By Joseph Vicario LMT
What is Massage
This is the 1st in a series of Blogs on all things massage. I believe in the benefits of Massage Therapy. I look at it as preventative medicine. We do preventative maintenance on our vehicles. We change the oil, rotate the tires and filll the radiator. If we do not do these things our vehicles will wither not perform as expected or completely break down. Similarly, our bodies need good fuel (food) and maintenance (Excercise and Massage). If we do not do these things, it leads to poor performance and chronic issues. I would like to educate the general public as to the benefits of massage therapy.
So, what is massage? The word comes from the latin word “massa” or dough. So any person that rubs or kneads the body, usually using the hands is perfoming massage. Massage Therapy is performed by a Licensed Massage Therapist. That person in Florida has gone to an accredited school and completed 500 hours of instruction. Once the schooling is done, and they have passed the state exam and paid the fees and receive a license numer. Mine is MA#43048.I also have a valid California license. Each state has their own rules and there is no reciprocity. My license allows me to travel to any office, hotel, or residence and perform a massage. If I want to work out of a specific location or store front. That location would also needs a massage business license.
As I originally stated, massage is just rubbing rhe body. So what is the difference between relaxation massage and deep tissue massage? There are over 180 modalities (specialties) in massage. Swedish or Relaxation Massage is using kneading and rubbing the body in a certain way to get the nervous system to relax and reduce tension. Deep Tissue Massage is a catch all phrase used to describe using specialized techniques to focus on specific areas of need such as shoulder, neck or back. In a 60 minute Relaxation Massage You spend about equal amounts of time on the extremities and about 30-40 minutes on the back ( where most people hold their tension) and you perform the same techniques more or less for every one. With Deep Tissue Massage, one may spend a large part of time focusing on one area of need. The more time you spend on an area, the more that area gets” warmed up” and the deeper you go. Hence the term deep tissue. It is not necessary about using more pressure, or using extreme force. When you use too much force too fast, there is a greater chance to either injure the person, or caise the person to clench and protect (guard)against the massage. The muscle tissue tightens rather than relaxes, cusing the oppsite effect you are trying to achieve. This can also lead to secondary stiffness. When you work out after a long hiatus(especially without stretching) you build up lactic acid. You may feel good that day, but the next day you are sore and stiff. This is secondary stiffness. The same effect can happen after a deep tissue massage if someone went too deep too fast.