Anecdotes on Pain Relief, Muscle Tone Restoration, and improved Sports Performance
Today I’d like to share an anecdote I thought you might be interested in. Some of the stories I will cover over the coming weeks might be reminiscent of your own situation. The names of clients have been changed to protect their privacy.
"The last time I turned my head this much was 15 years ago"
James, a senior computer programmer came in for a massage because his wife gave it to him as a gift. He had never had a massage in his life before and wasn't even sure what type of massage to ask for. I usually interview my clients briefly to establish some history of physical condition and possible causes of their current state, such as accidents, surgery, repetitive stress from work or other etc. In his case he was hunched over the computer all day and sometime nights. He had been living with chronic tightness of the neck and shoulders with a constant dull ache which sometimes turned severe. During my evaluation he felt pain in certain areas with the slightest pressure. The muscle tension had been causing pain that was either chronic or lurking to come to the fore at any moment. The tightness of the neck and shoulder muscles (traps and levators) had lifted the shoulders and rolled them forward. This had moved the head forward, stressing the neck muscles in the process. This rounding of the upper back or hunching posture is called Kyphosis.
I described the benefits of each massage type and their benefits
I was glad he chose trigger point since this would have benefited him most. I started treating trigger points on the superficial layers of neck shoulder and upper back. Traditional trigger point treatment can be extremely painful and he certainly felt pain in muscle tissue he didn't know existed. So I used the gentle technique I had developed that gets better results while causing less pain in the process. At the end of the first treatment he felt less pain and more flexibility in his shoulders and neck. In fact he was amazed at the result and admitted "the last time I turned my head this much was 15 years ago" and promptly booked an appointment for the next week.
This time addressed the deeper tissue
I continued work on the James' affected areas and this time addressed the deeper tissue since they were more easily accessible now. Releasing the trigger points on the deeper tissue not only relived the pain and tightness but because of the tissue-lengthening it also had a profound effect on the skeletal system and started to improve his posture. Two more treatments to him brought him to a stage where he was totally comfortable, with good posture and thrilled at the result. Of course I recommended regular stretches and good posture habits to maintain his condition.
Enjoying his new “freedom of movement”
He did send me an email saying how he was enjoying his new “freedom of movement” and lack of pain and that he could not stop talking about it.
Next
Next week I will share a story on how Muscle tone restoration helped a competition swimmer break her own record. I will try to cover a new story each week. All these stories will be archived on my website. As always your comments are most welcome.