Figuring it out--Part 2

 

 

In the previous two blogs (and others in the past) I described a generic concept of massage as application of mechanical forces that the affect the tissues of the body.  In this blog I am going to attempt to describe HOW massage/bodywork methods apply the mechanical forces.  Get ready now because it is just so simple. 

WE PUSH OR PULL ON TISSUE.

It can’t be that simple can it? Well kind of.  We can complicated it by calling the pushes and pulls lots of different names I guess.  For example:

Compression/pressing/squeezing (or whatever trillion names people use)  is a push

 

 Glide/effleurage/stroke/ (or whatever trillion names people use)  is a push if the tissue moves away from us and a pull if it moves toward us.

 

Kneading,  petrissage , twisting, wringing, rolling, squeezing, lifting and squeezing/rolling/ twisting (or whatever trillion names people use) combines pushing and pulling.

 

Let's take a leap----------------

How about “ Myofascial release”.  What ya think? How do you do it?   Push or pull? Maybe both? 

Look at the following-- push? pull? both?

 

And without a doubt this is a push and pull-----

 

 

And as a side note-- if mechanical force application requires pushing and pulling then--- just maybe-- we can figure out how to do it in an ergonomically and biomechanically efficient way.

Force application or how to do it  http://www.darcor.com/public/File/pdf/Darcor_Casters_WhitePaper.pdf

ON A FINAL NOTE--- BEFORE ANYONE GETS THEIR FASCIA IN A TWIST---REMEMBER MY WORKING DEFINITIONS

Massage/bodywork as a method uses physical applications  to the body to create mechanical forces that act on the body tissues which then affect the body through multiple pathways including but not limited to the nervous system, endocrine system, connective system and fluid systems of the body .

Massage therapy or therapeutic massage is the intelligent, compassionate and respectful process of using massage to support another along the continuum of health and wellness  . Therefore massage therapy is a multidimensional  therapeutic relationship consisting of  observable and measurable mechanical aspects and an interpersonal more subjective experience both of which have therapeutic value for the client through multiple interacting specific and nonspecific pathways/

http://www.rnpedia.com/home/notes/fundamentals-of-nursing-notes/health-and-wellness 

Check out the link for excellent explanation of the wellness continuum

Thanks to the MassageNerd for some of the photos. http://ryanhoyme.com/preview-free-photos/