This Before and After example depicting one of Dennis's patients represent the unique results which can be achieved following the application of Myofascial Release Therapy.
“I’ve been going to Chiropractors for my back, neck and posture for years. I’d always leave those appointments feeling great, but then have everything pop back out and be hunched over again almost immediately. After my first visit with Dennis, I actually had to make a conscious effort to pull my shoulders forward and to lock my knees (previously positions that had been normal posture for me!) and my back is better than ever! This wasn’t a quick fix, but one that is long lasting.”
Carrie P., Student
Carrie P
Massage Medford
– Sandy Fritz, Author from Mosby’s Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage - What is Therapeutic Massage? “Therapeutic massage, sometimes termed structured touch, has been a universal core healing art throughout history. This art is now demonstrating a dramatic resurgence in a variety of mainstream medical and academic settings, along with an increasing amount of pioneering research devoted to verification and explanation of the clinical results seen in daily practice. These results can be expressed most simply by saying that people, almost without exception and in almost any degree of physical or psychological distress, feel better when they receive appropriate massage therapy The key word is appropriate and this word has served as the driving force behind the need for the development, writing, and publication of this excellent text. “For massage therapy to achieve its full potential, it is essential that the work of countless therapists who use these techniques should be grounded in an understanding of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology, the normalization or easing of which is the focus of their work. In other words, it is of little use to be skilled in a technique if that technique is applied inappropriately. Currently, there are a number of categories in which massage therapy has important applications and in all of these, the skills must be accompanied by an understanding of the mechanisms at work.
Massage Therapy Contains Many Branches. Click image to view larger.
“Those forms of massage therapy that aim at relaxation and easing of both physical and emotional tension require an understanding of the potency of the techniques available and the need for interdisciplinary cooperation. In more advanced applications of methods (called psychotherapeutic bodywork), where there is a focus on the intimate links between many chronic physical manifestations of tension and psychological defense mechanisms, an understanding of psychoneuroimmunologic, psychosomatic, and somaticopsychic processes can be necessary. However, often therapists working in these areas seem most reluctant to see a highiy academic structure evolve for massage therapy, for fear the intuitive, compassionate side of their therapy would be lost in potentially mechanistic approaches and methods. This concern must be well understood and should not be dismissed unless both heart and brain are involved in massage therapy something will be lost in the provision of care for those in most distress. The truth is, no loss of compassion must occur when knowledge is acquired; no diminution of the intuitive value must take place simply because there is a greater understanding of the body’s mechanisms in health and disease.
“When massage therapy is used as an intervention to improve body alignment and function, there is a need for understanding of body mechanics, and employment of gait and postural, structural, and functional assessments with strategies that normalize dysfunction and deviation from the norm. “Some forms of massage therapy are concerned with enhancing sensory awareness, while others concentrate on reducing painful local and general conditions, or balance perceived energetic inequalities. “The range of therapeutic massage techniques can be enormous, whether involved in structural, psychologic, or energetic aspects of the human condition. “The limits that exist and inhibit the development of massage therapy can sometimes relate to externally applied, legal, and license-related restrictions. However, many of these limits are actually self imposed, because the potential of the therapeutic benefits of structured touch techniques is virtually limitless or rather limited only by gaps that exist in individual therapists’ knowledge and skill base. These gaps correspond to the level of
excellence or training the therapist has received. Once again, this emphasizes the value of this text, which gathers between its covers a huge range of knowledge and support for those building their resource base of assessment and therapeutic skills and filling the “tool box” from which they will choose appropriate methods. “The good news, can be summarized by stating that there are few, if any, areas of ill health that cannot be helped, to some extent, by therapeutic massage. Whether in the easing of pain, the provision of a safe space for relaxation, the restoration of suppleness and mobility to restricted tissues, the enhancement of circulatory function (both in supply and drainage), or the provision of a connecting bridge between mind and body experiences and awareness. In addition, because massage therapy enhances homeostasis, there is evidence of a preventive outcome and wellness emerging from receipt of therapeutic massage. This can also be expressed by saying that the effects of touch techniques positively and demonstrably enhance defenses, thereby reducing vulnerability and susceptibility. “However, the bad news is that prejudice against massage therapy is still widely noted among other health professionals, many academic settings, some local and national government agencies, and to some extent, specific areas of the general public. The media generally have failed to promote the positive image of therapeutic massage. Part of the blame for failing to impress these groups exists within the massage profession because of uneven and sometimes lax training standards in the past and the relatively unregulated nature of the profession. This situation is rapidly progressing as more and more schools upgrade their training standards, professional organizations lobby and educate legislative bodies, and an increasing number of therapists find themselves working in mainstream settings. A recent phenomenon has seen a large body of mainstream personnel, mainly nurses working within traditional medical settings~ tum to touch therapies as a means of broadening their capacity for helping their clients and patients. The single most important aspect that encourages the acceptance of the therapeutic massage profession is, in myview, the acquisition of improved assessment and diagnostic and evaluation skills by therapists in training and in practice. This text is peppered with a great many skill-enhancing exercises which, if diligently practiced, will result in heightened palpatory awareness – the main ingredient of skillful bodywork. “Therapeutic massage should, therefore, encompass the ability to know what is being palpated, what the functions and dysfunctions of the tissues in question are, and what they feel like, to be able to feel and assess tissue and know what is wrong, what must be done and why, and to instantly provide suitable therapeutic input whether it involves releasing fascial restrictions, easing spasm or pain, or enhancing local circulation and drainage-while simultaneously doing no harm. Without some of these skills and without the ability to discuss the procedures and their purpose, therapists will continue to be regarded with less respect than they deserve. “The only way prejudice can be overcome is through excellence in training, and a standard of professionalism in practice which breaks down barriers of ignorance toward the true value of therapeutic interventions.”
– Leon Chaitow, N.D., D.O. from Mosby’s Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage