I’m getting ready for a month of barbeque, picnics and fun outdoor gatherings. Although it’s been a little chilly lately, warmer weather is on the way, and I plan to take full advantage of it in our new hammock. Iced tea, a good book and a hammock spells a recipe for a fantastic Sunday afternoon.

Last month, I wrote about muscle injury. A few weeks after that, I found some striking statistics in AMTA’s electronic newsletter: “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 715,000 sports and recreation injuries occur each year in school settings alone. And such injuries are also a leading reason people stop participating in a potentially beneficial physical activity. The CDC also estimates that more than 10,000 people receive treatment in the nation’s emergency departments each day for injuries sustained in sports-related activities. Furthermore, at least one of every five emergency room visits is for an injury that resulted from participation in sports or recreation.”

This month, I’ve taken some time to talk about the importance of self-massage. I’ve also included self-massage for the shoulders and upper arms (for you softball and golf junkies) and an article on a sports massage.

Enjoy! --- Heather Wibbels (615.294-6672)

Think about being on the massage table with capable hands working out tight muscles and knots. Going to a massage therapist always feels good. But, you don’t have to visit a massage therapist to get the benefits of massage. Self-massage is an excellent means to reduce tension, work out knots and increase relaxation. Good massage therapists love to explain self-care and self-massage tips to clients. You keeping yourself in shape and keeping those muscles loose makes our job easier, and enables much more effective massage sessions with longer-lasting effects.

The benefits of self-massage are common sense, once you understand general information about massage.

• It’s convenient – You can do it on your own schedule.
• Self-massage usually consists of short-duration routines. One of the best ways to do self-massage is to do short routines for 5 minutes three to five times a day.
• It requires no special equipment. All you need are your hands (and in some cases a tennis ball and a sock).
• It relieves muscular tension. Just like professional massage, self-massage relaxes muscles and works out knots and adhesions.
• It’s an excellent way to increase the duration of the positive effects of professional massage. Working the muscles frequently on your own keeps the muscles looser for a longer period of time between sessions. This also increases the duration of pain relief between massage sessions.
• It puts you in control, and gives you a means to self-treat muscular causes of chronic pain on a daily basis.

Massage is an interaction with the body – in fact, it’s a conversation between two bodies. Just like talking to another person, there is an “etiquette” to massage, whether working on yourself or others. The general rule is start light, go deeper, then connect it all together.

1. Say Hello – Start any self-massage work by greeting the area and let the body get used to your touch. Use lighter, more general strokes to begin.
2. Get to Know One Another – Spend some time warming up the area. Use the time to find what places feel tight, or what places need some extra attention.
3. Then have that Deep Conversation – Go to those areas that need extra attention and focus on them. Use deeper pressure or extended focus on those muscles or knots that cry out for attention. Find those places that are a little bit tender – tenderness usually indicates tight muscles or knots.
4. Say Goodbye – When you’re done with the area, do some work with lighter and more general strokes to connect the area to the rest of the body and say goodbye.

When working on yourself, try to get the muscles to loosen up a little at a time. Once you find those knots and tight muscles, work both with and against the grain of the muscle fiber to release the tension in the muscle. As the muscle fibers loosen and break up, you’ll feel crunching or popping beneath your fingers – this is a good thing. Remember that the key to self massage is to do it several times a day for short durations. This increases the effectiveness of the massage, it doesn’t wear out your hands, and doesn’t impinge on your daily routine by requiring a large chunk of time.

For specific routines of self-massage, you can ask me or your massage therapist for a short 5 or 10 minute routine you can do several times a day. Give me a call to discuss the best types of self-massage to focus on based on your specific pain areas and injuries. You can also go to http://massagebyheather.com/self-massage.htm for specific routines to use for different parts of the body:

• Self-Massage Routine for the Shoulders, Head and Neck
• Minute Massage for Neck and Shoulders
• Minute Massage for Hands and Forearms
• Minute Massage for Feet
• Minute Massage for Headaches
• Minute Massage for Colds and Congestion
• Minute Massage for Holiday Madness
• Minute Massage for Jaw Tension and TMJ
• Minute Massage for Lower Back Tension
• Minute Massage for Legs

• Start light, then go deeper – When you go in too deep too quickly, the body tends to tighten the muscles as a protective reflex. To get the body to let you in, you need to start with less pressure, and work up to a firm, but relaxing pressure.
• Slower is Better – For the ultimate in relaxation, slow down your pace. Slowing down also makes the stroke feel deeper without you having to use more pressure.
• Deeper is not always better – Just because you can go deeper doesn’t mean the body wants you to. Everyone’s pain threshold is different. Going in too deeply causes the muscle to armor itself and tighten against work on it. This can cause soreness the next day.
• What a Knot Feels Like – A knot feels like a small bump in the muscle. Some people describe it as a pea or nut sized object. Others say it feels like a coin beneath the surface of the skin. Knots and tight muscles are generally tender.
• What a Tight Muscle Feels Like – When you’re working on a tight muscle, it often feels like a thick tendon or ligament. If it’s very tight, and you won’t be able to feel individual muscle fibers. If will feel like a cord or rope, depending on the shape of the muscle. Using deep pressure across the muscle, you may feel crunching in your fingers. If it’s really tight, you might think you’re on a bone. Knots and tight muscles are generally tender.

More on Massage: Sports Massage
Preventing injury and increasing performance through massage

The prime season for amateur sports is upon us. Marathons, bike races and sports tournaments start soon for all you weekend athletes. Sports Massage is a specific type of massage designed to increase circulation, prevent injuries, relieve swelling, increase flexibility, and improve performance.

Using a combination of Swedish massage techniques, passive stretching, and trigger point work, Sports Massage is used both before and after sporting events to increase performance and decrease injuries. Often, sports massage is broken up into pre- and post-event massage types because the goals and techniques used are different.

In pre-event massage, the goal is to increase circulation and flexibility – to prepare the body for the event to reduce the change of injury, and to increase the performance of the athlete. It also calms anxiety, and helps the athlete focus on the event. Pre-event sessions happen within 24 hours of the event and are usually shorter sessions. Within 30 minutes of the event, the sports massage is general only 5 to 10 minutes in length. Earlier than that, and longer sessions may be performed. Pre-event massage does not include deep tissue work or trigger point work. Because this kind of work greatly effects muscle flexibility, it can effect the timing and strength of the muscles. This means the muscle is markedly different from its usual state during training – making it easier for the body to injure or over-exert that area. (www.thebodyworker.com).

In post-event massage, the goal is to work lactic acid and other by-products of muscle contraction out of the system to decrease soreness and recovery time. Muscle tension, cramping and inflammation are also important items of focus for the massage therapist. Muscle techniques to flush the muscles, slowly cool down the muscles, and prevent cramping are often performed on the client at this time.

According to the American Massage Therapy Association (Sports Massage Brochure: The Athlete’s & Athletic Trainer’s Edge), regular sports massage can:

• Reduce the chance of injury, by relieving stress points in muscles, before they result in restrictions or spasm;
• Improve range of motion and muscle flexibility, resulting in improved power and performance;
• Shorten recovery time between workouts;
• Maximize the supply of nutrients and oxygen through increased blood flow;
• Facilitate the body’s regular processes for recovery from exercise;
• Decrease performance anxiety and sharpen mental focus.

Often, large, supported sporting events offer pre- and post-event massage. Make sure the therapist you’re seeing is licensed. If you’re a professional athlete, find a massage therapist well-versed in sports massage. Sports massage is greatly enhanced through working with one particular therapist. The therapist gets to know the athlete’s common injuries or flexibility problems, and knows the standard feel of the body. This experience makes it much easier for the therapist to assist in the identification in problem areas and treat the body in the most effective way possible.

For more information on sports massage see the following websites:

• Sports Massage Association
• The Canadian Sport Massage Therapists Association (CSMTA)
• Sports Massage Brochure: The Athlete’s & Athletic Trainer’s Edge
• The BodyWorker.Com