As a therapist, I am constantly growing; learning new skills and expanding my perception on what massage can do. One of my main focuses has always been injury assessment because it is such a wide, expansive field. No two injuries are exactly the same but they all tell a story. Some injuries are acute meaning they come from one specific instance like a fall. Chronic injuries build slowly as we push ourselves harder and harder. Often times an injury can be extremely tender, bruised or swollen. You might think that it would be best to wait until it's healed until you should get a massage. Sometimes this is true, especially with therapists who just practice swedish, deep tissue, and other typical forms of massage. However, there are new modalities, such as massage cupping and kinesio tape, that do not put any pressure on the soft tissue and therefore can be used on many injuries that were previously outside the scope of massage therapy. Nevertheless, there will always be things outside of my specialty, massage cannot and should not be used on an open wound, inflamed or irritated skin (dermatitis), or broken bones. Your therapist cannot diagnose you with one condition or another so if you have questions or doubts, please consult with your doctor.
Massage cupping is one of my favorite new techniques. It is a type of therapy that uses a gentle vacuum to lift and move fluids through soft tissue. It is similar to fire cupping done by acupuncturists and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine with two unique differences. Massage uses a pump instead of fire to create the vacuum. This allows better control of the intensity of vacuum pressure. A massage therapist using cups also moves the cup to increase circulation in the affected area coaxing the lymph and other interstitial fluid along its course. What does this mean? It means the swelling around a sprained ankle or “thrown out” back can be greatly reduced. It means an injury can be encouraged to heal faster and hurt less.
Kinesio tape is starting to gain a lot of exposure from professional athletes. You might have seen some brightly colored tape on people at the 2012 London Olympics. KT is a definitive rehabilitative taping technique that is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process while providing support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion as well as providing extended soft tissue manipulation to prolong the benefits of manual therapy administered within the clinical setting. Kinesio tape gives the support of an ace bandage but allows functional movement of the joints and muscles. It can also be used to lift the skin and encourage lymphatic drainage. Everyone's body is different and no treatment can guarantee success, but I have seen some astounding results with these new techniques. If you have any questions, about these techniques or any others, call today. I'd love to talk with you about them!
Massage cupping is one of my favorite new techniques. It is a type of therapy that uses a gentle vacuum to lift and move fluids through soft tissue. It is similar to fire cupping done by acupuncturists and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine with two unique differences. Massage uses a pump instead of fire to create the vacuum. This allows better control of the intensity of vacuum pressure. A massage therapist using cups also moves the cup to increase circulation in the affected area coaxing the lymph and other interstitial fluid along its course. What does this mean? It means the swelling around a sprained ankle or “thrown out” back can be greatly reduced. It means an injury can be encouraged to heal faster and hurt less.
Kinesio tape is starting to gain a lot of exposure from professional athletes. You might have seen some brightly colored tape on people at the 2012 London Olympics. KT is a definitive rehabilitative taping technique that is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process while providing support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion as well as providing extended soft tissue manipulation to prolong the benefits of manual therapy administered within the clinical setting. Kinesio tape gives the support of an ace bandage but allows functional movement of the joints and muscles. It can also be used to lift the skin and encourage lymphatic drainage. Everyone's body is different and no treatment can guarantee success, but I have seen some astounding results with these new techniques. If you have any questions, about these techniques or any others, call today. I'd love to talk with you about them!
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This is an ankle sprain I worked on. The client had fallen down some stairs and sprained their ankle. They were unable to walk without crutches and the foot was too tender to be touched or massaged by normal means. We did 45 minutes of massage cupping on the foot and leg. I then applied Kinesio tape on the foot and ankle. The second picture is just 90 minutes after the tape was applied. These pictures are a few hours apart and the client was able to walk that evening and return to work the next day.
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