How to Give a Spa Quality Massage at Home

How to Give a Spa Quality Massage at Home Dr. Travis Stork: Join us to talk about the Health Benefits of Massage and why you shouldn’t give it up just because there’s recession. Here’s certified massage therapist and owner of the Massage Spot here in California, Sean Struxness. So Sean thanks for being here because the whole point of this is we want to show people that massage isn’t something you need to give up. The reason massage and touch is so important, it lowers your anxiety, increases your immune system, and decreases pain. It even helps woman during childbirth and one of the most important thing is a lot of people don’t notice but premature babies leave the hospital sooner if they’ve been given enough touch because there’ s that emotional element of touch that’s so important. So let’s talk real quickly because we want to teach people how to do this at home and that’s something you do, right? Sean Struxness: We do this all the time at our Spa, we teach couples of individual how to give them massage for more than 5 minutes without getting tired. Dr. Travis Stork: Because it is, it’s a tiring pursuit. I’m going to show everyone at home three major knot areas. The back of the neck then the other we’ve got is the rhomboid muscles and that’s the area between your shoulder blades and then last but not the least is the area we call the “Quadratus Lumborum” that’s in the lower back. Obviously everyone has dealt with lower back pain at some point in their life. So a great place you guys, you’ve got to learn how to do it first. Dr. Drew Gordon: He’s got it. Dr. Jim Sears: I’m paying attention. Dr. Travis Stork: Give us some teaching points here on Ava. Sean Struxness: We’ll start the low back, what I recommend for low back is right here were the hip bone meets the spine. You can use thumbs, I like thumbs in this area. The thumbs because it’s a very smaller areas you want to use the smaller tool, your hands full of tools. Dr. Travis Stork: And how much pressure you’re putting right there? Sean Struxness: It’s about five pounds. It’s a good idea to kind of start light and then ask and communicate with person and if you want to go deeper or not. The mid-back of course what I like to use is my forearm. You can just lean in to and just kind of stay there. What I like about it is the fact that it doesn’t exert a lot of energy and you can just check it with them and get a lot of pressure. Dr. Travis Stork: So you’re just leaning on your forearm? Sean Struxness: Just leaning into them. Dr. Travis Stork: And that’s the area of the rhomboids. I get a ton of knots there. But the next another area that become really stiff, big time knots form. Any particular techniques that you can use there? Sean Struxness: Yes I like to use petrissage at the neck. Basically it’s a lifting motion where you actually pushing down and lifting up, pushing down and lifting up. Pushing down and lifting up. Dr. Travis Stork: And any particular do’s and don’ts? So we want to try this at home, what are we going to watch out for? Sean Struxness: Watch out for the spine. No one likes an elbow into the spine. It doesn’t feel good that’s a major thing also. If they just have surgery or they have really bad back problems, talk to a doctor beforehand. Dr. Travis Stork: Well otherwise, pretty safe and it can be pretty much free. Sean Struxness: Yes it’s free, it’s fun and it’s a nice thing to do at home Dr. Travis Stork: Well, Ava you can continue to get your massage and I think the Docs over there took those lessons—