Category Archives: Massage Therapy Continuing Education
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Shoulder Muscles
Posted on February 15, 2019 by Dawn in Anatomy, massage therapy, Shoulders, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Shoulder Muscles During the neck portion of the class I just taught one of the students asked me to assess her partner’s right shoulder. It had an odd feeling to it. His shoulder was sitting inferior. Movement in the shoulder felt thick but not weak. His shoulder muscles did not feel tight though. I had […]
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Abdomen Work
Posted on February 8, 2019 by Dawn in Abdomen, Anatomy, bodywork, Lower Back, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Abdomen Work One of my long standing lymphedema clients came in the other day and asked me to spend half of the session working on her lower back. She booked an hour and a half, so plenty of time. I have addressed her back pain in the past, but not for several months. She has […]
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Persistent Knee Pain
Posted on January 25, 2019 by Dawn in Anatomy, bodywork, Knees, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Persistent Knee Pain Yesterday, I had a client with a persistent right knee issue. She cannot identify anything that happened to cause her knee pain. Each area I worked on led to a feeling of pressure in another area. I began at her right knee, which created pressure in her right ankle, went to her […]
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Psoas Major
Posted on January 11, 2019 by Dawn in Abdomen, Anatomy, bodywork, Hips & Sacrum, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Abdominal Wall Let’s talk about psoas major. In all of our SMRT hip classes, I tell the therapists attending that psoas is a victim of many things and a perpetrator of very little. Yet, massage therapists, when we think of abdominal work are focused mainly on psoas. In part this is because we do not […]
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Shortened Hip Flexors
Posted on December 31, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, bodywork, Lower Extremities, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Shortened Hip Flexors A new client came to me because she had searing, burning pain on the upper lateral right thigh. This was stopping her from moving well. She had been to many people without any relief. Her issue, after assessment, appeared to be coming from shortened hip flexors. As well as a narrowing of […]
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A Mean Headache
Posted on December 26, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, bodywork, Elbow, Head & Neck, Human Body, massage therapy, Massage Therapy Continuing Education, NCBTMB approved continuing education, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique, Tennis Elbow.A Mean Headache A client this week presented with “a mean headache”. She said that it began in the suboccipital area, and traveled up the back of her head. It landed at her right temple. Her right eye hurt, and she said, “her jaw felt weak” and she had an uncontrollable urge to swallow. Palpation […]
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Deep Muscle & Connective Tissue
Posted on December 14, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Feet, Lower Extremities, massage therapy, Massage Therapy Continuing Education, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Deep Muscle & Connective Tissue I work on quite a few therapists and doctors. So, this week I saw both a massage therapist and a chiropractor whose complaint was hip pain. Both times it turned out that the hip was a symptom of pain coming from lower down the leg. For the massage therapist, the […]
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SMRT Schedule for 2019
Posted on November 30, 2018 by Dawn in CE's on DVD, Massage CE's on DVD, Massage Therapy Continuing Education, NCBTMB approved continuing education, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Check out our SMRT schedule for upcoming 2019 classes! SMRT classes or home study/video material would make a great gift for those massage therapist on your shopping list! Below is a few of our classes starting in 2019. Don’t forget you can get 10% OFF when you book classes in advance and you may be […]
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SMRT Basic Series
Posted on November 12, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Articles, bodywork, Hips & Sacrum, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.SMRT Basic Series After the class I just taught, one of the students wanted to take her practical test for her full body SMRT basic series certification. The way this practical works is that I give the therapist a real issue with my body (in this case, right hip pain) and they use SMRT in […]
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Severe Lower Back Pain
Posted on October 26, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Back & Spine, Lower Back, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.CRPS One of my new clients (there are many, I get consistent referrals due to SMRT) complains of severe lower back. She was diagnosed several years ago with CRPS in her feet. I believed from the first time I saw her that her feet were a large part of her lower back pain. She did […]
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Back Pain
Posted on October 19, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Back & Spine, bodywork, massage therapy, Ribs, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Weird Feeling Tuesday, one of our clients came in for a yoga class. As I walked into our classroom she was telling the yoga teacher about her back. She mentioned how she often had pain and “a weird feeling” in the middle of her back. Without thinking I reached out and touched her back. I […]
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Hip Girdle
Posted on October 12, 2018 by Dawn in Abdomen, Anatomy, Articles, Hips & Sacrum, Lower Back, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Hip Girdle I was in an airport (what else is new) after teaching a fantastic SMRT hip girdle in NY. Typically in any hip girdle class, we have a few people in class who end up with immobilizing lower back pain from having their posterior hips, sacrum, abdomen, and lower back worked. Plantar Flexion This […]
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Gluteal Amnesia
Posted on September 28, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, bodywork, Feet, Lower Back, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique, Testimonials and Reviews.Gluteal Amnesia Yesterday I had a new client complaining of lower back pain. “It just hurts right here!” She said, grinding her fist into her right SI joint area. She asked questions throughout the session. I began by working on her abdomen but quickly recognized that her left gluteus maximus muscle had decreased tone. Something […]
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Chronic Headaches
Posted on September 21, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, bodywork, Head & Neck, massage therapy, Ribs, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Chronic Headaches Okay, I am going to tell you a funny and mildly graphic and useful story. One of my clients has chronic, intense headaches. She messaged me last week begging for an appointment. She had gone to the doctor, gotten pills, taken them, and felt the headache was worse instead of better. I am […]
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Pectoralis Major
Posted on September 14, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Articles, bodywork, massage therapy, Shoulders, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Pectoralis Major Let’s talk about pectoralis major. Recently I taught an SMRT lower extremities course. During classes therapists/students finish their trades at slightly different times. There was a table in the room that finished with about 5 minutes left before I called time. The person working began to work on a tender spot their partner […]
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Erythema Nodosum
Posted on September 7, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Articles, bodywork, Legs, Lower Leg, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Erythema Nodosum One of my newer clients has erythema nodosum, a condition in which any pressure through touch on the lower leg causes tender nodules in the subcutaneous fat that can take weeks to resolve. Typically this condition resolves itself in a few weeks. This client has had it for years. Her pain complaints are […]
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Thyroidectomy & Vertigo
Posted on August 31, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Articles, Back & Spine, bodywork, Head & Neck, Hips & Sacrum, massage therapy, Massage Therapy Continuing Education, Ribs, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Thyroidectomy What happened in SMRT class in Pittsburgh? So much!! First, we had a therapist in class who had a thyroidectomy. The scar tissue in the front of her neck was pulling her chin and trachea inferior and posterior. On Saturday, we did SMRT for the anterior neck and I did some extra work on […]
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Relief without Pain
Posted on August 24, 2018 by Dawn in Abdomen, Anatomy, bodywork, massage therapy, Massage Therapy Continuing Education, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Relief Without Pain Imagine a world in which you, as a massage therapist, could change the tone of piriformis or psoas without using pressure or causing pain to the client, in a way that creates tonal balance from right to left and lasts. That is world of SMRT. A couple of years ago I met […]
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Thumb Pain
Posted on August 3, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Arm & Hand, bodywork, massage therapy, Ribs, Shoulders, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Thumbs up! I had an interesting thing happen during a session today. I was working on a client’s shoulder. Her pain complaint was her right thumb. She is a long time client, so we know that typically to alleviate the pain in her thumb, her shoulder needs to be worked. Her right scapula was immobile, […]
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Deep Tissue Issue
Posted on July 13, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, massage therapy, Massage Therapy Continuing Education, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique.Deep Tissue Issue This year I moved my practice out of my house and into an office. I decided to expand and hire other therapists, an acupuncturist, and a personal trainer. The philosophy of the SMRT Pain Relief Center is pain relief and management. Done through a combination of bodywork and exercise designed for each […]
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