How Often Should I Get a Massage?

Posted on June 19, 2019February 26, 2023 by Tricia Griffith

For most people, three things factor into planning how often you get a massage: your life, your goals for massage, and your budget.

What’s My Life Schedule Like?

Your life schedule is a pretty big planning factor. How easy is it for you to take time out of your life to schedule an appointment? I try to provide a variety of times of day for appointment availability to help with that. This includes Sunday afternoons, and a bit later in the evening on Monday and Tuesday.

Many people find planning ahead helpful. If we know you want to try bi-weekly appointments, we can schedule several out ahead of time. This makes it easier to get the time slot you want. Then, you can put it into your planner and schedule the rest of your life around it!

Why Am I Getting a Massage?

On average, most people seem to find monthly sessions great for maintenance and stress relief. If you’re dealing with significant physical issues, it’s not a bad idea to try coming in more frequently. This helps get things settled into more of a maintenance level.

Weekly sessions are fantastic for really working at problem areas. With therapeutic massage, we’re trying get your body out of the holding pattern creating the muscle pain. Coming in weekly helps us catch that holding pattern before it starts to seize up again. Eventually, we remind your muscles of what it feels like to be neutral and relaxed.

Can’t decide how long of an appointment to schedule? See the post “How Long of a Massage Appointment Should I Schedule?” for some insight on the various appointment lengths.

Bi-weekly and monthly appointments for managing muscle pain and tension work fairly well, too. This is especially true if you’re willing to work on whatever is causing the problem at home between appointments. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Notice how you sit at your computer
Pay attention to how you walk or stand
Incorporate stretching or range of motion exercises into your day

What’s My Budget Like?

Budget is probably the biggest factor in the frequency of massage appointments. Weekly sounds great, but I totally understand if buying gas for your car or feeding your kids takes precedence. Here are some ideas for budgeting for massage:

Schedule 30 minute weekly or bi-weekly appointments.
Prepay for a series of massages when you have extra money.
Put $5, $10, or $20 into your account at my office every payday.

Feel free to contact me to discuss your massage needs, or talk to me at your next appointment. We can work out a plan that fits your life and your budget.

What Are "The Winter Blues"?

Posted on February 13, 2017February 26, 2023 by Tricia Griffith

Maybe you start to feel it as the days get shorter, or it really kicks in when it’s getting dark out at 4:00 in the afternoon. You might be dreading the dark, cold days of winter for more reasons than just having a lot of snow to shovel. You’re not alone. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a subtype of major depression that the National Institutes of Health estimates affects 6% of the US population, primarily those living in northern climates. Another 14% of the US adult population suffer from less severe form of seasonal mood changes, sometimes referred to as “winter blues”.
Since SAD is a form of major depression, it is important to be aware of the symptoms of depression in yourself or your loved ones. According to the Mayo Clinic, these symptoms may include:

Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day
Feeling hopeless or worthless
Having low energy
Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
Having problems with sleeping
Experiencing changes in your appetite or weight
Feeling sluggish or agitated
Having difficulty concentrating
Having frequent thoughts of death or suicide

Symptoms specific to winter onset SAD or “winter blues” may also include:

Irritability
Tiredness or low energy
Problems getting along with other people
Hypersensitivity to rejection
Heavy, “leaden” feeling in the arms or legs
Oversleeping
Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates
Weight gain

It’s okay to have bad days, or to feel down on occasion. However, if you’re feeling bad or experiencing these symptoms for days at a time, or if they are affecting your ability to get out and do the things you enjoy, you should talk to your doctor. This is especially important if you are experiencing changes in appetite or sleep patterns, or thoughts of suicide.

What Causes SAD?

While the exact causes of SAD or Winter Blues are not know, it’s believed that changes in the amount of sunlight can throw off your internal clock (circadian rhythm) and leave not sleeping well, or feeling tired and depressed. Reduced sunlight levels may also decrease your body’s production of serotonin, a chemical that affects mood, and melatonin, which also has a role in mood and sleep patterns.
When the weather is freezing cold or you’re snowed in by a blizzard, you’re probably also not getting enough exercise, which can decrease your energy level and add to feelings of depression. Being reluctant to leave the house may also leave you feeling like a hermit!

What Can Help?

First of all, I’m a massage therapist, not a psychologist, so please, if you are feeling depressed or suicidal, contact a professional. You can reach the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or on their website suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Next, try to get out of the house! Call a friend for lunch. Go to that party even though it seems like a lot of work to put on boots and a coat. Get out for a walk, or snowshoe, or ski. If cold weather exercise is not your thing, join a gym or go walk in the mall. Take yourself on a date to a museum or a movie.
Of course, massage therapy can help! It has been shown that massage has positive effects on the body’s chemistry. Cortisol levels, which can increase with stress, are decreased. Production of serotonin and dopamine increase, which can improve your mood and reduce feelings of depression. Massage also lowers your blood pressure and reduce chronic pain that may be affecting your sleep.
If you’re struggling with SAD or just feeling down, talk to your doctor, then consider giving regular massage a try. It’s important to take time for yourself and take care of yourself, despite (and because of) all of your responsibilities and stresses. Besides all of the chemical and physical benefits, massage just simply helps you “feel good” and can help you get through the worst of the winter blues.

Hand Pain? It May Not Be Arthritis

Posted on January 16, 2017February 26, 2023 by Tricia Griffith

Do you wake up with stiff, sore fingers? I have had several people mention fears of early arthritis (without confirmation by a doctor). You should of course see a doctor if you’re concerned about your health, however there is a possibility that it is not arthritis.

Here is a little something to try. Relax your forearm on your desk or a table and feel the muscles of your arm with your other hand. When relaxed, those muscles should feel relatively soft, and the skin should move around easily. If your forearm feels hard, and maybe the skin doesn’t even move very much, then your muscles are hypertonic, in a state of tension or abnormally high muscle tone.

You may not realize just how much your arm and fingers are interconnected. If you look at this diagram of the muscles of your forearm and hands, you can see that the flexing and extending of your fingers involves muscles that travel over your wrist, up your forearm, and even across your elbow.

To further illustrate how connected they are, here’s another demonstration. Place your forearm palm up on the table again and relax it, with your fingers somewhat straightened. Take your other hand and apply pressure to the muscles just below your wrist, and push towards your elbow, as you might see in a massage stroke. With a bit of pressure, this should make your fingers flex/curl towards your palm. Cool, huh?

This type of muscle tension most often affects people who use their hands and wrists a lot, and can be a precursor, or happen in conjunction with carpal tunnel syndrome. This means if you spend a lot of time at your computer, play an instrument, paint, hammer, knit, or do other work where you use your hands a lot, or in awkward positions, you may experience this problem. Of course you know I’m going to say it… “Massage can help!”

During your massage, I can tell you if those muscles are hypertonic, (have extra tension in them). We can do some different levels of moderate to deep tissue work to help loosen them up and get your forearm and hand moving better and feeling better. The best part? I can show you a few tricks to do at home to help keep them a bit more pliable going forward and make your mornings a little less stiff, and your days a little less painful!

That Knot in Your Stomach

Posted on November 21, 2016February 26, 2023 by Tricia Griffith

Constipation. It happens to the best of us. No one likes to talk about it.
But wait, there’s hope! Don’t be embarrassed to talk to your massage therapist about it! When most people think of massage, they think of their aching back, tired feet, or stiff neck. They don’t often think about their neglected tummy. Stress, diet, or the side effects of many medications can lead to constipation and its related discomforts.
The thought of baring our stomach to a massage therapist might have its own share of discomfort. It’s the part of our body least protected by sturdy bones, or for many of us, strong muscles. We instinctively curl inward towards a fetal position when feeling stressed, in danger, or defensive, protecting our center.
However, if you’re having constipation, abdominal massage can do wonders to help you get things moving again. Gentle abdominal massage in a clockwise direction, following the direction of your intestinal tract, helps to relax abdominal muscles and stimulate the movement of digested food through your system. It’s also a lot more pleasant than harsh laxatives, particularly if you already take a lot of medications.
Along with aiding in digestion, abdominal massage may be of benefit to people with chronic lower back pain. When stomach muscles are tense and shortened, whether from stress or postural changes, this tends to have a stretching, stressing effect on the muscles in our lower back. By lengthening and relaxing abdominal muscles, we take the strain off the lower back.
You don’t need to be self conscious about your belly. A professional massage therapist is not going to judge you or your body. They are thinking about the muscles underneath, how they are held, and what they can do to help them back into the proper tone and ease your discomfort. We see all kinds of bodies during the course of our practice, and we kind of think they’re all a miracle of chemistry, cells and maybe a little magic that makes you a beautiful human being.
So, at your next massage appointment, don’t be afraid to mention constipation or suggest to your therapist that you might like to add abdominal massage to your massage routine. You’ll be glad you did!