When To Arrive For Your Appt.

You call or email for an appointment... The day arrives, the time creeps up and you show up for our 4pm massage. Where is the clock? Are you on time? Do you need to prepare? Will you need to fill out paperwork?

If it is your first visit, please arrive at the very least 5 minutes prior to your appt time to fill out paperwork. This includes your health history, some contact info, and a review of my late/cancellation policy. You may even want to show up more than 5 minutes early to use the restroom etc.

If you have seen me before, please still arrive about 5 minutes prior to your appt.

I do prefer to begin the actual massage at the appointment time. So if you have a 4 pm appointment, please show up at least 3:55pm. This gives you enough time to use the restroom, get some water, and for us to chat about what your goals are and how we will accomplish them. There are times when I run a bit late and that will of course not reflect in your massage time. Every single massage had buffer time booked into it. This way I can chat with you about ergonomics, stretching, thoroughly understand what is going on with your body, or just what is new with you.

Point being: If you are a new client and show up exactly at your appt time or later, this will reflect in you time on the massage table. If you are a repeat client, please do not come late. :)

Gift Certificate Policies

A gift certificate it is a fantabulous gift! You give someone the wonderful gift of a massage when it is convenient for them. Unfortunately, every once and awhile the envelope will get stashed away to the bottom of the drawer only to be discovered after it has expired. Will I honor it? No.

You have 1 full year to redeem the massage. Most often than not, the GC was purchased with a holiday discount. I cannot honor an expired GC for multiple reasons. A. It is not fair for those that saw it had expired and did not try to use it. B. It is not fair for me to honor a discounted, expired GC when my rates had maybe gone up as well. C. If I let one person I have to let everyone. D. That is not how any other business works so don't expect mine to be any different. I would like to see someone try to bring an expired GC to Macy's, or Babies R Us, or any other store and expect them to honor it. They won't no matter how hard you plead. I am not trying to swindle anyone out of a massage or money, I just ask that people respect me as a business and business owner.

Like I said, you have 1 full year to redeem a Gift Certificate.

When to alternate between Ice and Heat.

In my newsletter I will discuss when it is appropriate to use heat versus ice. It is also quite beneficial to alternate between the two. It is confusing, but also effective.

First you have to prevent epidermis injury. Make sure not to burn nor freeze yourself. Apply the next therapy after the skin has somewhat visibly recovered from the previous an. Each application only lasting a max of about 10-20 minutes each.

Second, this alternating therapy is used between an injury being acute and chronic. The first 48 hours of an injury you want to apply ice, ice massage, cold bath, etc. Then this is when you alternate between ice and heat. This stage lasts around 48-72 hours. Then you would move on to heat. With ice applications when necessary. ALWAYS END WITH ICE. This is to prevent any type of further swelling or inflammation.

Third, why....... When alternating you are keeping the swelling down, but at the same time promoting circulation. Ice causes vasoconstriction (closing of small blood vessels) and heat causes vasodilation (opening of small blood vessels). Using both produces a stronger pump for your blood to bring in more nutrients and to take away swelling, inflammation, and built up metabolic waste from the injury.

Preventative Health

Receiving massages on a regular basis helps to prevent tightness and dis-ease from occurring. Obviously with regular massage you are getting loosened up often enough to help prevent too much tension from building up. There is another huge way massage works with prevention; that is education. If I had a nickel for every time a client noticed a new area of tension during the massage, I could retire. When receiving a massage, we can really feel what areas of our body are tight or sore and in turn, we can go back to our lives and work on that group. Did you not realize your back was tight prior to the session? Now you know to go back and work on your low back, core, and hips in your life. Meaning, what am I doing to cause this? How can I adjust my habits to prevent this? Where can I add in more stretch time? When you realize these areas of hidden tightness you can then work at preventing dysfunction of your muscular-skeletal system. Why do you want to prevent something like this if you are receiving massages regularly anyways? Well, who wants to be in pain or discomfort? Also, our bodies work much better if we are using them in a way they are designed to function. With a little teamwork, we can live a bit more smoothly and pain-free.

Black Swan

Multiple clients have been asking me about the diaphragm work done in The Black Swan so I went to see it. Plus, it gave me an excuse to spend the afternoon with my girlfriends. First thing's first, I really enjoyed this movie. Now, back to massage. I do diaphragm work and though my technique is different, there is only one way to get that muscle. It looks painful in the movie, but in reality it isn't so bad. I have always had tight abdominal muscles so I have personally had massage done in this area a lot. It is helpful if you need it. It won't feel great like getting your shoulder worked on, but it will feel fabulous when it is loosened up.

Since my newsletter was about change and how massage assists with change I thought I could tie this in with it. We all have goals, whether they are professional or personal, and we all have obstacles we have to get over along the way. The Black Swan really exemplified how we can all be our own worst enemy and nay-sayer. Many times, our biggest obstacle is ourself.

Massage and My Baby

If you recall, I posted awhile ago that my baby son did not really like my massages. Well, Zack is 10 months and he still prefers my husband. When My husband massages him prior to naps or bedtime, he lies still and relaxes. When I do it, he wriggles and tries to escape. Does he not know I am a professional??

Do I take medication?

I sure do! When times are tough, why not? I do promote going without if possible and I follow that myself. If something hurts, I figure out why. What is the cause? How can I adjust or eradicate the cause to relieve myself of the symptoms? After I figure that out, I usually wait and see how it goes. Most times this is all I need. If I injured myself or I can tell if something is inflamed, I will surely use ice or Biofreeze over taking an anti-inflammatory. If the pain is not going away or I am about to go to a playgroup with 6 infants, then it is time to consult the medicine cabinet.

During allergy season... I certainly will take a decongestant. Do you really want to hear me sniffling throughout your massage??

Ahhhhh

I used to get a 90 minute massage every week. However, with running a business and taking care of a baby on the move it has slipped a bit. I am on an intense workout program so I should be more vigilant than ever, but life takes over sometimes.... I had my massage this morning and I have no words besides a big long . How does a massage make me feel? Like myself again. Yes, I feel looser, pain free and more relaxed but it goes deeper than that. My body feels like it is functioning how it is supposed to. My parts are moving smoothly with a wide range of motion, I can breathe better, I feel lighter..... I just feel like a free woman on the move and nothing can stop me. You simply cannot bottle that feeling.

Sleep

My upcoming newsletter is on sleep. I have always been a strong advocate on sleeping and slothing when appropriate. This is why I love Sundays; I never feel guilty about laying around and being lazy. Of course the definition of lazy is different when you are running around after a baby and trying to loose 5 pounds/month. Nonetheless, I find a way. ;) The medical field suggests everyone should get about 8-9 hours of sleep per night. Though my husband lives happily on 6-7. I know many people that survive on much less. I say survive, b/c our bodies really need sleep to function properly. I myself need at least 8 hours to feel normal. 9 hours and I feel like Snow White waking up to the animals singing in the forest. Do I get my 8 hours? Yes. I make it a priority. I am more of a morning person so my productivity level at night is zero. I know that I will be running on empty for a good part of the day if I don't get 8 hours so I make it happen. If I go to bed on time, I can wake up naturally on my own, feel good, and am ready to tackle the day. And I do! If I get 30 minutes less, forget it. I am pretty useless. I owe it to myself, my family, and my clients to get the right amount of sleep so I can function at my highest ability. Another reason sleep is so important to me..... I am allergic to caffeine.

How long should I schedule for?

I offer 30, 60, 75 and 90 minute sessions. Here is a breakdown of what you should make an appointment for.
30 Minute Massage - 30 minutes is only enough time to work on one muscle group. Have a kink in your neck? Did your hamstrings pull out your low back? This length session is good for working out a specific muscle problem in one grouping of muscles. Or... if you simply want to relax and don't want too much deep work done, I can do your whole back or multiple muscle groups.
60 Minute Massage - This is the most popular length session. I can do a full body massage and focus on a few specific muscular issues. Or I can spend the hour in one area and be real specific and get real deep in with the massage work. For example - I often will work on clients' back, shoulders, arms and neck only for the full hour if they sit at a desk and need a lot of therapeutic work done.
75 Minute Massage - 75 minutes is good if 60 minutes is not quite enough. I have time to do more specific work on more muscle groups, or I can so something like the example above then work on your hips and legs real quick with deeper Swedish techniques.
90 Minute Massage - 90 minutes is good if you have a laundry list you want me to work on. especially if they are larger muscle groups. For instance, you are a runner and sit at the computer all day. You will most likely need extra deep work on multiple larger muscle groups. Nothing less than 90 minutes will do.

How did I become a MT?

When did I become a massage therapist? After college.

I went to the University of Pittsburgh to study forensic psychology in hopes if becoming an FBI profiler. Yes, it's a bit of a different vocation. Pitt has wonderful opportunities for every student and I worked on various research projects (working with juvenile sex offenders) as well as many interesting internships (city police department, homicide detectives, etc) While this was all very interesting and educational, I also learned that I would most likely not be happy in this profession. I had already seen too much and had answered all of my questions regarding my professional curiosities.

I was thinking of going on to become a chiropractor, but let's face it. After 4 years of college I was not looking forward to 4 more. So I decided to go into massage therapy school, get into the field and go from there. At least I was doing something with my life! Well, 7 years later.... I love what I do. I love going to work every day. I love taking continuing education courses to add to my specialities. Most of all... I love my boss!