What is Massage Therapy?
Massage therapy is the manual manipulation of soft tissues (muscle, fascia, ligament, tendon etc) with the main purpose of decreasing pain by improving muscle and joint function. A massage therapy treatment will also help improve the body’s overall blood flow and lymphatic circulation that will speed the healing process and improve the function of the immune system.
Massage therapists have specialized training to assess and treat a majority of soft tissue injuries along with other conditions that may negatively affect your life and well being. See the list below of conditions we work with. Massage therapy is for all ages, we treat babies right through to end of life. In this stressful world our children are benefiting from massage earlier then ever. They are dealing with musculoskeletal issues from sport and activities, anxiety issues, sleep disorders, and digestive issues just like adults.
Using specialized techniques, massage therapists have the ability to reduce muscle pain and spasm, decrease scar tissue, decrease tissue swelling, and improve range of motion and function of joints. When you visit your massage therapist, they will perform an assessment to determine the best treatment plan for your individual needs. All treatments will be explained to you and proceed only with your understanding and consent. This will usually include therapeutic massage, stretching, possible joint mobilizations, possible use of hydrotherapy, and an exercise plan to aid in rehabilitation and prevention. Your massage therapist will provide education on your condition if needed and specific hydrotherapy and exercises for your condition. Along with all the physical benefits, there are also the psychological benefits that include relaxation and thus stress and anxiety management, which will improve your heart rate and blood pressure.
Many private health insurance companies and governments group medical insurances provide full or partial coverage under extended health care plans. Some plans require a physician’s referral or other specific criteria. Check with your insurance plan to see what you are eligible for and what you require for coverage. Sarah and Anna direct bill to some extended benefit providers, check with us if you are interested.
How We Treat
Our Registered Massage Therapist (RMTs) graduated from OVCMT and since graduating have regularly attended continuing education courses. We are well qualified to assess and treat your injuries and chronic lifestyle symptoms. Each of us uses the tools from our schooling and extra courses to blend the below therapies in the way that is best for you and your body.
Each treatment includes:
- Assessment of your concerns/injuries
- Treatment with can include movement therapy and joint manipulation
- Soft tissue manipulation of skin, fascia, muscle, joint capsules, and blood flow
- Stretching and strengthening
- Education of what is going on in the body and how you can participate in your own healing
- Homecare exercises, Hydrotherapy, and daily life modifications to improve the condition
Usually, your therapist will work with you over a series of treatments and the above will be used at different points as your body is ready for them. You are an active pat of your massage therapy treatment. For you to achieve long lasting results, from chronic conditions, you may need to make some lifestyle and work position changes. We are moving bodies and need to keep our bodies moving, strong and stable. We will educate you on postural and movement improvements that will decrease the repetitive strains on your body that can be the root of the symptoms you fee. We will motivate you to do your homecare and participate in your wellness.
Are you looking for massage therapy in Vernon BC that’s suited to your body’s needs and your personal treatment preferences? The RMT’s at Tri Lake Massage & Wellness offer professional assessments and genuine, expert care.
NEUROMUSCLULAR THERAPY & TRIGGER POINT THERAPY
Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) is a deep tissue massage which uses static pressure and friction techniques to release areas of strain in a muscle. Specific myofascial or trigger points can be very tender and can have referral patterns that are treated with static pressure to relieve pain and dysfunction. NMT is also used at the musculotendinous junction to help restore proper muscle length. These techniques are blended with traditional Swedish Massage and used to treat specific conditions.
MYOFASCIAL THERAPY
Most practitioners and patients today use the term “myofascial therapy” to describe physical treatment methods applied to the skeletal muscles and their connective tissues. These tissues, as an anatomical and functional unit are referred to as “myofascia” or “myofascial tissues.”
There are may connective tissues in the body, but the ones targeted by this treatment are the fascia that surrounds each muscle, functional groups of muscles, and the layers of fascia covering the entire body. Treating this fascia, can be very effective in relieving postural distortions due to:
- past injuries
- work related positions
- habitual poor posture
Releasing the fascia that surrounds groups or individual muscles allows the muscle to get optimal blood flow. This maintains the health of the muscle tissue and helps to attain optimal performance out of the muscle. Myofascial Therapy is often done without oil or lotion so the fascia can be loaded to trigger the release of the fascia. This treatment can be combined with Swedish massage as a precursor to the oil application or as its own complete treatment.
SPORTS MASSAGE
Sports Massage is extremely beneficial for all levels of athletes. Massage during training helps you maximize your training and recover quickly from your workouts and massage prior to your events or games can have you at your peak for your race or game. It helps with injury prevention to manage the load placed on your body during training and competition.
Sports massage treatments may help with:
- Decreasing pain by reducing muscle soreness
- Enhanced circulation
- Reducing anxiety and promoting relaxation
- Promoting greater flexibility and range of motion through active and passive remedial exercises
At Tri Lake Massage & Wellness, our team includes the kind of RMT’s Vernon residents turn to for trusted professional health care.
Research: “The effects of athletic massage on delayed onset muscle soreness, creatine kinase (CK), and neutrophil count: a preliminary report”
Two hours after exercise, massage subjects received a 30 min athletic massage; control subjects rested. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and CK were assed before exercise and after exercise. The results of the study suggest that sports massage will reduce DOMS when administered 2 hrs after termination of exercise. (Smith LL, et al, J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 1994 Feb 19(2):93-9.)
PREGNANCY MASSAGE 
(pre & post natal)
Many women find massage very therapeutic both during and after pregnancy. During pregnancy it is important to support the body and how it changes throughout your pregnancy. There may be strains and soreness from the extra weight you are carrying and also from the joints starting to relax making the muscles work harder to support them. During your pre-natal massage session, our RMT’s will also give you ideas for self-care to support your wellness during this period.
After baby is born, it’s important to keep receiving massage therapy as your body is still going through large changes hormonally and physically returning to its original shape. In addition, you are now holding a growing baby and if you are breastfeeding, the position can cause upper back and neck tightness and discomfort. Our RMTs can also guide you in exercises to strength muscles that were weakened by pregnancy and delivery.
A pre-natal massage treatment may help to:
- Reduce general muscle tension and pain
- Decrease stress, depression and anxiety
- Improve mood and sleep
- Decrease back and pelvic pain
- Reduce headaches
- Manage symptoms of edema & sciatica
Research: “Pregnant women benefit from massage therapy”
Twenty-six pregnant women were assigned to pre-natal massage therapy or a relaxation therapy group for five weeks. Only the massage therapy group reported reduced anxiety, improved mood, better sleep and less back pain by the last day of the study. In addition, urinary stress hormone levels decreased for the massage therapy group with fewer complications during labour and their infants had fewer post-natal complications.
(Field T, et al., J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 1999 Mar, 20 (1):31-8)
STRESS MANAGEMENT & RELAXATION MASSAGE
Wellness massage is an excellent way to calm the nervous system and increase the circulation. Relaxation massage is not aimed at solving any specific areas of pain or dysfunction but is aimed at balancing the whole body, calming the nervous system, increasing the blood flow to help cleanse the whole body. By relaxing the system your body can heal itself and often it will help the client to have improved sleep.
A wellness massage for relaxation and stress release treatment may help to:
- Reduce muscle soreness
- Decrease stress, anxiety and depression
- Promote relaxation
- Decrease muscle tension
- Improve sleep
Research: “Stress hormone is reduced by massage therapy”
In this article the positive effects of massage therapy on biochemistry are reviewed including decreased levels of cortisol and increased levels of serotonin and dopamine. Research reviewed included studies on depression (including sex abuse and eating disorders studies), pain syndrome studies, research on auto-immune conditions (including asthma and chronic fatigue), immune studies (including HIV and breast cancer), and studies on the reduction of stress on the job, the stress of aging and pregnancy stress. (Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M, Schuanberg S, Kuhn C. Int. J Neurosci. Oct:115(10):1397-413).
HOT STONE MASSAGE
Hot stone massage is a specialty massage that uses smooth, heated stones to promote relaxation and to help open up the energy pathways. As the stone cools, the therapist replaces it with another. The heat of the stones helps muscles release more quickly than in traditional massage.
The therapist might also leave heated stones in specific points along your spine, in the palms of your hand, on your belly, or even between your toes to improve the flow of energy in your body. As this is your “treat”meant please speak up if the stones are too warm or the pressure too intense. If you have inflammation or muscle injury, cold stones are sometimes used.
Benefits of hot stone massage include:
- Alleviating stress
- Improving circulation
- Promoting deep muscle and tissue relaxation
- Releasing toxins
- Relieving pain
The Tri Lake massage therapy hot stone treatment can be used to improve conditions such as:
- arthritis
- circulatory problems
- depression
- fibromyalgia
- insomnia
- stress and anxiety
A hot stone massage is not indicated or would have to be modified in someone whom has a lack or change in skin sensation related to temperature in any area of his or her body, or advanced diabetes where circulation is severely impaired in the extremities.
ORTHO-BIONOMY®
Ortho-Bionomy has its origins in osteopathic techniques. It is often referred to as ‘the homeopathy of bodywork’ because the two modalities share the same principles. Both approaches exaggerate a pattern to stimulate the body’s self-healing reflexes (like cures like), use the smallest adjustment or dose necessary to bring about a healing response (less is more), may have an effect within minutes, and both work on all levels: physical, mental and emotional.
Working within the comfort zone of both the client and practitioner is one of the most important principles of Ortho-Bionomy, as creating resistance and tension is counter-productive to healing. Practitioners learn to track the person’s energy and ‘go with the flow.’ They follow principles based on respecting, honouring and accepting each individual’s inherent healing wisdom without judgment. Rather than trying to ‘change’ people physically or otherwise, the intent is to help them become conscious of what is going on within their bodies. This increased awareness helps them participate in their own self-correction, and enables them to regain their original patterns of balance and wellness.
Because Ortho-Bionomy has a strong connection to osteopathy, the practitioner learns craniosacral, visceral manipulation, muscle energy, and positional release and is able to blend all these techniques to best suit their client’s needs in that moment. The practitioner addresses the whole body in each session, working with what comes up and following the lines of pull, imbalance, or discomfort. By seeing the whole they are often able to resolve things more long lasting because they are dealing with the causes and not just the symptoms.
For more information on Orth-Bionomy go to:
https://www.discover-ortho-bionomy.com
For more information on practitioners near you or courses you can take visit:
Neurostructural Integration (NST)
NST is an extremely powerful multidimensional technique that has been specifically developed for the ongoing dynamic integration of the structure and viscera via stimulation of the central, peripheral autonomic nervous systems.
NST has its origins in Bowen Therapy. The creator of NST formulated a series of patterns of Bowen movements, which have been proven to effectively treat many different conditions.
The main objective of this therapy is to remove pain and dysfunctional physiological conditions by restoring the structural integrity of the body. In essence, NST provides the body with an opportunity to reintegrate on many levels, and thus return to and maintain normal homeostatic limits on a daily basis.
Muscle Energy Technique (MET)
Muscle energy technique (MET) is an osteopathic massage therapy technique based on the principle of reciprocal inhibition. A theory explains that muscles on one side of a joint will always relax to accommodate the contraction of muscles on the other side of that joint when indirect pressure is applied.
It is a manipulation used for diagnosis and treatment in which the patient’s muscles are actively used on request, from a controlled position, in a specific direction, and against a distinct counterforce provided by the therapist. The goal of MET is to correct motion restrictions and improve the client’s functional ability.
Muscle energy techniques are used to treat somatic dysfunction, especially decreased range of motion, muscular hypertonicity and pain. MET is used to reposition dysfunctional joints and treat the affected musculature, restoring proper joint biomechanics and postural alignment. It can be applied safely to almost any joint in the body and is used by athletes as a preventative measure to guard against future muscle and joint injury.
Because of the gentleness and effectiveness of MET, it is appropriate and safe to be used with the young and old, pregnant women, amputees, sports injuries, auto accidents, respiratory and general orthopedic conditions and some neurological conditions.
Are you looking for a gentle yet effective treatment for your sore muscles and joints?
Our RMT’s provide the kind of massage therapy Vernon athletes and those with muscle injuries seek because it gently and naturally improves range of motion.
Conditions We Treat
Musculoskeletal Concerns
- Arthritis (Rheumatoid, Ankylosing Spondylitis & Osteoarthritis)
- Bursitis
- Contusions
- Degenerative Disc Disease/Disc Herniations
- Duputren’s contracture
- Facet pain
- Fascial restrictions (i.e. Plantar Fasciitis)
- Fibromyalgia
- Frozen Shoulder/ Adhesive Capsulitis
- Illiotibial Band Impingment Syndrome
- Impingement syndrome
- Joints with restricted range of motion
- Muscle Cramps & Strains
- Muscle Tension & Spasms
- Patellar Tracking Dysfunction
- Post surgical replacement (i.e. shoulder, hip, knee)
- Posture related issues
- Scoliosis
- Shin Splints
- Spinal Stenosis
- Sports Related Concerns
- Sprains & Ligament Tears
- Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJ)
- Tendinitis (ie. Golfer/ Tennis Elbow)
- Tension Headaches
- Torticollis/ Wry Neck
- Trigger finger
- Whiplash and injury from motor vehicle accidents
Nervous System Concerns
- Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s
- Complex pain syndrome/ reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- Nerve Entrapment (Sciatic nerve lesions/ Impingement, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome)
- Neuralgias (Metatarsalgia, Intercostals, Trigeminal)
- Spastic Paralysis, Stroke
Wellness
- Infant massage
- Migraines
- Pregnancy massage (Pre/Postnatal)
- Sleep Issues
- Stress Management/relaxation
Circulatory Concerns
- Inflammation
- Edema & Diabetes
Digestive Concerns
- Visceral massage to decrease adhesions, increase motility, for colic
Mental Heath
- Anxiety & Depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Respiratory Health
- Asthma, COPD, Emphysema
Skin Heath
- Post-surgery scarring