Make The Change Toward Therapeutic Massage

If you are looking for spa or traditional style massage, please allow me to change your mind...

Extend The Relaxation Period
The goal for most massage bookings is relaxation and 'me time'. Once the yummy massage is over, that relaxed state fades fairly quickly. Add work or family stress and the relaxation disappears altogether.

Wouldn't you rather feel relaxed for much longer than just the time spent on a massage table?

Therapeutic Massage seeks to remove issues in the tissues that accompany stress reactions. In other words, the issues in the tissues often cause the inability to respond well to normal life stress.

During therapeutic massage, it may feel like work, but afterward, a deeper, longer-lasting relaxation sets in that can last for days, weeks, even months. Therapeutic massage also saves time and money over traditional massage as less frequent sessions are required to get results.

Choose Skill Not Modality
There are at least 160 different styles of massage. Each one has the ability to resolve a multitude of conditions and symptoms on the mental, emotional, and physical levels. With so many choices, it is recommended that clients focus less on modality (style) and more on the special skills of the therapist. 

Raise Your Expectations
The best way to find the right therapist for you, is to first determine what you want to get out of your massage. Most people today undervalue what massage can do for them, incorrectly assuming it is primarily for relaxing or pampering one's self. This Wall Street Journal article about Massage As Medicine will introduce you to the many health-related reasons for booking a massage. When health improves, so does ability to handle stress.

Find The Right Therapist
The next step is to interview your potential therapist to find out if they are skilled at solving or dealing with your particular circumstances. For example, some therapists may be good at returning range-of-motion in the shoulder, but may not know how to handle the delicate tissues of a person with diabetes or fibromyalgia. Other therapists may be able to solve your sports injuries, but not decompress you from an emotional trauma.

Here's an odd but effective tip in helping you find a therapeutic therapist versus a relaxation therapist: Find out if they spend most of their time working with you while you are lying face up or face down. The more time they spend with you face down, the more likely they do relaxation therapy. Highly educated and experienced therapists will keep you face-up most of the time, even for resolving most back pain problems. If back pain could be cured by a back rub, then we'd all be getting back rubs!