Stress. This is something we can all relate to. Some handle it better or worse than others, but we are all exposed to stress in its many incarnations. Clichés abound – “I work well under pressure”, “the pressure is getting to me”, or “I can’t handle the stress anymore” – we have all used them before and commonly more than once. I do believe some individuals respond well to stress, drama, adversity and all the complexities of life. However, no matter how well that person functions under their stress, there needs to be an outlet. If sustained stress is left unchecked for a long period of time, it veers out of control, affecting the body’s chemistry, hormonal balance, overall health, and disease states.

The stress-cycles we find ourselves in need to be broken by balancing our distress (the bad stress) with eustress (the positive stress). Exercise is certainly one way to do this (did I just hear you groan?). Find an activity with an active component you enjoy. As long as it gets your heart rate up a bit, the health benefits will counteract the stress in your life.

Again, it’s all about breaking the monotonous stranglehold of your negative stressors. This is one reason why Massage Therapy is beneficial to any individual's overall health and well-being. Most patients leave a Massage Therapy treatment feeling invigorated, revitalized, recharged, and just plain, well,... mellow. Why? Simply because their stress levels have been brought back down to a more manageable level. They have been re-calibrated. Periodic treatments are advantageous as daily stressors are reintroduced and stress levels begin to increase.

Yoga, Pilates, and forms of meditation have
exploded in recent years providing destressing solutions that compliment Massage Therapy and other forms of Exercise. Exercise and combined stress-busting philosophies of these popular disciplines are now mainstream and easily accessible. Re-addressing your stress hinges upon your personal responsibility. Recognizing a problem and then executing the necessary changes is a simple concept in a multi-billion dollar industry, but it’s success long-term is dependent on your discipline, self-awareness and self-control. Finding the best approach for you to continually motivate yourself and take control of your stress is key.

Article by Graeme Wilson RMT
©2007 All Rights Reserved.

Our perspective for this topic is that it is in fact monotonous information that you will be able to find anywhere online. However, why would we redirect you when we are also capable of defining multiple conditions that may pertain to you? Ultimately, our passion lies not in how we describe various conditions – but how effectively we treat them. Therefore, we would be remiss not to provide you with this outline as we recognize the need for the following common conditions to be understood. Click on any of the listed conditions below to learn more (appearing in alphabetical order):

circulatory and respiratory conditions
inflammatory conditions
jaw pain and TMJ
motor vehicle accidents (MVA) and whiplash
muscle tension headaches and migraines
repetitive strain injury (RSI) and muscle spasm
sports injury
sprains, strains, and "knots"
stress and anxiety


circulatory and respiratory conditions
Massage Therapists are trained to treat and apply the appropriate techniques with these types of conditions – everything from varicose veins, diabetes, and hypertension to chronic congestive heart failure and bronchitis. With careful Case History intake, consideration is given to pre-existing conditions and then safe treatment is performed. The Fix treats many patients with multiple conditions that includes circulatory and respiratory conditions, in a compentent and effective manner.

back to the pot


inflammatory conditions
Well, now, this can cover a broad range... basically, when you pull a muscle, or have a flare-up of an inflammatory arthritide (rheumatoid arthritis), the process of inflammation is common and getting it under control is key. Regardless of the source of the inflammation, you will indeed feel pain. Inflammation is the body's way of reacting to a stressor, its protective mechanism, and it contributes to your overall pain experience. Massage Therapists typically work around these acute Inflammatory Conditions to avoid interference with the body's natural healing process, yet certain indirect techniques and modalities allow us to treat the affected area to reduce its painful stimulus. Over time, if the injury is left untreated, chronic adhesions and the 'dreaded' scar tissue form in the area's joints and surrounding tissues, thus reducing mobility and function. This may also predispose individuals to secondary conditions which, naturally, anyone would like to avoid as much as possible! The Fix focusses on prevention and avoiding future problems with treatment.

back to the pot


jaw pain and TMJ
Jaw pain – Temporo Mandibular Joint Syndrome or TMJ. Massage Therapy can often be the solution to seemingly unrelated problems. TMJ-related tension headaches is an excellent example. Patients that we have seen are often surprised that muscle imbalance and tightness in their jaw muscles are directly contributing to their headaches. In many cases, patients may experience referral pains (pain patterns remote from the source) in parts of their head or jaw. Invariably, toothache, root canal, or wisdom tooth involvement is suspected. Thorough evaluation from a dentist via X-ray and/or palpatory findings often rules this out. Tooth wear may also indicate bruxism – stress induced grinding of the teeth usually in your sleep. A good Massage Therapist too can usually quantify likely causes. And a good dentist will tell you in these situations, "It's not the tooth..."

The good news is in most cases, once identified, the condition can quickly be remedied. We have had cases where one treatment session has immediately resolved the condition. Others may take longer but rarely has no improvement been noted. Both intra-oral and extra-oral* work is indicated as the structures involved may only be accessed in this fashion. PLUS, this approach is exponentially more effective. Once symptoms decrease, an individualized exercise program is demonstrated to the patient and given as self-care, and it doesn't involve gum chewing. Resistance exercises are also incorporated into the treatment session and progress is charted. Any and all contributing or aggravating factors are identied, eliminated, and at the very least, modifed to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

Just remember... it may not be the dreaded toothache or wisdom tooth acting up on us. It may be TMJ mimicking a dental emergency...

* intra-oral work is done inside the mouth, wherein (non) latex gloves are used much to that of a dentist, while extra-oral work is done on the outside of the mouth.


back to the pot

motor vehicle accidents (MVA) and whiplash
Whiplash is an injury to the neck caused by the neck bending forcibly forward and then backward, or vice versa. The injury usually involves the muscles and ligaments of the neck. Most whiplash injuries are the result of a collision that includes sudden acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle or when a person is involved in a rear-end automobile collision.

Symptoms of whiplash may include neck pain, neck stiffness, shoulder pain, low back pain, dizziness, pain or numbness in the arm and/or hand, ringing in ears, blurred vision, concentration or memory problems, irritability, sleeplessness, and fatigue.

Additionally, some bruising may occur in the seatbelt area. If rotation or turning of the neck is involved, then other structures in the neck may be affected, such as the nerves which pass between the vertebrae and out to the arm. The symptoms of whiplash may resemble other conditions and medical problems.

back to the pot


muscle tension headaches and migraines
Okay, here's where it gets interesting. The vast majority of headaches are muscle tension related, or cervicogenic in nature. They arise from tightness in the neck/shoulder region hands down. You can have a splitting, wicked headache you'd swear is a Migraine – maybe even self-diagnose it as a Migraine (how dare you?) – but realistically, it may just be a bad headache. The good news is both Muscle Tension Headaches and clinically-diagnosed Migraines can be helped with massage. Why? Muscles and soft tissue in the neck, head, and shoulder area can greatly influence the severity and duration of both forms of headaches. Proper assessment, of course, will differentiate between classifications of headaches and determine protocols.

back to the pot


repetitive strain injury (RSI) and muscle spasm
Everyday activities basically determine just how and where we develop Repetitive Strain Injury and the inevitable Muscle Spasm relationship that develops. Tasks we perform over and over – static, awkward positions we assume daily are at the root of the problem. Does this sound familiar? And it doesn't happen out-of-the-blue as much as it seems – it's usually accumulative. We just don't always recognize it, or rather, we foolishly ignore it... Problem is, the more we dismiss the irritant, the worse the condition becomes. This is generally when we meet you.

back to the pot


sports injury
We move, we play, we wreck ourselves! Sports bring out the best and worst in us, and when we fall, we fall hard. Every type of injury can result from our relentless pursuit of bettering our performance, setting personal goals, or just having fun. We don't always bring it upon ourselves or even ask for it (ever been gooned?), but it's an understood risk in any sporting activity. Knees, ankles, elbows, low back, shoulders, hips – you name it, we have seen it. Better yet, we know how to treat the lot. After all, we are athletes as well.

back to the pot


sprains, strains, and "knots"
Ever twist or roll your ankle? yeah just about everyone out there, well this is very common form of sprain. In the short-term 48-72 hrs thereafter, we will dispel the hot vs. cold confusion as we aquaint you with your new best friend Mr. or Mrs. Icepack and not the hot-tub. And massage, yes massage, is indicated even during this early stage with certain considerations: generally on-site treatment is avoided initially, and even orthopaedic testing may be inconclusive and false-positive testing is common. This is usually due to the pain and guarding factors at an early stage of injury. Despite this we can get a grasp of the scope of damage that has occurred, work gingerly around the injury, control the swelling, apply ice, ultrasound, laser, interferential current, tens all in an effort to provide relief but not interfere with the early healing process. And this is key: knowing what to do and when to do it is what maximizes overall recovery – from the onset of injury to retraining the neural pathways to return your proprioception and strength and mobility effectively. In other words, regaining your pre-injury state. Importantly, specific massage techniques are applied as scar tissue forms to ensure excessive, chronic adhesions do not play havoc in the months and even years after injury. Chronic, unattended to scar-tissue can be treated, but it is like curing cement, the longer you wait the harder it becomes. If you've been told your muscles or soft-tissue is fibrous, this is the same thing. And in many cases it is secondary to an old injury that was not effectively rehabilitated. We see a lot of this.

back to the pot


stress and anxiety
We all experience Stress in our lives, it's normal. The trick is learning how to manage it. Sometimes stress levels can increase to the point where it negatively affects our lives. When we feel threatened (stressed) our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) is stimulated. If the threat of stress is removed after a short time, there is no problem. But continued Stress moves the body out of balance. Stress can build up in our bodies much like snow accumulating on a mountain. Sometimes it just takes a little thing to set off an avalanche.

While not everyone has the same reaction to Stress, elevated levels of Stress generally translate into an inability to function at your peak, resulting in poorer grades. Numerous scientific studies have shown Massage Therapy to be highly effective in reducing stress levels as well as having a host of other very impressive health benefits.

Anxiety is not fear or stress (though it may be related to those two!). Fear and stress both have specific contributing factors that can be identified. Anxiety's cause is usually much harder to find. Anxiety is also a continuum, from everyday worry to panic, obsessive-compulsive disorders, phobias, and post-traumatic stress.

There are many ways to relieve Stress and Anxiety and it is important to learn what works for you. For many, a stress-reducing massage session is an excellent tool for coping. By using a variety of hands-on techniques, a skilled Therapist can help reduce Stress by affecting the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and repose). Massage can help you relax, get back into balance, step back, and get refreshed and energized so you can go back to productive work.

back to the pot