Therapeutic Insight: The Myofascial Release Perspective—Animal Friends Part 1

I have been successfully treating animals (racehorses, dogs, cats and birds) for many years now. The myofascial release techniques you will learn in our introductory course, Myofascial Release I, will teach you not only to evaluate humans, but also your animal friends successfully.

Years ago, a friend of mine who had some racehorses called me. He had a 2-year-old horse that had wonderful conformation, with great potential. Every time they would run this horse, it would go lame within 100 yards or so. My friend was an interesting guy who had a very successful business where he had picked every one of his employees based on their astrological charts. You wouldn’t have thought their talents had any relationship to the business, but whatever he did, it worked for him. I was up at his ski house once, and most of the time he had his head buried in this magazine. Eventually I said to him, “What is it you are reading?” He said he was looking up information on horses because he was going to buy a racehorse. I said “Well, do you know anything about racehorses?” and he answered, “No.” I said, “Aren’t they rather expensive?” and he replied, “Yes. I’m going to pick my horse by his astrological chart.” Oh right!

He paid $19,000 for this horse. After he purchased the horse, he called me and was very upset about this horse’s performance; it wasn’t doing well. He had taken it to New Bolton Center, which is one of the leading veterinary centers in the world, based out of the University of Pennsylvania. The vets had done everything they possibly could and eventually told him, “There is nothing else we can do for this horse. If you keep running him, he is going to be destroyed. The only thing you can do is put him out to pasture.”

This certainly was a huge financial problem for my friend. He loves animals and really cared about this animal, so he called me and told me the situation and asked me to treat his horse. I told him I didn’t know anything about horses, but he kept after me—and I kept telling him I didn’t know anything about horses! He was persistent and eventually he said, “Listen John, I read your chart last night. Do you know you’re a healer?” I said yes, and he added, “But I mean for animals, too.” I knew I was sunk, so I said OK and made arrangements for him to pick me up the next morning. After I hung up the phone, I quieted down and asked myself, What was this horse’s problem? I got a picture of the left forequarter of a horse with a big red swirl on the left shoulder and another one down near the hock.

On the way to the stable the next morning, I

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asked where the horse’s problem was and my friend said, “The left forequarter.” Interesting, I thought. We took a couple other people up with us, and when we arrived at the stable, they brought this magnificent animal out. Now here I am looking at this horse, and this horse is looking at me, and I’m thinking, now what do I do? So I thought, well, I know something about the energy system of a human being, maybe I ought to check this horse’s energy first. So, in those days, the only thing I really knew about horses was that the front end bit and the back end kicked and did other things. So, I made a big sweep around the ends. I started to feel the energy on the right side and eventually got around to the left forequarter. Sure enough, right where I had seen the red swirl, I felt a tremendous amount of heat pouring out of him. I also felt a lot of heat on an area called the hock, which is just above the hoof. I then started to check the tissue texture and I felt this hard, gristly buildup in those hot areas. It was very similar to what I felt with human beings, but a much bigger version of it. The trainer was holding the horse by the bit, so I started doing some elbow work and some strumming-type techniques on the horse. We had somebody on the other side of the horse to help stabilize and to be sure the horse wouldn’t move away.

I will continue this fascinating story about my experience with this racehorse that transformed from being a cripple to shattering records racing next month in my “Therapeutic Insight” article.

Sincerely,
John

John F. Barnes, P.T., L.M.T., N.C.T.M.B., is an international lecturer, author and acknowledged expert in the area of myofascial release. He has instructed more than 50,000  therapists worldwide in his Myofascial Release approach, and he is the author of Myofascial Release: the Search for Excellence (Rehabilitation Services Inc., 1990) and Healing Ancient Wounds: the Renegade’s Wisdom (Myofascial Release Treatment Centers & Seminars, 2000). He is on the counsel of Advisors of the American Back Society; he is also on MASSAGE Magazine’s editorial advisory board and is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association.  For more information, visit www.myofascialrelease.com.

Best Practices: Shari Auth

Q. What advice can you provide about marketing a technique or product?

A. Publish educational articles on the topic that pertains to your technique or product. It’s generous to your audience and demonstrates your expertise on that topic.

Q. If you knew then what you know now, what would you have done differently starting out?

A. I’m happy to say, mostly nothing, I would have just been more confident about my decision to go into holistic medicine at a time when it wasn’t

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that popular or recognized.

Q. How do you balance your work life and your personal life?

A. I don’t work weekends and I’ve learned to say no to my clients to maintain reasonable work hours.

Q. Describe a time when things weren’t going well in your business and what you did to turn it around.

A. When my practice was slow, I set up cross-referral networks with practitioners with a similar client base, like personal trainers, raw food chefs, hairdressers and doctors.

Q. What was the best business decision you’ve made?

A. I used to have a house-call practice. When I finished my master’s degree in Chinese medicine, I decided to switch to an office practice. It meant risking the loss of clients and starting over. In the end, I lost the bulk of my house-call clientele but managed to establish a busy office practice. Having an office means I can book more clients in less time, and the energy I put toward traveling from house to house I now put toward treating clients.

Tanning-Bed Addiction Found

Massage therapists are on the front lines of helping prevent skin cancer, by noticing suspicious moles and lesions on clients’ skin. About 120,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

But it doesn’t take the sun to create skin cancer; the uptick in tanning-bed use over the last decade is creating new cancer cases, especially among young adults. In 2009, The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer moved UV tanning beds to its highest cancer-risk category, “carcinogenic to humans.”

New research shows tanning-bed users exhibit brain changes and behavior similar to addicts.

“This could explain why some people continue to use tanning beds despite the increased risk of developing melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer,” noted a press release from UT Southwestern Medical Center. “The brain activity and corresponding blood flow tracked by UT Southwestern scientists involved in the study is similar to that seen in people addicted to drugs and alcohol.”

People younger than 30 who use a tanning bed 10 times a year have eight times the risk of developing malignant melanoma, the investigators noted, adding, “While public knowledge of these dangers has grown, so has the regular use of tanning beds.”

How Aromatherapy Massage Generates Repeat Clientele

by Janet McGrane Bennett

Attitudes toward fragrance are very personal. Why offer the same massage to each client, when you can personalize each session with pure and fragrant essential oils? Your regular clients are the backbone of your practice. If you create an environment in which the massage is specifically tailored to individuals, your repeat clientele will swiftly increase.

The scents sense

The five senses rule our lives: touch, hearing, sight, taste and smell. Of these five, smell is the most powerful. Why is this? Scent has the hidden power to reach deep inside the mind–aromas can affect your mood, elicit memories of childhood or even send someone pleasantly off to sleep.

Once your client gets used to your personalized combination of, say, lavender and mandarin, it will become a potent, sensory part of the relaxation experience for him. When he smells the familiar aroma, he will begin to relax from the moment the scent wafts to his nose. You can even label different bottles for particular clients—with their own personalized bottle of scented oil on your shelf, they will feel special indeed.

The simple scenting process

It is best to scent your oil first thing in the

morning when your nose is most sensitive and not overwhelmed with all the scents of the day. Any natural, cold-pressed vegetable oil works well as your base; the most commonly used oils are grapeseed, sweet almond, sesame seed, apricot kernel and avocado oils.

Remember that once you add fragrance, you can’t take it out. Start small and add only a few drops to begin with. Keep track of every drop you add. Don’t be shy to mix different aromatherapy oils together. If you come up with a dynamite combination, you may want to duplicate it, especially if your clients rave about it. It could be your signature scent. Create recipe cards and you can easily repeat the blends.

Study your essential oils before using them and gain an understanding of their basic properties. Citrus oils, for instance, can make the skin more photosensitive. Many oils are not recommended during pregnancy. Always ask first if your client has any allergies or specific health conditions.

Getting to know your clients’ likes and dislikes is a valuable part of building the client-practitioner relationship. Whether this is massage scented with lavender, patchouli or even no scent at all, if their massage is customized down to the smallest detail, you will have a client for life.

Janet McGrane Bennett is the marketing director at Spa & Bodywork Market (www.spabodyworkmarket.com), a distributor of massage-and-spa products since 1987. With more than 18 years of experience in the industry, Bennett is passionate about therapists maintaining self-care and adding value to their practices, for themselves and their clients.

Research Exclusive: Aquatic Exercise for Multiple Sclerosis

For people with multiple sclerosis, a recent pilot study has shown that an aquatic exercise program is both feasible and beneficial, resulting in improved motor function among the subjects.

The study, “Community-based group aquatic program for individuals with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study,” involved 11 adults with multiple sclerosis, 10 of whom completed the entire intervention. Inclusion criteria for the study included a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a medical clearance for exercise participation and limited physical activity prior to participation in the study.

The aquatic exercise program used for this study was designed by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and approved by experts in physical therapy, occupational therapy and sports science, as well as a certified aquatic instructor with 15 years of experience conducting classes for people with multiple sclerosis.

Subjects in the study attended this one-hour group aquatic exercise class twice a week for five weeks. At the start of each class, the participants warmed up, then performed the aquatic exercises, and then there was a cool-down period, all of which took place in the pool.

Evaluation of the study’s subjects took place before and after the five-week aquatic intervention. The 10-Meter Walk test, the Berg Balance Scale, the Timed Up and Go, a grip-strength test and the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale all were used to assess results of aquatic exercise. Participants also filled out a satisfaction survey in regards to the aquatic exercise classes.

An analysis of the data showed significant improvements in walking

speed, balance, functional mobility and grip strength following the five weeks of aquatic exercise. There were no significant changes from baseline to post-intervention in terms of fatigue.

Data from the satisfaction survey showed high approval ratings for the overall experience, and none of the subjects reported any adverse effects related to the aquatic exercise.

“The findings demonstrate that a community-based aquatic program for individuals with multiple sclerosis is feasible, beneficial and safe to implement and may serve as a good model for community-based wellness programs for people with disabilities,” state the study’s authors.

The researchers speculate the significant improvements in motor function may be due to the fact that the subjects were able to engage in exercises in the water that would not have been possible for them to perform on land.

“The positive outcomes from this study justify a multi-centered study to further examine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the aquatic program,” state the study’s authors, “and to determine the cost of running short-term group-based aquatic exercise programs compared to long-term individual aquatic sessions.”

Authors: Yasser Salem, Anne Hiller Scott, Herbert Karpatkin, George Concert, Leah Haller, Eva Kaminsky, Rivky Weisbrot and Eugene Spatz.

Sources: Department of Physical Therapy, Department of Occupational Therapy and Division of Sports Sciences, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York; Department of Physical Therapy, Hunter College, City University of New York. Originally published online in Disability and Rehabilitation (2010).

Health Tip: Why Some Women Can’t Sleep

Insomnia more common in women than in men

(HealthDay News) — Insomnia is more common in women than in men, the Womenshealth.gov website says of the common sleep disorder.

According to the site, here’s what may trigger more sleepless nights among women:

• Hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms of perimenopause.
• Hormonal changes during pregnancy.
• Physical changes during pregnancy, including discomfort and increased frequency of urination.
• Depression and anxiety, which tend to be more common in women.
• Physical conditions that tend to affect women, such as fibromyalgia and restless leg syndrome.

Satisfaction With Life Seems Good for the Heart

That’s the finding of a new study that included almost 8,000 British civil servants, average age 49, who were asked about their satisfaction in seven areas of their lives: romantic relationships, leisure activities, job, family, sex, standard of living and one’s self.

Over a follow-up period of about six years, higher levels of overall life satisfaction were associated with a statistically significant 13 percent reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Satisfaction in four main areas — job, family, sex and self — was also associated with a 13 percent reduced risk of heart disease.

The reduced risk, however, was not associated with love relationships, leisure activities or standard of living, the researchers found.

“Taken together, this research indicates that being satisfied with specific life domains — in particular, one’s job, family, sex life and self — is a positive health asset associated with a reduction in incident coronary heart disease independently of traditional risk factors,” the researchers wrote in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology.

The study was published online July 4 in the European Heart Journal.

The findings suggest that people at high risk for heart disease may benefit from programs to boost a positive state of mind, study author Dr. Julia Boehm, of Harvard School of Public Health, noted in the news release.

What are the latest findings concerning breast and ovarian cancer?

Improved treatment and early detection through routine mammography in women over 40 years of age and in younger women with family history of breast cancer have improved the survival rate of breast cancer patients by 2% per year over the last ten years. In addition to getting regular mammograms, any changes in the breast should be evaluated by a physician. A higher risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer can be determined by genetic testing for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Women with a family history or heightened genetic risk of developing breast cancer may consider hormone therapy (Tamoxifen is the most common treatment), which has been shown to decrease the incidence of breast cancer in women at high risk (www.breastcancer.org).

Unfortunately, ovarian cancer remains more difficult to detect at the early and most curable stages. The symptoms of ovarian cancer are fairly nonspecific and often go undiagnosed. Change in urine production, bowl movements, gas production, indigestion, or weight in addition to pelvic pain, painful intercourse, or feeling of fullness should be discussed with a physician and an exam should be scheduled. The CA125 blood test is fairly unreliable, so new markers of ovarian cancer detection are under evaluation (Cancer Consultants Oncology Resource Center). A novel blood test in development referred to as OvaCheck™ appears to be more accurate at detecting early stage ovarian cancer (Lab Test Online at www.labtestsonline.org/news/ovacheck040606.html). A new “ovarian pap test” under clinical evaluation employs laparoscopy to collect surface ovary cells which can be examined microscopically for cancer (National Ovarian Cancer Coalition). A blood test which measures hypermethylation (chemical modification) of the BRCA1 and RASSF1A genes is under evaluation. Visit the video library at Dr.Koop.com for videos on breast biopsy, MRI guided biopsy, and freezing breast tumors, along with other informative videos.

Aromatherapy: Six Easy, Affordable Ways to a Happier, Healthier Winter

At this time of year, it’s easy to let stress get the best of us. And while there are a myriad of chemical and pharmaceutical remedies for our problems, aromatherapy offers a natural, effective and pleasurable way to bolster our health, happiness and well-being. Below are six simple ways to combat fatigue, stress and winter illness using two common and affordable essential oils: lavender oil, with its soothing and calming qualities, and eucalyptus oil, with the power to clear the head and relieve muscle tension. These essential oil remedies will leave you feeling refreshed, relaxed and energized—naturally!

1. De-stress bath to help unwind at any time: Add eight to 10 drops of lavender oil to a full warm bath and agitate to disperse. Lie back for 10 to 15 minutes and let the cares of the day gently ebb away. To soften the skin, add a cup of full-fat milk to bath water.

2. Rejuvenating steam facial to refine and detoxify pores: Add four drops of lavender oil to a bowl of hot water, and then place a towel over the head and steam for up to five minutes.

3. Tranquil meditation for quiet time and focus:Add six to eight drops of lavender oil to your favorite vaporizer. Alternatively, add to a tissue and breathe deeply to fully inhale the calming aroma. For best results, wear loose clothing, warm the room and dim the lights.

4. Winter inhalation to relieve a blocked nose: Add four drops of eucalyptus oil to a bowl of hot water, and then place a towel over the head and inhale for up to five minutes. For added benefit, place a few rosemary sprigs into the water.

5. Relaxing foot bath to relieve tired toes: Add six drops of eucalyptus oil to a bowl of warm water/foot spa and soak for 15 minutes. For added benefit, add half a cup of Epsom salt to water.

6. Muscle-reviving bath for overexertion: Add eight to 10 drops of eucalyptus oil to a full warm bath and agitate to disperse fully. Lie back for 10 to 15 minutes and let muscle tension ebb away.

Marketing Gift Certificates for the Holidays

The fall and winter seasons are the busiest time for many massage therapists. Gift-certificate sales can be brisk for the holidays, and massage therapists may see more new clients compared to any other time of the year.

Although you can’t directly charge for your services as a student, you can still receive valuable experience marketing gift certificates. Experimenting with gift-certificate promotions can do a number of things for you as you look toward building your practice.

1. It will get people in the habit of thinking of your services as a wonderful gift.
2. When people come to see you with a gift certificate, it helps you build your list of contacts and potential clients.
3. By learning how to market gift certificates now, you won’t lose valuable time learning this skill once your practice is up and running.
4. You’ll make mistakes, learning what to do and, maybe more importantly, what not to do.
5. It will help you learn how to talk to clients about how you can help them as well as other people they know.

As many massage therapists will tell you, speaking to clients about booking their next session or buying a gift certificate can feel awkward in the beginning. “I’m a massage therapist, not a salesperson,” you might say. While this may be correct, it is also true that if you care about clients feeling better, you will encourage them to receive bodywork. This goes for their friends and family, too.

Create a gift-certificate promotion
How do you express the idea that giving a gift certificate is giving the gift of health?

1. Start by researching why people seek massage. Ask your friends or clinic clients why they carve time from their schedules to receive massage. Listen carefully. They are giving you clues to what motivates people to get massage—and, consequently, to buy gift certificates for other people.
2. Link those concerns to the benefits of what you do. Here are some examples of complaints massage therapists frequently hear:

• I’m stressed to the max.
• My back (neck, feet, shoulders) hurt.
• I’m exhausted and drained.

3. Now draw the conclusion: Massage can help reduce pain, relieve stress and help people feel better as a whole. The secret is you have to tell them that.

Practice marketing at the clinic
Give yourself a practice marketing assignment at your student clinic.

1. When appropriate, gently remind clients gift certificates are available.
2. Ask if you can put up a gift-certificate display. On it, display the clinic’s gift certificates along with messages that will speak to the clinic’s clientele. Adjust the messages below to echo the concerns you heard from your clients.
   a. We live in a fast-paced world. To keep going, the people you care for need a time and space to let go. Give the gift of massage.
   b. Lighten up for the holidays. If your special someone has not been feeling his best, make the holidays better for everyone. Give him (or her!) the gift of massage.
   c. Have a friend or loved one in pain? Give the comfort of massage therapy.
   d. Reduce your holiday shopping stress. Give a beautiful gift certificate to a friend or loved one.
3. Market clinic gift certificates online, using some of the same messages you used in your display.

Practice using gift certificates on your own
If you are doing practice massage before receiving your license, consider offering friends and family members a chance to give the gift of your services to others—for no charge, of course. Make or purchase gift certificates. Give them to some of the people you have practiced on, but be selective. Give them to people you enjoy working on, either because they respond well to your favorite techniques or because you are especially able to help them with their particular challenges. These are the people who are most likely to use gift certificates, and who are most likely to pass them on to other people who will respond well to your work.

Gift certificates are basic to marketing bodywork at the holidays, and that goes for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, too. Get a jump-start on understanding marketing gift certificates. Do what you can to practice now, so you have the skills later as you begin to build your practice.