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Vichy Massage
People always ask me why I don't have my own place? I tell them I do.. I love working in the spa.. Being an employee. Sure I could make potentially more money in my one practice.. but Im lazy and could never duplicate the beautiful facility and wonderful staff I work with. Massage therapists, Estheticians, Hair Stylists, front desk staff and a bunch of other people that keep things going. Awesome great people to work with every day... And another reason is the two $40,000.00 Vichy Massage rooms... I can give an awesome massage in those rooms.. Its a fifty five minute hands on massage followed by twenty minutes of water massage.. I'm able to do whatever kind of soft tissue work the client wants or needs...plenty of time... fifty five minutes. After that I use this big hose, they call it a Scots hose for some reason...I guess it sounds better then a fire hose. But I use that like a portable Jacuzzi jet over the entire back of their bodies...Temperature and pressure is adjusted to the clients liking. Perfect. Usually about 104 degrees...It feels awesome after a good massage.. You know how good a hot shower or bath feels.. And you of course know how good a massage feels.. They both give a very relaxing feeling to the body/mind... However they are both different....Well you get both of those feelings together with this service.. Its like 1+1 = 3.... A synergistic effect. Its a mind blowing experience... People are Zoned afterwards. Like I said, after the hands on massage I use the hose like a portable Jacuzzi jet over the entire back side of the body.. Then after that, there are seven overhead showers that come into play... They make a waterfall down the clients back for five minutes or so... and while the client is under the waterfall, I'm sprinkling cool water and essential oils around their body. The client is under a towel that is manipulated around during the service to give maximum skin exposure to the wonderful 104 degree water... I'm wearing swimming trunks and a T-shirt... The tile floor is heated...When I get a Vichy massage... I always feel like I'm floating down the Amazon river during a rain storm with some kind of safe life jacket on or something like that... lol Its a very experiential experience and a zone out for everyone. I will attach pictures of the Vichy rooms. I think I have two of those scheduled in a row tomorrow..Fun fun.. They always generate big tips too. And I can do medical type work in those rooms too if necessary, and finish off with the water... Its awesome. I am definitely able to enhance my massage work in those rooms.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on
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That lady I could not help. The one with the pain on the lateral side of her leg. Well she came in today. I told her to come in for a 25 min. session because it bothered me that Icould not make that trigger point go away. I would only charge her a small fee. I made it go away today.. !!! She has had that pain for years... We will see how long it lasts? She is going on vacation, so she wont be back for a couple weeks or so.. But it was gone when she left the spas. We were both happy..
Gordon J. Wallis said:I want to make to make one thing real clear.. When I come in here and talk about dramatically helping people in one massage session, its all true. But of course there are those that I fail to help, that I don't talk about. I had a client the other day that was told she had sciatica. Pain running down her lateral leg from hip to knee. I found a big nocioceptive trigger point on her vastuslateralis that I know was causing her pain. But I could not make it go away. She left the spa with that very same pain. I should have been able to make that go away, but I couldn't. I am able to help a surprising number of people now, but not everyone. I just wanted to make that clear.
Gordon J. Wallis said:I guess this is kind of like a semi blog for me or something? Just like to comment on some to the things that I find interesting durring my work week They have meaning to me anyway. I'm on an Android tablet and there seems to be no spell check, so I apologize for that. Anyway I had a new client the other day that told me she had low back pain and sciatica. She has been seeing chiropractors and different kinds of body workers on and off for a while. I didn't want to take her massage time up with the details of her history... The key word for me in her case was sciatica. Most of the time, at least in my experience, when I hear that word, its never true sciatica. Real sciatica would be a bulging disc at L5 that would put pressure on the sciatic nerve that runs down the leg. At any rate it would be real nerve pain. In her case, and I find this more often then naught, it was muscle pain. A trigger point on the erectors around L1 that refers pain to the L5 upper hip area . And another trigger point on the Vastus Lateralis that refers pain down the side of the leg.. Two trigger points caused her so called sciatic pain...She was in for an 80 minute massage, so there was plenty of time to handle those trigger points. She left the spa pain free, and will come back in a week for a follow up 25 minute masage. Its just when I hear the words sciatica, pinched nerve, rib out, or fibromyalgia. Nine times out of ten, it's not the case.
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Permalink Reply by Therese Schwartz on
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It's amazing what a different day will do when working on people. I often wonder why I miss stuff that should be obvious - did I actually miss it, or is enough other stuff out of the way that I can now find a new layer to the issue? Am I more awake/conscious some days than others (I do think that's true!)...But the bottom line is that it's really satisfying to find and solve an issue for people.
Glad you could help her this time around!
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I had a new client the other day. When I asked her what she needed from the massage she said just to relax I guess. Then I said it sounds like something is wrong? She said... Well I have a shoulder problem I might have to see a doctor for. Then she went on to explain how she hurt it working out last September. She went to a chiropractor that only made her shoulder and neck pain worse. The chiro had her going through grueling range of motion movements. She decided not to go back again. I palpated her entire shoulder.. She had one really nocioceptive(painful) spot, and one mildly sore spot in her entire shoulder area. The very painful spot was an upper trap trigger point.. The most common and basic of all trigger points..Ive seen zillions of them... On a daily basis.. Hers was pretty bad though.. but still.. A very simple basic problem . The other mildly sore spot was in her infraspinatus same side. Range of motion movements would only exasperate her problem.. My goodness...Anyway about two minutes later her shoulder neck pain was gone... No need for xrays and all that poop.. The rest of the time I gave her a good massage. I explained to her that even though her pain was gone that she was still wounded...And that the only reason she felt good now was because the contracted muscle fibers were now relaxed, and the muscle was at its normal resting length...But now the blood can get in and heal the damaged tissue...Its damaged tissue on a cellular level... So now she can heal... And that its important not to go home and test the area by stretching , working out, and so on.. Just let the area feel good and heal. I told her she should come in again within a week for a short follow up session. JUst to make sure we wipe it out.. But that her problem is over... She was very happy and thankful. Her problem was really no problem from my persective... Basic massage 101... Easy weeezy Japaneezy. Gawd there must be thousands of people being ripped off from incompetant care for minor aches and pains accros this country... Oh well. I will upload pictures of the muscles involved.
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Today was an interesting day. The doctor came back in today.. He went back to physical theapy the other day.. Told the PT that a massage therapist told him that he was getting the wrong kind of therapy. The PT ignored him and continiued with the same therapy... The doctor decided to continiue.. He told me today that the therapy was painful. And that night he could hardly sleep because of the pain. Again he could not abduct his arm more then 40 degrees when I saw him today.. I again released all the trigger points, then massaged him... Before he left the massage room he had full range of motion with no pain. He was happy...I did exactly the same thing, and told him the same thing as last time... Also the PT wanted to do therapy on his knee.. The doctor told him his knee was fine now( I fixed it last session).. He walked two miles yesterday with no pain or problem. He told me the PT looked puzzled.. The doc is coming back in on Saturday for a follow up visit. He wont be going back to physical therapy.. The cellular damage in his shoulder can heal now. His problem is over. Once any underlying pathology is ruled out. Its soft tissue work all the way. TRUTH IS OFTEN HIDDEN....LIKE A SHADOW...IN DARKNESS. One last comment. Our profession is dysfunctional. I hear about massage therapists working for $12 an hour or less. I hear about massage schools costing as much as $30,000.00. I've worked closely with chiropractors, physical therapists, and acupuncturists.. I know the kind of patients they see. I know the kind of results they get. We should be dominating the ache and pain industry.. Because within our license we have all thats needed to do it. Our education system needs to change. So people know it. We Have a High Art.
Gordon J. Wallis said:Today was a trip. I scored big time. At least my perspective. I had a medical doctor in for a two hour massage this afternoon. He told me he just needss to relax. Stress. I was kind of sleepy, so made sure that I had a cup of coffee in the room just incase I needed it to stay alert and into the massage.. Anyway, about three quarters into the massage I found out that he was seeing a physical therapist for a rotator cuff injury. I asked him how he felt after his physical therapy visits... He said worse... I'm thinking , hmmm.... I told him that I was sure that I could help him with his shoulder problem. He said ok... So I stopped fifteen minutes early in order to check his shoulder out...He said he had pain when he moved it... He was diagnosed with a rotator cuff injurey... Which by the way means nothing to me... Its usually never correct... He couldn't abduct his arm more then 40 degrees without pain. I asked him what kind of therapy the PT had him doing.. He said weights.... I knew he had trigger points. Nine times out of ten, thats what it is... Weight lifting is absolutely the worst posible therapy you can do for a damaged muscle...Trigger pointed muscles test weak, so the PTs want to strengthen them... Big mistake.. Trigger points are cellular damge... And the worst thing you can do is to work a damaged muscle. You need to relax it and create space so the blood can flow and repair the cellular damage... Anway sure enough he had major trigger points in his Pectoralis Major, Upper Trapezius, and my good friend the Infraspinauts.. I asked him if the Physical therapist palpated those areas... He said no.. Unbelieveable to me. Anyway I was able to deactivate all those TPs except for one of the pectoralis ones. That was down graded though. After a few minutes of trigger point deactivation he had nearly 90 degrees pain free range of motion... I will say 80.. He was shocked and surprised. I showed him in Travells book exactly his problem... Then he said.... Im being treated for knee pain too.... I said where... He said inside of his right knee...I don't have a picture of it, but it was his Sartorious just above the inside of his knee. I asked him again before he left how he felt when leaving the PTs office...He said worse. I asked him how he felt leaving this spa. He said way better.. He cant come in for a needed follow up because he has to go back east, our of state, on Doctor business... He said he will see me when he gets back in a month.. Like Ikeep saying. Once any underlying pathology is rulled out.. Its soft tissue work all the way... Truth remains hidden. PS- sorry for any mis spelled words. I still have not figured this Android out...
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Permalink Reply by willows_of_saturn on
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"palpated her entire shoulder.. She had one really nocioceptive(painful) spot, and one mildly sore spot in her entire shoulder area. The very painful spot was an upper trap trigger point.. The most common and basic of all trigger points..Ive seen zillions of them... On a daily basis.. Hers was pretty bad though.. but still.. A very simple basic problem ."
I think I may have asked this in the past but I'm really curious about how specifically you work these trigger points. Once you find them, are you applying a steady pressure on them until they release, once or multiple times, or do you pass over them with the rest of the muscle several times, or something else entirely?
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I hesitate to talk about techniques in here. But there are many ways to eliminate trigger points. The main point that I want to get accross is that nobody looks for them. Not even massage therapists. Simply finding them and pressing on them lightly just enough for them to feel the slightest of pain.. holding until the pain fades , then slightly increase the pressure until the client feels the slightest of pain again... hold it until that pain vanishes,, then increase presure again. And continiue until its no longer sore under firm pressure... Thats the most basic way. But there are ways to enhance that process. There is more to healing someone then just technique. I read books on Neurology, Psychology, Pain..Somatosensory systems. and so on... You can down grade pain before you even begin any specific techniques... You can eliminate trigger points without even touching them. The point is , you get rid of trigger points.. You get clinical results. There are lots of ways and systems. Myokinesthtics, and Muscle Release Technique are two very different ways to eliminate pain.. even though they dont talk about trigger points... Thats what they are eliminating...One is a hard style, the other a suttle style. Let me ask you a question. What happens when you tap on the tendon of a muscle?
willows_of_saturn said:"palpated her entire shoulder.. She had one really nocioceptive(painful) spot, and one mildly sore spot in her entire shoulder area. The very painful spot was an upper trap trigger point.. The most common and basic of all trigger points..Ive seen zillions of them... On a daily basis.. Hers was pretty bad though.. but still.. A very simple basic problem ."
I think I may have asked this in the past but I'm really curious about how specifically you work these trigger points. Once you find them, are you applying a steady pressure on them until they release, once or multiple times, or do you pass over them with the rest of the muscle several times, or something else entirely?
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Thanks for responding. To answer your question, it will stretch the muscle I believe. I think what you're getting at is that, through stretching the muscles, it'll help release the contraction, right?
Do you do these types of tendon reflexes to release them more often than the pressing on them? I initially asked you about technique because I know you have a lot of experience in the area and I was just wondering how that shows in your approach. I'm new at this and haven't had the chance to do any trigger point release on anyone but myself - have a few nasty, painful trigger points in my scalene muscles that are entrapping nerves and vessels into my arms, keeping them weak and full of pain. Do you ever work the scalenes? I know they are a sensitive area to work with considering all the nerves and vessels in the area... If you have any pointers for them that'd be greatly appreciated! :)
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Permalink Reply by elizabeth mount on
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Less can be more with the scalenes I find they don't like to be pushed out of their position much. The front of lavatory is right there to lateral tor the scalenes. Knowing which one I'm on helps a lot
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Willows of Saturn, my favorite (since my husband requested it and I tried it) technique for working on scalenes is to use warm/hot bamboo on them. It's much less painful for the client and very effective. I also use the sticks on the SCM's. Linear friction - that's the technique and I almost forgot to say that!
Gordon, I wanted to let you know that the things you have posted here have done a lot to help me help my clients but also help myself. I've been able to significantly downgrade my own SI joint pain by finding and working on (by laying on a spiky dog chew toy - not for the faint of heart!) sore spots in my low back and glutes. I've also been able to really downgrade shoulder pain one day by having my husband work on my infraspinatus while we watched TV. Good stuff, and thanks!!
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That's not the corect answer to the question I asked.
This is why I dont like talking about technique. I end up trying to diagnose someones problem and try to tell them how to fix it online via typing. Its impossible. I would have to be there and actually palpate your body before having a clue as what to do.In the 30 years of doing this kind of work Ive only had one client that had a sore spot on her scalenes. I used a form of muscle engergy technique...You could use strain counter strain... Look those up online instead of my trying to discribe to you in here how to do it.. If you really do have trigger points in your scalenes, I kind of doubt it, you can release them without touching or digging into them....
willows_of_saturn said:Thanks for responding. To answer your question, it will stretch the muscle I believe. I think what you're getting at is that, through stretching the muscles, it'll help release the contraction, right?
Do you do these types of tendon reflexes to release them more often than the pressing on them? I initially asked you about technique because I know you have a lot of experience in the area and I was just wondering how that shows in your approach. I'm new at this and haven't had the chance to do any trigger point release on anyone but myself - have a few nasty, painful trigger points in my scalene muscles that are entrapping nerves and vessels into my arms, keeping them weak and full of pain. Do you ever work the scalenes? I know they are a sensitive area to work with considering all the nerves and vessels in the area... If you have any pointers for them that'd be greatly appreciated! :)
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ONe of my regular clients that I see every month has a shoulder problem.. However she always tells me very specifically that she does not want me trying to work on it or fix it... That she needs massage to relax. She seess a physical therapist for her problem...Of course she has been seeing him for a very long time...on and off for over a year I think. I could tell she didnt think I could help her. I could tell I was bothering her when I asked her about it. So not to irritate a client, I just massaged her ignoring her shoulder problem... Not palpating around and fixing it. Well she came in the other day.. I asked her how she was... She said she couldn't sleep last night because of her shoulder pain. I said ok.. Im tired of this shoulder thing. Lets fix it right now. She didnt say anything, I left the room so she could get on the table.. I came back... palpated the usual players.. a really bad TP in her Infraspinatus, one of the Terres, Upper Trap... I deactivated all those. After the massage I met her in the waiting room.. She said Gordon, my shoulder feels good... It doesnt hurt anymore. Im shocked and amazed every day when I work on people. When I tell somebody I can help them.. There is a very good chance I can. And if I can't. Everybody knows it really quick... But it seems that when insurance is involved or if they see other practioners, they just keep going back with no improvement ever.
Therese Schwartz said:Willows of Saturn, my favorite (since my husband requested it and I tried it) technique for working on scalenes is to use warm/hot bamboo on them. It's much less painful for the client and very effective. I also use the sticks on the SCM's. Linear friction - that's the technique and I almost forgot to say that!
Gordon, I wanted to let you know that the things you have posted here have done a lot to help me help my clients but also help myself. I've been able to significantly downgrade my own SI joint pain by finding and working on (by laying on a spiky dog chew toy - not for the faint of heart!) sore spots in my low back and glutes. I've also been able to really downgrade shoulder pain one day by having my husband work on my infraspinatus while we watched TV. Good stuff, and thanks!!
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I don't know why people insist on going back for more treatment that doesn't work. I think there might be several things at play, including some complicated psychological issues.
I had a CranioSacral Therapy colleague call me last night; she'd hurt herself quite seriously and needed to come see me. She's a 45-minute drive away; fortunately I'd had my last client of the day today reschedule so she could have that spot. She'd slipped while cleaning her bathtub and banged her ribcage on the edge, reactivating some old damage from a car accident. I worked on her for an hour and 15 minutes, using CranioSacral Therapy and MFR techniques around her ribcage, abdomen and neck (which was also affected). As she was leaving she said I am Wonder Woman! I really like my job.
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