karMassage

Updated version of pain scale chart

2010-08-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Allie for this!

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/02/boyfriend-doesnt-have-ebola-probably.html

2010-05-16T16:54:00.001-07:00

Inviting, isn't it? Revive, Refresh, Relax~ Call For Your Appointment Today!

2010-01-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

Massage may seem expensive, but truly: You Are Worth It!

Come in during the week of your birthday for a $10 discount, refer friends and family for credits of $10 each towards your next session, or purchase more than one session at one time: the more you buy, the more you save!

happy new year!

2010-01-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

For a healthy start, why not try this easy guide to better food choices?
http://www.lifespa.com/article.aspx?art_id=57

A couple years back, after reading The 3-Season Diet I roughly followed along with the seasonal food lists beginning in November. That winter I had no sinus problems!

Gift Ideas!

2009-11-27T16:57:00.001-08:00

Gift Certificates are available:
1/2 hour $35
1 hour $65
1 1/2 hour $95

Package Deals are available for Gift Certificate purchases to make your shopping easier and save you some money as well! Get all your shopping done at once!
3 1 hour sessions $180
6 1 hour sessions $350

Also available are natural -filling hot/cold packs in a variety of sizes and prices, and gift packages of a hot/cold eye pillow with Sunbreeze Balm for $20.

Ask if you want me to make up a special massage/bath oil to go with a hot/cold pack.

behold! the new office!

2009-11-20T05:41:00.001-08:00

Here's the entrance, but you'll have to make an appointment to see the fabulously relaxing massage room~
I'll be available the day after Thanksgiving: A massage is the perfect way to un-do all the stress of a Black Friday shopping frenzy!

Williamson Chapel's Business Expo Sat. 17th!

2009-10-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

Come to the Williamson Chapel's Business Expo on Saturday October 17th for a chair massage (Massages Will Be only $1 a minute...bring your spare change and stray bills!) and get a raffle ticket to win a FREE MASSAGE! A $2 ticket puts you in the drawing for a FREE 1/2 HOUR MASSAGE and with a $5 ticket you could win a WHOLE HOUR MASSAGE! But get up early....the expo is from 7-11 a.m.! As you know, I'm not an early morning person, so get your massage before my espresso kick fades! See You There!!

The Power of Touch for Pain Relief: Basic Facts

2009-09-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

Massage is well known for reducing stress and promoting relaxation. And, a growing body of research also shows that massage therapy is effective for relieving and managing chronic and acute pain, a significant national health problem. According to the National Institute for Health, more than one-third of all Americans will suffer from chronic pain at some point in their lives, and approximately 14 percent of all employees take time off from work due to pain. Increasingly, massage therapists are being incorporated into pain management programs of hospitals and health care organizations. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has suggested massage therapy as one means to manage pain without use of pharmaceuticals.

According to a recent American Hospital Association survey about their use of CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) therapies, among the 1,007 hospitals responding, nearly 82 percent of the hospitals offering CAM therapies included massage therapy among their health care offerings -- with more than 70 percent utilizing massage therapy for pain management and relief. In a recent consumer survey commissioned by AMTA, 91 percent of respondents agreed that massage can be effective in reducing pain, and nearly half of those polled (47 percent) have had a massage specifically for the purpose of relieving pain.

Consider recent clinical research on the efficacy of massage for pain relief:

Massage therapy is more effective for chronic back pain than other complementary therapies.
Massage therapy promotes relaxation and alleviates the perception of pain and anxiety in cancer patients.
Massage therapy reduces post-traumatic headaches better than cold pack treatments.
A pilot study conducted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that massage, as part of hospital-based surgery treatment, reduces pain and muscle spasms in patients who have undergone heart bypass surgery.
Massage stimulates the brain to produce endorphins.

How does massage relieve pain?

A simple and direct strategy: working from the external, outer mechanisms of pain to the primary, root cause.
Focuses on the entire body system and its relationship to soft tissue – not solely on the site of pain.

Benefits of massage for pain relief

Helps patients become more aware of their bodies and the sources of pain.
Better familiarizes patients with the pain they experience.
Has an impact on the patient by virtue of human touch.
Improves confidence by encouraging patients to effectively cope with their pain.

The American Massage Therapy Association, the professional association representing the field of massage therapy, wants to help navigate the process of linking pain specialists with massage therapists. Finding a qualified massage therapist is paramount; only 33 states and the District of Columbia regulate the profession of massage therapy. AMTA helps consumers and other healthcare professionals locate an AMTA member massage therapist via its free Find a Massage Therapist national locater service, www.amtamassage.org or 1-888-THE-AMTA.

-October 2003

Relaxation Techniques

2009-08-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Relaxation Techniques From The Sleep Disorders Center, University of Maryland

Relaxation techniques often can help people with sleep problems get a good night's sleep. Several relaxation techniques are listed below.

Progressive Relaxation

This technique is often most useful when you tape the instructions beforehand. You can tape these instructions, reading them slowly and leaving a short pause after each one.

Lie on your back, close your eyes.
Feel your feet. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and sink into the bed. Start with your toes and progress to your ankles.
Feel your knees. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
Feel you upper legs and thighs. Feel their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
Feel your abdomen and chest. Sense your breathing. Consciously will them to relax. Deepen your breathing slightly and feel your abdomen and chest sink into the bed.
Feel your buttocks. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
Feel your hands. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
Feel your upper arms. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
Feel your shoulders. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
Feel your neck. Sense its weight. Consciously relax it and feel it sink into the bed.
Feel your head and skull. Sense its weight. Consciously relax it and feel it sink into the bed.
Feel your mouth and jaw. Consciously relax them. Pay particular attention to your jaw muscles and unclench them if you need to. Feel your mouth and jaw relax and sink into the bed.
Feel your eyes. Sense if there is tension in your eyes. Sense if you are forcibly closing your eyelids. Consciously relax your eyelids and feel the tension slide off the eyes.
Feel your face and cheeks. Consciously relax them and feel the tension slide off into the bed.
Mentally scan your body. If you find any place that is still tense, then consciously relax that place and let it sink into the bed.

Toe Tensing

This one may seem like a bit of a contradiction to the previous one, but by alternately tensing and relaxing your toes, you actually draw tension from the rest of the body. Try it!

Lie on your back, close your eyes.
Sense your toes.
Now pull all 10 toes back toward your face. Count to 10 slowly.
Now relax your toes.
Count to 10 slowly.
Now repeat the above cycle 10 times.

Deep Breathing

By concentrating on our breathing, deep breathing allows the rest of our body to relax itself. Deep breathing is a great way to relax the body and get everything into synchrony. Relaxation breathing is an important part of yoga and martial arts for this reason.

Lie on your back.
Slowly relax your body. You can use the progressive relaxation technique we described above.
Begin to inhale slowly through your nose if possible. Fill the lower part of your chest first, then the middle and top part of your chest and lungs. Be sure to do this slowly, over 8 to 10 seconds.
Hold your breath for a second or two.
Then quietly and easily relax and let the air out.
Wait a few seconds and repeat this cycle.
If you find yourself getting dizzy, then you are overdoing it. Slow down.
You can also imagine yourself in a peaceful situation such as on a warm, gentle ocean. Imagine that you rise on the gentle swells of the water as you inhale and sink down into the waves as you exhale.
You can continue this breathing technique for as long as you like until you fall asleep.

Guided Imagery

In this technique, the goal is to visualize yourself in a peaceful setting.

Lie on your back with your eyes closed.
Imagine yourself in a favorite, peaceful place. The place may be on a sunny beach with the ocean breezes caressing you, swinging in a hammock in the mountains or in your own backyard. Any place that you find peaceful and relaxing is OK.
Imagine you are there. See and feel your surroundings, hear the peaceful sounds, smell the flowers or the barbecue, fell the warmth of the sun and any other sensations that you find. Relax and enjoy it.
You can return to this place any night you need to. As you use this place more and more you will find it easier to fall asleep as this imagery becomes a sleep conditioner.
Some patients find it useful to visualize something boring. This may be a particularly boring teacher or lecturer, co-worker or friend.

Quiet Ears

Lie on your back with your eyes closed.
Place your hands behind your head. Make sure they are relaxed.
Place your thumbs in your ears so that you close the ear canal.
You will hear a high-pitched rushing sound. This is normal.
Listen to this sound for 10-15 minutes.
Then put your arms at your sides, actively relax them and go to sleep.

more appoinment times and chair massages now available !

2009-07-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

I am now able to offer appointments on Wednesdays and Thursdays! And I'm presently trying to figure out the best times, but I will be offering Chair Massages at $1 per minute. You can stay fully dressed, and get a nice relaxing massage for whatever change you have in your pocket. It's a great time to try massage if you're not sure what it's all about, or if you only have a few minutes to spare, or while waiting for your appointment with Dr. Baltich. The plan is to pick a day of the week and specific time so everyone knows when they can just drop in for a relaxing minute or 10. Any suggestions?

itchy scratchy

2009-07-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Yikes! Poison Ivy!
I've been lucky to have only gotten it once, but it was just as wretched as getting sea lice. For anyone who doesn't know, sea lice is the plague in the ocean from Palm Beach to Miami, from Mother's Day to Father's Day each year. The larvae of the Portuguese man-o-war jelly fish dislodge from the seaweed and attack you where your bathing suit is tight against your body. Your tenders. The resulting insanely hot itchy bumps that torment you for at least a week are on par with the worst case of poison ivy you've ever had.
Of course, with poison ivy, run out and get the calamine lotion and spread it on lavishly, but also hit the health food store for the low dosage of homeopathic rhus tox. I hear it works wonders, and if I'm unfortunate enough to have to try it, I'll let you know how it goes.
for more information from Answers.com

Sea Legs and other ocean adventures

2009-02-22T14:18:00.001-08:00

I know my feet are on the ground, but my head is still floating somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. From the moment I got off the boat (or SHIP as my brother insists, as it was 3x the size of the Titanic), I felt completely fubar but without the drinking part. I had to hold on to the back of my chair when getting up to keep from falling onto the floor, and every so often while standing I would do a dip and sway to one side with my knees bent, feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart, sort of the way I dance if any of you have been unfortunate enough to witness it.

So~ at the suggestion of one of my favorite aromatherapists I tried Vetiver and it helped right away. I sniffed it straight from the bottle, dabbed some on my temples and the back of my neck, and put a few drops in some lotion on my feet. I continued applications every few hours, whiffing it about every 1/2 hour, and after day one I thought the world was at least 80% stable . 2 days later I still have moments of wobbliness, but I still think the vetiver is helping.

Vetiver, not to be confused with the fragrance by Givenchy, is a darker, viscous oil with smoky, earthy scent with a bit of sweet undertone, botanically related to lemongrass. It's skin care uses include for acne, oily skin or wounds, is deeply relaxing to the nervous system so an excellent oil for stress reduction massages or baths, and also increases circulation which makes it valuable to relieve sore muscles or joints, and of course, for grounding. According to Valerie Worwood it can be used to counter act these negative attributes, which I think make it an obvious choice to relieve me of the apres cruise effect: anxiety, scattered thinking, disconnection, instability and disorientation.

I also sipped peppermint water the first two days of my cruise (just one drop in a bottle of water),and nibbled on candied ginger the whole trip which I think worked perfectly to avoid the slight nausea from getting out of hand, whether it was from the movement of the ship or all that food~

If you're going on a cruise or deep sea fishing and have trouble finding your balance afterwards, try the vetiver, ginger and peppermint and let me know how it goes~

bon voyage!

so what is this Myofascial Release, anyway?

2008-12-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

Myo- refers to muscle, while Fascia- refers to connective tissue. You know on chicken the thick white filmy skin on top of the meat under the skin? That's fascia. It's also the white stuff in the photo to the right. It is a very densely woven and stretchy/elastic tissue, covering and interpenetrating every part of your body from head to foot without interruption, like a three-dimensional spider web. It doesn't necessarily cover muscles, organs, etc. but is interwoven with other structures in the body, as you can see in this picture. In the normal healthy state, the fascia is relaxed and has the ability to stretch and move without restriction. Part of it's function is to add support to your body like the guy lines on a tent, and to also work as a shock absorber. Fascia can also be imagined as the one piece of yarn that makes up a sweater. If you pull on one part of that yarn, the whole sweater will be pulled and distorted.

But trauma, postural imbalances or inflammation create what we call myofascial restrictions which generate pressures of up to 2k pounds of pressure per square inch, acting like a straight jacket on pain sensitive structures as muscles, nerves, joints and blood vessels. This creates symptoms of pain, restricted motion and headaches, and can feel as if you're wearing a straight jacket or a sweater that's too tight. Since many standard tests like x-rays or MRIs do not show myofascial restrictions, it is thought that a high percentage of people suffering with pain and/or lack of motion may be having fascial problems which will go undiagnosed. I believe this is true as some of my most successful clients are those that have seen nearly every kind of doctor for symptoms the doctor tells them there is no explination for.

Myofascial Release is a very effective hands-on technique that provides sustained pressure into myofascial restrictions to eliminate pain and restore balance and motion. The fascia responds to this sustained pressure by releasing it's tight hold, softening and stretching like taffy, or do you remember Stretch Armstrong?

Many therapists claim to know myofascial release, but merely execute the soft tissue manipulation part, which is rather effective, but so uncomfortable and painful; who could take a whole hour of it? John Barnes has combined a variety of therapies to create this system that at times can be uncomfortable but tolerable, and is so much more effective as there are several components to be addressed (the sustained pressure, soft tissue manipulation, a gentle stretching of limbs to name 3). With only doing one move, it's like including fruit in your diet but no vegetables.

For articles and more information about MFR, check out their website at http://www.myofascialrelease.com

Breathing to Relax; Stress and Fight, Flight or Freeze

2008-12-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

Deep breathing helps calm the nervous system. It brings in precious oxygen to nourish the cells, and expels toxins and carbon dioxide which your body doesn't need.

The body's defense mechanism of the 'fight, flight or freeze' response increases adrenaline, slows the digestive system and our breathing becomes shallow, all assisting us to deal with whatever threat is before us by fighting the attacker, running away or freezing like a deer in the headlights. But it's not only being attacked by a wild bear or the trauma of a car accident that can tip off this self-defense mode. Stress and anger in daily living can do it as well.

For the most part we don't take the time to recover and relax from this state, just going on with whatever needs our attention next. Running away or fighting an attacker helps discharge the energy that your body creates for your use in the situation, but freezing stores it in the body as a tissue restriction. Many of us 'stuff' our anger, stress or fear instead of expressing it, which perpetuates the fight/flight/freeze response. Without deep breathing our bodies cannot absorb as much oxygen that is needed to maintain proper health, and cannot fully discharge the toxins that are a natural byproduct of cell function.

So what do we do?

Massage therapy helps reduce stress and instill deeper breathing, and you can also try specific breathing exercises. This one is my new favorite, from Dr. Andrew Weil: place your tongue at the junction between your top front teeth and the soft tissue of the roof of your mouth. Keep your tongue here during the whole exercise. Open your mouth and exhale audibly. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose fo a count of FOUR. Hold your breath for a count of SEVEN. Then exhale audibly through your mouth for a count of EIGHT. Repeat through four cycles, then breathe normally.

Deep breathing increases oxygen intake and expels toxins. It helps us to relax, promotes better restful sleep, reduces stress anxiety and anger, and assists us in living happier lives.

I highly recommend Dr. Weil's book Spontaneous Healing, and Waking The Tiger by Peter Levine from which much of the above information was taken. They both expand wonderfully on the benefits of working through stress using breathing, body work and other avenues of better health.

Don't Forget Your Towel!

2008-12-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Fold a hand towel, and roll it up. Now you have the perfect-sized roll for the curve in your neck. When the spine is suported, the muscles and connective tissues can relax. This can help relieve headaches, and neck and shoulder tension. To Try:

Lay on the floor or bed with the roll underneath the curve in your neck. You can put an ice pack on top of the roll to help dissipate pain and inflammation. Relax for 10 minutes.

Use your roll instead of a pillow; but it works best if you can sleep on your back. I put my pillow off to the side so I can grab it when I roll onto my side. This has helped when I've had headache tension at the back of my head, and in lieu of unsuportive wimpy hotel pillows.

Don't Leave Home Without Your Towel! It offers unbeatable neck support while traveling in a car or in those wretched airplane seats. It conveniently fits in your luggage, handbag or pocket, and when travel gets messy, you can clean it up!