17/01/2019
I have been practicing Therapeutic/Rehabillative massage full time, in private practice, for several years now...Being a professional Sports Massage Therapist has largely guided my experience to serve many people with chronic pain. Many of my clients have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Often they have a dual diagnosis of OA (osteoarthritis), hypothyroidism, and/or lupus.��I live and practice where we experience extremes of hot or cold weather shifts. It amazes me that, although my fibromyalgia clients live very different lives, vary greatly in age, and do not know one another, they all present with similar pain patterns. For example, when the summer begins many clients experience an increase in tenderpoint pain. Often they associate this with air conditioning and artificially cold environments. When we are facing a storm front, the pattern that presents is often a tight upper neck and head and/or forehead pain, and even migraines. In winter many clients relate that they are experiencing "fibro flares," meaning general fatigue, and overall flu-like pain with mild depression. Generally, therapeutic/Lymphatic drainage massage helps to decrease these symptoms.
I prefer to practice a massage technique that focuses on pain relief and mobility improvement...This combines trigger point therapy and myofacial release technique with relaxation techniques—in other words, long soothing strokes with mild rocking; then when the muscles are warm, a deeper pressure with deeper friction strokes over the knots to break down the fibers, release the toxins, and reduce the pain they create.
I have seen the impact massage therapy has on my fibromyalgia clients. They often enter the session feeling stiffness and discomfort, and leave feeling lighter and in less pain. I have also seen first hand the mood-elevating effect massage therapy has on a person who is feeling down.
Based on what I have experienced as a professional therapist I view therapeutic massage as a tool that can help people take ownership of their fibromyalgia in a positive, healing way. Regular sessions can help people reconnect with themselves, and facilitate a deep state of relaxation through which they can release some of their pain. During massage the breathing slows down, as does the heart rate. This leads to a state of deep relaxation, kind of a pre-sleep state. Once you have received several sessions, your body can become more conditioned to reproduce this state of deep relaxation.
