Article Archive

Tables for Two

Couples Massage in the Spa Industry

The glow from the fireplace reveals a richly appointed oriental-style room. Fresh flowers adorn the side table, creating a foreground for breathtaking views of New York City. An inviting Chinese Kang bed, steam shower, and tub await as the robed couple enters.

Romantic honeymoon suite in an upscale hotel? No, actually it’s the VIP suite in The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, New York. In addition to these luxurious furnishings, the VIP suite includes two massage tables and is used primarily for treatments for two.

Keeping Your Back Healthy

Tips to Avoid Lasting Pain

Chances are good that, at some point in your life, you will have back pain. In fact, 70-85 percent of Americans will experience back pain at some point in their lives. But even with those odds, there are still several ways to minimize your risk and give yourself the best chance to live pain-free.

Several factors can cause back pain, including stress, poor posture, bad ergonomics, lack of exercise, arthritis, osteoporosis, a sedentary lifestyle, overexertion, pregnancy, kidney stones, fibromyalgia, excess weight, and more.

Quadriceps Injuries

Muscles in the anterior thigh are commonly injured. The quadriceps muscles are strong, but when they are fatigued you might be subject to sudden microtears in the muscle fibers. There is pain around the knee when the distal tendon is affected, and there can also be significant pain at the anterior portion of the hip when the proximal end is injured. But a pain in the anterior thigh with activity usually means a muscle tear has occurred.

The Quadriceps Group

Arthritis in Its Many Forms

When to Use Massage and When to Avoid

Over the years, Pathology Perspectives has addressed many complicated conditions ranging from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections to polycystic ovary disease. For this issue, however, we are going back to basics and reviewing a condition that almost all of us will experience, if we live long enough: arthritis.

Mind-Body Medicine for massage

First, let’s examine the stress response and how it affects our bodies. The stress response is an important evolutionary process that evolved as our alarm to danger. This fight-or-flight response creates a cascade of hormones that affects brain function, digestion, heart function, muscle tone, and more. The opposite of that reaction is the relaxation response, which calms the stress response and releases feel-good hormones. The stress response was beneficial in warning us against immediate danger, like a saber-toothed tiger, but our modern-day stresses are not as dynamic.

Masseuse, masseur, or massage therapist?

The word massage was originally a French term meaning “friction of kneading.” It is believed to be derived from the Arabic massa, meaning “to touch, feel, handle.” Another possibility is that it comes from the Portuguese verb amassar, meaning “knead,” based on the Latin massa, “mass, dough.”

www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=massage

It’s a hot issue, with good arguments from both sides, but what’s the “correct” term?

Massage Therapist

Wall Angels

A wall angel is a stretching/strengthening exercise that can be used as a functional assessment for upper-crossed syndrome. If the wrists come forward off the wall or are unable to touch the wall, then there is an upper-quarter imbalance.

Wall angels can be done either against a wall or on the floor (floor angels). This exercise stretches/lengthens pecs and strengthens/shortens rhomboids and trapeziuses. They are similar to snow angels, but the elbows are bent at a 90-degree angle.

Scar Tissue

When a Solution Becomes a Problem

Anyone who studies the structure and function of the human body must be amazed by its remarkable ability to heal. Our poor bodies are insulted every day by irritated hangnails, blisters from sunburn, scraped elbows, bruised shins, and overworked livers. Even inactivity takes a toll: actin and myosin in underworked muscles may disintegrate with lack of use, and the fascial sheaths around and within muscles can dry up and become sticky.

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