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 […]
Comments Off on Shoulder Muscles Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Abdomen Work Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Persistent Knee Pain Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Psoas Major Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Shortened Hip Flexors Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on A Mean Headache Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Deep Muscle & Connective Tissue Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on SMRT Schedule for 2019 Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on SMRT Basic Series Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Severe Lower Back Pain Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Back Pain Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Hip Girdle Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Gluteal Amnesia Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Chronic Headaches Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Pectoralis Major Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Erythema Nodosum Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Thyroidectomy & Vertigo Continue Reading...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 […]
Comments Off on Relief without Pain Continue Reading...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, […]
Comments Off on Thumb Pain Continue Reading...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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