Article Archive

Massage and Emotional Wellness

From PTSD to Depression, Hands-On Work Offers Relief
A woman lying on her side receiving massage from a female practitioner

Massage therapy offers myriad physical benefits, but we sometimes forget everything hands-on treatments can do for our emotional well-being. Let’s take a quick look at the importance of touch and some of the specific ways it can help our mental and emotional health.

Treating Wrist Tendonitis with Trigger Point & Red Light Therapy

A hand on a mouse next to a computer with glowing red light on the wrist showing wrist pain

Tendonitis (or tendinopathy) is a common injury that can be caused by sports, accidents, or repetitive use of a body part. It is marked by pain and soreness in the connective tissue and it is often a persistent injury that sometimes doesn’t go away with the usual protocol of rest and ice. For an athlete or a computer programmer who uses their wrist on a daily basis, wrist tendonitis can be devastating—even disabling.

Tears and Time: Being Mindful of Your Emotional Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Woman with her back to the camera looking out the window with a cup of tea

Sometimes the feeling quietly creeps up on you. Sometimes it hits you square on the jaw.

No matter how stoic, optimistic, or hopeful we might be in the face of this global pandemic, we are all subject to the onslaught of emotions it brings: Overwhelming sadness. Crisis exhaustion. Unrecognized grief. My moment came two weeks ago when the tears seemed to flow all day.

5 Common Causes of Muscle Aches & Tension

Mature man on mountain bike rubbing a sore lower back.

Almost every massage therapist has encountered a client with chronically tense muscles that are so stiff it takes great effort to massage them. Others quietly suffer from muscle aches that affect both their work and leisure time, making them miserable. Some people don’t even know they are tense, while others are aware but have no idea why. There are dozens of less-common medical conditions that can cause stiff muscles, such as Lyme’s disease or lupus, but the following 5 reasons are among the most common.

Staying Stable by Being Variable

Homeostasis, Allostasis, and Adaptive Capacity

As a pathology educator, I am often called on to describe situations in which bodywork must be adjusted to be safe for a client who has some kind of health-related limitation. I describe a person’s ability to receive massage therapy or bodywork safely as “adaptive capacity.” This term makes sense to me, but others may find it less clear, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to explain what I mean.

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