Types of Massage

New Directions Massage Therapy

New Directions' mission is three-fold: Treatment, Patient/Client Education and Prevention. We are committed to taking care of your current issues with specific, customized treatment to decrease discomfort and restore maximum mobility. We are also committed to helping you better understand your body and any injuries or pathologies you may have. We help you establish a self-care plan to be used between massage therapy sessions. We are happy to assists clients in the development of a preventative care plan. We want you to achieve and maintain the highest level of wellness.

Types of Massage

An overall relaxation technique involving light pressure, Swedish massage is used to affect the superficial muscles in the body. It consists of several techniques, which encourages blood flow toward the heart, increases overall circulation in the body, and helps to relieve muscular tension. This is often the treatment of choice for stress reduction.

The therapist uses enough pressure to affect deeper layers of soft tissue using long slow strokes, friction, or direct pressure with the hands, fingers, and elbows. This is much deeper work than Swedish style, but is also very relaxing.

Those suffering from chronic or acute pain get relief with neuromuscular therapy, which uses a clinical approach in treating soft tissue complaints. A treatment may target one or several muscles, identify trigger points causing local and/or referred pain, and release muscular tension causing pressure on sensitive nerves. The therapeutic pressure is specific and applied throughout the muscle belly and tendons. Many physicians prescribe this therapy for problems such as whiplash, rotator cuff injuries, TMJ dysfunction and muscle spasms.

A trigger point is a small, hard area in a muscle or tendon, often referred to as a “knot”. Active trigger points are sensitive locally and can refer pain to other (sometimes remote) areas of the body. Treatment of trigger points is based on the work of Dr. Janet Travell and involves the application of sustained pressure to the knotted area until the muscle fibers relax and circulation is restored.

Restore balance in your body, mind and nervous system while encouraging your body’s natural healing with this therapy. The CranioSacral system consists of membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. It extends from the bones of the skull, face and mouth, which make up the cranium down to the sacrum. CranioSacral Therapy uses very light and gentle pressure and is performed with the client fully clothed. CST is very effective in treating chronic pain, eye difficulties, learning disabilities, motor-coordination impairment, scoliosis, and many other health challenges.

Fascia is a three-dimensional web of very strong connective tissue found everywhere in the body. Injury and inflammatory conditions cause fascia to lose hydration and suppleness, spreading tension across the web from the site of dysfunction. Myofascial release techniques, as developed by John Barnes, PT, use gentle, sustained pressure to separate bound layers of fascia. MFR sustained traction generates heat through the piezoelectric effect, elongates the fascia, improves blood flow, enhances lymphatic removal of waste products, rebalances the fascial planes and resets the soft tissue to a resting state.

Treatment is based on a doctor’s recommendation. A treatment plan is developed based on the diagnosis provided by your doctor. The initial visit includes a postural analysis, pain level value assessment and range of motion evaluation to establish the baseline from which progress is measured. Medical massage treatment protocols involve use of multiple modalities to facilitate healing, reduce discomfort and improve function. Periodic re-evaluations allow us to assess progress and make changes to the treatment plan, if needed.

Improve your athletic performance by incorporating multiple types of bodywork. Sports massage minimizes your risk of injury, shortens the recovery time of exhausted muscles and improves the overall tissue health.

This highly effective stretching method is based on the work of Aaron L. Mattes, RKT, LMT. Specific muscles are isolated and stretched for no more than two seconds at a time to optimally lengthen them without triggering the protective stretch reflex and contraction of the opposing or antagonist muscle. This method is therapist-assisted, but is also designed to become an integral part of a self-care and preventative care program.

Manual lymphatic drainage is a type of massage based on preliminary evidence which is utilized to encourage the natural drainage of the lymph, which carries waste products away from the tissues back toward the heart.

Microcurrent point stimulation is the application of brief, concentrated DC (direct current) microcurrent impulses to specific treatment points to relax muscles, calm the nervous system and release endorphins, the body?s natural painkillers. When MPS is applied to unique acupuncture and myofascial trigger points (MPTs) it is called MPS (microcurrent point stimulation) therapy. Stimulating all three systems, nervous, muscular and endocrine, makes MPS therapy effective for treating many chronic and acute soft-tissue pain conditions.

Mircorpoint stimulation is also effective in reducing scar tissue.

Balance your energy with Shiatsu massage. This technique is usually performed with the client fully clothed. Direct pressure is applied along accupressure points mapping the meridians in the body. Based on Eastern philosophy, Shiatsu helps to release or restore energy along these invisible energy pathways in the body, ultimately restoring balance.

Chair massage is perfect for special events, conventions, or corporate settings. The chair is portable and the massage is given with the client fully clothed. Incorporate it into your wellness programs or use it as part of your employee incentive programs. Perfect for the convention setting, exhibitors can use it to effectively draw clients into their booths. Massage sessions range from ten minutes up to thirty minutes. It is very effective in relieving stress in the neck, shoulder, arms, and back muscles.

Massage therapy helps relieve many of the discomforts associated with pregnancy, such as low back pain, swelling, headaches, lower extremity discomfort, pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome, insomnia, sciatic pain and sinus congestion. The overall goals of pregnancy massage are to help minimize stress, promote relaxation and prepare the muscles for childbirth.

Touch is vital for the emotional and physical well being of any infant. Infant massage improves nervous system development, accelerates weight gain, and reduces health problems in premature infants. Most infants who receive massage are more relaxed and have healthier dispositions. We also teach parents at-home massage techniques, which nurture the parent and child bond.

Rejuvenate and restore balance within the body with Reflexology. This healing art focuses on reflex points and energy pathways developed by Asian cultures thousands of years ago. This massage focuses directly on the hands and feet, following a model, which maps out the body in the hands and the feet.

This ancient method of using essential oils to produce effects in the body is very effective in relieving stress, tension, or pain in the body. The oils are used during the session while administering a Swedish or Deep Tissue Massage.

This bodywork involves channeling healing energy through the hands of the therapist to the client. The energy is channeled from the universal life-force energy and ultimately soothing and relaxing. Reiki is an ancient method of healing and was rediscovered in the archives of a Buddhist temple in Japan in the late 1800s.

Therapeutic stretching is a good way to restore joint mobility and improve muscle strength. If a muscle is not flexible it ultimately will lead to injury, pain, and inability to move freely. At New Directions, our private stretching sessions are specifically designed to address your specific needs. We will instruct you on the proper alignment that is essential in stretching in order to obtain optimal flexibility as well as preventing injury from over stretching. We will help you design your own personal stretch routine that is simple and effective so you can incorporate it into your exercise program. Our stretching sessions are one hour in length. Remember a muscle really is not strong if it isn’t Flexible too.

 

Benefits of Massage

Massage has incredible benefits from increase in health and wellness to drastically improved injury recovery times. Learn more about the many, many benefits of massage here.

OnSite Massage and Event Massage

New Directions can come to your convention, trade show, special event, health club, fund raiser and even office/homes!