Category Archives: massage therapy
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Working the Head and Face
Posted on February 2, 2020 by Dawn in Anatomy, bodywork, Head & Neck, Human Body, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueWritten by Dawn Lewis I am going to say something radical. The bones in the head and face are not, I repeat, not fused in adult humans. I know that is the common wisdom in western medicine. I believe that this is because medical professionals do not work directly with the head and face. Why […]
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Floating Pain
Posted on April 26, 2019 by Dawn in Anatomy, Articles, Back & Spine, Hips & Sacrum, Human Body, Lower Back, Lower Extremities, Lower Leg, massage therapy, Massage Therapy Continuing Education, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueFloating Pain I want to describe a session I recently had with you. Client’s complaint was hip and pelvic pain that “floated” into the lower back once in awhile. I started at the feet. I checked the plantar flexion and dorsiflexion in each ankle. The right ankle moved easier into plantar flexion with limited dorsiflexion. […]
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Shoulder Pain & Limited ROM
Posted on March 28, 2019 by Dawn in Anatomy, Back & Spine, bodywork, Human Body, massage therapy, Ribs, Shoulders, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueReferral Last week I saw a new client sent to me by a doctor I know. She has shoulder pain and limited ROM. The doctor had sent her to physical therapy because her insurance would pay for physical therapy. The physical therapist could do nothing to her shoulder without her feeling intense pain and making […]
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Bladder Issues
Posted on March 19, 2019 by Dawn in Abdomen, Anatomy, bodywork, Hips & Sacrum, massage therapy, NCBTMB approved continuing education, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueBladder Issues I am teaching SMRT hips, lower back, & abdomen right now. Getting to Fort Worth for this class was an adventure. We had an enormous blizzard in Aurora, they cancelled my flight, closed all major (and most minor) highways in and out of the city, I decided to drive around the highway closure, […]
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Shoulder Injuries
Posted on February 22, 2019 by Dawn in Anatomy, massage therapy, Shoulders, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueShoulder Injuries Yesterday, I saw a woman for the first time who has a work related shoulder injury. She was not sent to me through workman’s compensation, she is paying out of pocket. Her doctors have been telling her that her pain and limited ROM are psychosomatic. One of the physical therapists she was sent […]
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Shoulder Muscles
Posted on February 15, 2019 by Dawn in Anatomy, massage therapy, Shoulders, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueShoulder 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 TechniqueAbdomen 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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Sacroiliac Joint Anatomy
Posted on January 19, 2019 by Dawn in Anatomy, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueSacroiliac Joint Anatomy Let’s talk about some sacroiliac joint anatomy. The sacroiliac (SI) joint is the articulation between the sacrum and the iliums of the coxal bones. The anterior sacroiliac joint ligaments blend with the fibers of the iliacus muscle at its origin in the iliac fossa. What does this mean? This means that misalignments/tension/lack […]
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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 TechniqueAbdominal 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 TechniqueShortened 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 ElbowA 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 TechniqueDeep 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 Basic Series
Posted on November 12, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, Articles, bodywork, Hips & Sacrum, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release TechniqueSMRT 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 TechniqueCRPS 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 TechniqueWeird 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 TechniqueHip 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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Pelvic Floor Scarring
Posted on October 5, 2018 by Dawn in Anatomy, massage therapy, SMRT, Spontaneous Muscle Release Technique, Trouble UrinatingPelvic Floor Scarring I am on my way to Albany to teach SMRT: hips, lower back, and abdomen. As I think about this class, I am reminded of a therapist who took this class several years ago. She had a 3-year-old son. Since giving birth, and having tearing in her pelvic floor, she had only […]
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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 ReviewsGluteal 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 TechniqueChronic 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 TechniquePectoralis 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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