Orthopedic Massage Therapy
Have you been having persistent discomfort that’s becoming gradually more worrisome and isn’t going away on its own?
I specialize in those kinds of situations.
Simply being cared for, and allowing your body and mind to slough off the layers of tension that have been building up, is the often right place to start on the journey to feeling better in your body.
Stress hardens and immobilizes our protective muscles, making aches and pains worse.
You are not simply a collection of levers that function more or less efficiently. You are also a feeling creature living in a complex and often chaotic environment.
There is more joy, lightness, freedom, peace, energy and a zest for each day when you feel at ease in your body.
What about old…or new… injuries, nerve impingements
and orthopedic conditions?
Orthopedic massage is used to evaluate and balance the stresses through and around joints, and to contribute to freer movement of nerves. Helping nerves move and fluids flow through muscles and fascia is what causes the relief you’re probably hoping for.
You’re welcome to call or email me.
If we’ve never met, I recommend having a conversation with me before booking in order to determine if this is a good fit.
I offer 90 minute massage sessions.
If you’re a new client,
you can book your first session here.
If you’ve been having persistent pain you should plan on more than one appointment.
Come in for one to start with, to make sure that you feel good about working with me and that what we do in the session is helpful.
After that you can still come in for single sessions, or you may consider getting a 12 Session Package, either to work together for a while, or to make receiving care a part of your life.
Buy a 12 Session Package
Relief from discomfort might be all that you want in the beginning, but you ultimately want for the problem to stop coming back. In order to achieve that you’re going to have to practice moving differently.
Why?
Because, where the force is landing in your body can either build you up or break you down. You’ll need to practice moving in order to learn to direct the force into a different part of your body. You may have to strengthen not only the habit of movement, but the body itself. You do this through repetitive practice that’s true to life, or functional movement training. I can help you with that as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
The total number of sessions depends on how long the issue has been going on. A rule of thumb would be 3 sessions for issues that have been troubling for 6 months or less. For issues that have been troubling for years, they’re all different and take longer to change.
I also advocate making regular massage a part of your life. It gives you peace of mind just knowing you have support for your well-being, and the session itself will help you get to a place you’d forgotten was available.
In general when you’re working to resolve some issue I recommend coming in somewhere between once a week and once every three weeks. It depends on what works for your schedule and finances, and also how much the discomfort is interfering with your life.
What people are usually asking when they ask that question is whether I do aggressive work with a lot of pressure that will generate intense and sometimes painful sensations. The answer is No. If that’s what you’re looking for you’ll have to go elsewhere. People who want that don’t like the sort of work I do, and it’s painful for both of us to have to struggle through a session together.
But a person might also be trying to figure out if I’m just going to spread oil over their body with long, gliding strokes that stay on the surface. The answer to that is also No.
What I do is sink deeply into tissue in a way that feels safe to the body and doesn’t generate a lot of intense sensation. I tend to stay in one spot for a while, allowing the tissue to change at its own pace. I use very little oil because it creates a slippery barrier that makes it impossible to connect with deeper layers without using force.
People often make the error of thinking that because muscles go from harder to softer with caring touch, that it was mechanical pressure that caused the softening. This train of thought can then lead one to think that more pressure is better, because it will create even more softening.
The truth is, exchanging sensitive touch with the physical bombardment that comes from aggressive pressure creates even more tension. For some the intense sensations this generates feel desirable
But greater depth and range of sensation doesn’t come from having a more intense stimulus. It comes from developing our own capacity to feel. We open to feeling more when there is trust and safety in the interaction.
If you plan to keep your clothing on then wear soft clothing without a lot of seams or buttons, shorts or leggings are both fine.
It’s normal for the client to undress for a massage, but this doesn’t mean that you have to be comfortable with nudity. If you undress then I will be out of the room and I’ll let you know whether to end up on the table face up or face down. There will be a sheet and blanket on the table for you to cover yourself with. I will undrape areas of the body one by one, but I will not undrape breasts or the pelvic region. I often work through the sheet on the gluteal (butt) muscles. I do not work directly on the pelvic floor. I often work on the pectoral muscles just below the collar bone and above the breast tissue.
It is not okay to expose the breasts or genitals during a massage.
I have a no tipping policy in my practice. Though I have thought of offering a sliding scale.
If your massage is booked online you’ll automatically get a receipt. If you’re paying some other way, just ask me and I’ll provide you with a receipt or superbill to submit to your insurance company. I won’t bill your insurance company and I don’t have a contract with them. More information here.
It’s best to think about keeping other sensations neutral during the appointment. It doesn’t much matter whether you eat before or after, but try to avoid being very full or very hungry. Use the bathroom beforehand so you won’t need to during the session or be distracted by a full bladder. Massage can make you both cold and thirsty, so bring a jacket if the temperature is borderline and have some water with you.
If you’re in pain avoid taking painkillers before your session. This allows you to feel changes in sensation better.
After your session, drink some water. Particularly good things to do would be to take a nap if you’re inclined to or to do some exploratory movement. If you have to go back to sitting at your desk or doing physical labor that’s okay, but post-session is a good time to try moving a little differently than what you’re used to.
If you have a mobility issue, give me a call, it’ll be easier to figure out how to work with it that way.
No. I guess the lotion has a little scent to it. If that’s a problem, let me know.
Yes, lots, but most of those would make you disinclined to seek massage therapy. If there’s a specific concern, give me a call.
Yes, it would be delightful to meet your friend or family member. You can find those on my Gifts page.
The information is on this page: https://dauntlessgrace.com/the-client-agreement/
Articles of Interest
Massage: Is More Pressure Better?
Well, no. Obviously.
But I’ll go into a little more detail.
There’s a fairly pervasive idea that massage is about changing the length of muscle and fascial (connective) tissue by pressing on it. Out of this idea came the idea that more pressure is better. It’s not just the people receiving massage who came up with this thought, plenty of the folks practicing massage seem to believe it as well.
Self-Care as a Act of Gratitude
We’ve probably all identified some healthy activities that we know would be good for us to do on a daily basis.
Things like: Exercising, Going to bed on time, Journaling, Just taking 15 minutes to chill out between other things,Breathing or meditation
It can be a real struggle, to find the time in a day or in a week for the things that support our health.
How Loving Your Body Heals
People confuse no longer experiencing pain, with healing. But there are a lot of ways to no longer experience pain. You could take hard drugs for instance.
Why is the lack of pain taken for indicating that we are whole and healed?
When you can feel your body you can be in relationship with it. The importance of this is that it allows you to heal.
by Heart Light Digital