My Therapist's Work Has Become Stale

My therapist and I have fallen into a routine with our work and I need something new...

Have you ever experienced a release or dramatic improvement from work with your therapist?

Our bodies are a collection of tilts, twists, and rotations that altogether are strangely in balance with each other.  

Consider as an example an issue in our feet showing up as tension headaches because of overworked Sub-occipital muscles at the base of the skull. Those poor Sub-occipitals are compensating for other tilts, rotations, imbalances in the body, trying to keep the skull level on top of the spine. 

If our therapist has helped us relieve our foot troubles or whatever other issues we're having, our tension headaches have gone away too, but now we're feeling like our sessions are nice, but we're not reaching the same deep relaxation or release as before.

This is what therapists refer to as "maintenance": after relieving or improving issues, now the intention of the massage is more of a general relaxation since the focused therapy has been successful in improving the issue.  Another way to describe this the feeling that your massage is falling short of what you need.  Like the usual rhythm or routine that your therapist doesn't help you reach the deep relaxation or release your used to with your therapist.  OK, now what?  Break up or cheat on your therapist?  Since your therapist knows your body and your issues I think its a relationship worth maintaining; here are some suggestions to keep your relationship with your therapist fresh:

• Ask your therapist what other modalities or techniques they know.

•        Over time your therapist has likely settled in on techniques that your body responds to, shake that up by asking them to use some different             techniques or modalities.  Are you curious about a technique you've heard about?  Ask your therapist about it and if they can incorporate it into your             work together.

• Tell your therapist that the issues are gone and ask them what else they notice in your body?


•    For the last several sessions you've been focused on specific issues in addition to relaxation but no doubt your therapist has noticed some other tight or             sensitive areas.  We will tell our therapist what hurts most which is what gets focused on but, now the issue has improved its a good time to move on to the other             issues presenting themselves.  Don't be surprised if your therapist knows about tight or sensitive spots you didn't realize you had. 

• Ask your therapist to refer you to another specialist.
•     Its possible that the issues in your tissues would benefit more from the work of other specialists: The Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, Physical Therapists, Yoga             Teacher, Personal Trainer, or even another massage therapist for specialized work.

• Share with your therapist your diagnosis or assessment from another health care      provider.*
•     Often we don't think to tell our massage therapist about certain diagnoses because we don't think it has anything do do with soft tissue bodywork.  For             examples, consider these:
•     It is possible to receive a misdiagnosis of Sciatica when in reality a Pseudo Sciatic condition exists which is possibly treatable with soft tissue bodywork.
•     Has your personal trainer or yoga teacher pointed out a range of motion limitation to you?  Share that with your massage therapist.
•     Massage is contra-indicated for many medical diagnoses, additionally there are many modalities and techniques that can be beneficial to help treat certain             conditions.

• Simply ask to change the rhythm or therapy environment.
•     Have you been working at your home or office?  Ask to see your therapist in their studio.
•     Ask to change the music, light, or add/change the aromatherapy.
•     Do you feel more relief when your therapist goes to work directly on your issues, or do you like to ease into the session?

There is no end to what can be done the change or update the work with your therapist!  don't be shy about discussing with you need with your therapist.

*Please note that the licenses of practitioners such as Massage Therapists, Yoga Instructors, Personal Trainers do not train them or give them any authority to diagnose medical conditions.  Many of these practitioners have undergone advanced training, certification or have experience treating conditions, but you should always follow the diagnosis and treatment plan that you have agreed upon with your primary care physician.

Follow me on twitter @markcfreeman on Facebook, or Instagram.  Email me at mark@markcfreeman.com with any questions about bodywork techniques, modalities, or if there are any blog topics you want to know more about!