedish, and Deep Tissue Massage. My specialty and preference is Myofascial Release because of the results I see on a daily basis and how it incorporates itself with other techniques. I have also had training in the use of Sports Massage, Therapeutic Touch, and Performance Massage. Currently the amount of readily available information, and innovation, amassed in the discipline of massage causes me to be continually reading and incorporating new resources into my sessions.
Who is getting massages?
Just go to the phone book and open it to any page, point your finger to any name and you have just answered this question. I have worked on men, women, children, doctors, lawyers, mechanics, secretaries, farmers, airline pilots, atheletes, computer programmers, students, the wealthy, the poor, executives, laborers, people dealing with emotional challenges, sales people, business owners, clerks, warehouse workers, nurses, artists, musicians, and the list goes on.
Are there any medical reasons to get a massage?
As if relaxation and pleasure weren't reason enough to indulge in a massage, now there's a medical reason for this soothing treat. Massage may provide long-lasting benefits for people with chronic back pain.
A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine compared the effectiveness of massage, acupuncture, and instructions from self-care books for relieving lower back pain. Researchers divided 262 subjects, ages 20 to 70, into three groups, with each receiving a different type of treatment. After one year, the massage group used the least medications for their back pain and had the lowest costs of subsequent care.
Group Health Cooperative, an HMO, and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality co-funded the study.
"A lot of people thought massage was just a feel-good treatment," says Daniel Charkin, the study's lead author. "Historically, it has been used in healing, but it has been abandoned over time."
Charkin hopes his study will motivate more insurance companies to cover therapeutic massage.
From the September 2001 issue of Better Homes and Gardens
What else do I need to know?
Well, since you asked... the two things that come to my mind are about the amount of times you need to get a massage, and what you will be wearing during the session.
Whether you receive a massage once a week, once a month, or once a year, a massage, taking into consideration your condition, should not burden either your schedule or your budget. Many people on a maintenance schedule prefer to be seen once or twice a month.
You will always be draped and only the portion of your body being worked on will be exposed. Massages are done in the privacy of a single room. The lighting is soft for relaxation. Most people are comfortable with either one undergarment or none at all. You are respectfully draped at all times. Should your sense of security require you to be fully clothed I have a "seated massage chair" available.
If there is anything else you would like to know, please do not hesitate to either call me, or send me an email at the address below. You can always stop by the office. Our hours are 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.