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Shirley Munsey's Page
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- Which modalities do you practice?
- Integrative Massage, Deep Tissue Massage, Reflexology, Sports Massage, Pre-natal Pregnancy Massage, Trigger Point Therapy, Acupressure
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Hi Shirley!
Business in Las Vegas is slow. I'm doing pretty well as I own and operate my own business and have built it up over the years. Unfortunately my therapist friends who work for other spas and such are having their hours cut and their rates reduced.
Our economy here is still doing poorly. I'm not a fan of the media either, such as the local news. All they ever report on is the 'bad' and never the good. Sure, when the reports and info comes out stating our unemployment numbers and 'gaming' numbers, sure, it needs to be told, but why not follow with stories about how to 'make it' in this tough economy?
Oh well ;)
Pleasure to meet you and have a great day!
Kris
It is a good followup to use cold spray after doing the work. I find that it helps "Hold" the work you did longer. It is one thing to do 5 trigger points, but quite another when you are working on a fibro patient with several hundred, all over the body. Taking on a Fibro patient is quite a commitement, and expensive every three days. That is also an important note, every 3 days, or you will start to loose out on the work you did. You got to get it all.
There is one advanced technique most people do not know about. I check for evidence of it and then I do it. It is called Trigger Point Tracing. This is where several triggerpoints are linked together and for no rhyme or reason, does not follow a normal pain pattern, so that means those tp charts will do you o good.
Its very simple. Find tp1, ask client where the strongest referred pain is. While still engaging tp1, find and center on tp2 . Does tp2 refer? Maybe back to tp1 but lets say it goes on. You go to that new area too. While still holding tp2 bring other hand and find tp3. Sometimes it is good to do tp1 & tp2 together at the same time with followup doing tp2 & tp3 together. When they are linked together like this, this is the only way you are going to find those difficult ones. Try this sometime. Results are amazing. You will fix something they did not even know needed fixing.
4. Method 4: Example: If you have a tp on the neck and is referred down the back, ask client where, while you are still engaging the tp in the neck. Put your finger down there till your client says you have found it. Take both of them together up to a level 3, one at a time. Hold till it backs off and repeat. You can also do this with method 1 to hold for 10 sec and repeat, gently, never above a level 3. If you go above level 3 and hit a hight 4 or 5, back off right away and slowly start over.
By the way, my wife has severe fibro. Had it bad for years. She no longer has it because of trigger point. I remember when I first worked on her in her home hospital bed. Her whole body was numb and sensitive at the same time. No feelings whatsoever below the waist, numb feet could not feel the floor. After 3 hours, he entire right side from head to to was no longer numb, she had over 75% feeling restored in her foot. It took several sessions and after that, no more fibro, like gone! So realistically, 1 hr sessions and 3rd day, new appointment every 3 days till gone. You have to ask client, if time permits, to continue on. Remember, on bad cases like fibro, on the 3rd day, about 15% of TP's will return, because you cannot expect to get them all. Too much work and too much pain for them to endure. And when you are getting results, they are getting out of pain.
1) Method 1: give or take, up to 10 sec, back off re-engage again for 10, back off. Do this about 5 times. Slowly back off, slowly engage. Remember, you might be on the edge. Check surrounding area & you may get more on it.
2) Method 2: When you are directly on the epicenter, slowly engage up to level 3 on scale of 1-5. Take it to a 3 and let the customer tell you. Hold for 1 minute, ask client if it has backed off, yes, down to a 2. Ok more pressure, back up to a 3 and hold till it backs off. Keep engaging more pressure up to a 3. By now, you are pressing pretty good. Recheck the area in a 2 inch circle and see what you find. These are the "Nasty" ones.
3. Method 3: Spray and stretch. Also, important with spray. Ask where the referral is going. Spray a little in all directions around in a circle for a few inches or so and then the long referred pain, like from hip down the leg, take spray all the way down to where it ends, about 3 or 4 sprays
When you start using it more you will find that it relieves more pain than the actual massage. Massage relieves actually, very little pain. TP is where it is at. Usually you incorporate tp with your massage as you find painful areas while doing it. I rely a lot on my client to assist me in finding the "EXACT" spot. If you get on the edge you won't get it. Maybe just a little relief. Reason for this is that with the main tp, very closely surrounding it are some minors in the same muscle. You can have more than one tp in the same muscle because there are hundreds of muscle strands that make up that muscle. Having this understanding will help you in treatment.
There are actually several "Methods" of relieving that tp. I use all of them. I taught tp at one of out massage schools several years ago so I can tell you a lot. A good course I gave takes about 2 hours. That is a lot of information to pass in email. Don't worry, you will not be a bother, this is what I like to do. So I have some questions for you to help me help you.
1. what methods do you use to relieve the tp? Are you pretty clear in getting it relieved?
2. Do you understand what a tp is and what it is doing to the muscle so that it becomes a tp?
3. Have you worked on multiple tp as with a patient with Fibro? By the way, TP is the ONLY way to bring a person out of fibro attacks, never massage! It is too painful.
Lets go with these questions for now and see where you are.