Massage involves acting and manipulating the patient's body with pressure (structured, unstructured, stationary, and/or moving), tension, motion, or vibration done manually or with mechanical aids. Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints, or other connective tissue, as well as lymphatic vessels, and/or organs of the gastrointestinal system. Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, forearm, and feet. There are over eighty different massage modalities.The most cited reasons for introducing massage was patient demand and perceived clinical effectiveness.

Neuromuscular massage

Applied to specific muscles, often used to increase blood flow, release knots of muscle tension, or release pain/pressure on nerves. It usually involves trigger points (painful spots in a muscle) and helps break up scar tissue that has formed over the injured muscle.

Some patients can be rid of pain in only one session with a neuromuscular massage therapist, while other patients will require several sessions before a noticeable change takes place. Neuromuscular massage therapists usually spend time warming up the tissue with Swedish or traditional massage before progressing into neuromuscular massage therapy. It can also take time to actually locate the trigger point(s) because the patient may be feeling pain in areas unrelated to the source of the problem.

NMT is a deep tissue massage and is applied directly to individual specific muscles, ligaments, connective tissue & tendons that are contributing to your pain and misery. NMT excels here over the traditional relaxation massage that you may get in a spa.

When you come to visit me with your back pain you will sit in the special massage chair that you see above. Slowly and gently I will be using my thumbs, finger tips and even my elbows to explore every fiber tissue looking for bands of muscle fibers that are tighter than the rest of them.

Benefits

Postural Distortion: This is an imbalance of the muscular system resulting from the movement of the body off the longitudinal and horizontal planes. This is a fancy way of saying your body needs a muscel alignment just like your car does after hitting a pothole!

Biomechanical Dysfunction: This refers to the imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting in faulty movement patterns such as :

Poor lifting habits

Terrible golf swing

Lousy tennis stroke

Incorrect typing posture

Massage therapy and bodywork eases tension and helps people cope with stress more effectively. It slows racing thoughts and worries, helps consumers to reconnect with their body, and brings attention to the mental and physical needs of their bodies so that they may better take care of themselves. It promotes a sense of wholeness and helps enhance one's self-image, while keeping energy levels high. Massage therapy and bodywork can be effective in preventing illness and other physical ailments if received on a regular basis.

Neuromuscular Massage Therapy successfully treats the following conditions:

Neck pain and/or stiffness such as whiplash

Shoulder Injuries

Low back pain, sciatica or hip pain

Most common back pain, spasms, and cramping

headaches

Migraines

Facial or jaw pain

Tingling and numbness of arms, hands, legs and feet