Another Post About Pain - Actually, Losing It (Temporarily, I Mean)

I've got this great massage therapist, named Peter, who I've been training for a while now, and it appears he has finally graduated. Now, I should probably, in the spirit of full disclosure, tell you he is already licensed, so the training I refer to here is regarding my particular feet. I've probably been to a hundred or so massage therapists in my life, and only one other "took" to the training I offered. The rest merely got this condescending look that said "who are you to tell me how to do massage, bub?" And then went and did whatever they wanted to do. Even when I screamed in pain. Funny, huh?

So, Peter. Guy really knows how to open up the old sinus tarsi, if you know what I mean (nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) (Extra points if you know the episode that comes from.) He stretches the joints rather than trying to push his fingers through the joint and out the other side. And holds that stretch for juuust the right amount of time. Aaaaahhhhhh. What can I say - he just "gets" me.

By the time he finishes with me, I can get sometimes as much as two full days without the extreme pain, and often gets it down to about a 2-3 on that scally thing for pain, which is really quite wonderful. Pete's a keeper, for sure.

But it occurred to me that it would be an interesting thing to approach one of the local massage schools to offer a specialty class for doing massage with people with disabilities. As the musculo-skeletal system is often not "exactly" the same as so-called "normals," the approach to a body with a disability also needs to be different. This would apply as well to those with arthritis. The motions and techniques that work with a non-disabled body may, and often do, cause a painful reaction in other types of bodies.

The thing about stretching, rather than applying direct pressure, is that many joints hurt because of their position, loss or lack of cartilage, poor opposition (meaning one group of muscles is weaker than their opposing group of muscles, and thus not as able to maintain a good joint position.) The act of slowly stretching, and holding at stretch, a particular joint, allows several things to occur. For one thing, it tells you where the need for further work is needed. It also helps slowly overcome any soft-tissue spasms, allowing a more full and normal range of motion for that joint. This is especially helpful around our more complex joints - shoulders, hip, subtalar. Such joints have a greater number of soft tissue connections and interactions, and thus, a greater likelihood of poor opposition setting in.

So, for those of you out there making regular use of a massage therapist, I urge you to educate them on what really works for you, especially with your feet. Oh, and a good physical therapist helps, too. They will be able to help you discover the sites with the greatest need, which you can use to further educate your massage therapist.

All this talk of massage makes me want to call Peter right now, to set up my next appointment. Where'd I put his number?