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A Comprehensive Guide To Describing Pain: Helping Us Help You

By: Drew Hume1 Comment

pain

Art by us, using images from: apa.org & wired.com.

When asked by your massage therapist, manual therapist or other medical professional to describe pain, it can be quite difficult to put it into words. It’s more important than you may realize to give your wellness-team a clear description so that they can use best-practices and ensure your safety, and an effective treatment. We’ve put this guide together for you, to help you help us in your treatment! Using these terms and expanding your pain-vocabulary to be able to clearly describe your pain or sensation helps us take the best possible approach when working with you. [Read more…]

Delicious Pain. It’s Actually A Real Thing In Massage.

By: Drew Hume4 Comments

delicious pain massageWhen it comes to massage pressure, there’s a full spectrum of “intensity”. Some people prefer less pressure, while others like more generous pressure. Quite often this is associated with their tolerance for, or their preference for sensation. Yet, it’s not quite that simple. Pain is never that simple. [Read more…]

Massage & Intimacy: The Issues, The Discussion & The Solution

By: Drew Hume8 Comments

intimacy as defined by pop culture

Image Source: powerofpositivity.com.

Massage is intimate. Right out of the gate, let’s get that one thing clear. Human touch is an intimate experience. You simply cannot change that. Whether it’s Thai massage with clothes on or Swedish massage, with clothes off. The thing is, intimacy is mostly [and incorrectly] confused with sexuality. This is a far-reaching issue that goes beyond massage alone and relates to our overall lack of touch vocabulary as a disconnected society.

I also want to establish from the beginning that I strongly dislike articles that use yoga and massage as sexual gateways [and click-bait]. Therefore this may be the only blog I ever publish related in any way to the discussion on sex. So it’s a thorough post, and it opens a number of different discussions. [Read more…]

“Hungry Tissues” – How Do We Know Where To Apply Pressure?

By: Drew Hume2 Comments

perfect massage pressure
Normally my writing is very scientific and supported with research. This particular post is backed by smaller a degree of science, and a larger degree of experience and “feeling”. Part of the reason why is because the science hasn’t yet been able to describe these things through study. So I will do my best to share with you, how we know the “just right” spots in massage, with less defined language. [Read more…]

Trigger Points: Those “Money Spots” in Massage.

By: Drew Hume5 Comments

trigger point

Image Source: massagefreo.com.au/.

When you hear [or say] “I have knots in my back”, you’re really being told about a range of different physiological phenomena. One of these, and possibly the most common, is myofascial trigger points (TrPs). They can show up almost anywhere in your body, and they can seemingly have no known cause. TrPs can also cause a surprising amount of pain and discomfort, and their patterns of pain aren’t generally localized to the area of insult, but often referred to other regions of the body. Trigger Points are tricky beasts that can create surprisingly intense and odd sensations given that the physiology behind them is relatively subtle. [Read more…]

Tendinosis Is Far More Common Than Tendinitis

By: Drew Hume4 Comments

Chordae tendineae in heart

Image Source: punctualdork.com

Building on a previous post where I mentioned that Plantar Fasciitis should more accurately be referred to as “Plantar Fasciosis“, we’re revisiting that discussion in more depth. It’s important to understand the physiological differences in these conditions, because it helps us to provide more effective treatment. More appropriate treatment means faster recovery with less chance of re-injury. [Read more…]

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