Rejuvenations Massage

Archive for the ‘massage practice’ Category

To all the moms and moms to be, Rejuvenations Massage Therapy wishes you a happy mother’s day.

If you are pregnant, or know someone who is, tell them that we are running a special all May:

All pregnancy massages are $20 in May!

Are you pregnant? Do you know a pregnant women? Pregnancy massage is one of the best ways to feel good during pregnancy. All of our therapists are qualified pregnancy massage specialists. Visit our new web site at bestpregnancymassage.com.

April 1 was our 1st anniversary at the Herndon location. It’s been a fantastic year, and we owe it all to our great clients. We look forward to many more years of providing the best therapeutic massage in Northern Virginia.

by Rick Morgan, CMT
This article appears in the January issue of Your Health Magazine.

Whether your child has dreams of becoming the next Michael Phelps or Shawn Johnson—or you’re just hoping for a full-ride athletic scholarship—helping your child achieve their athletic dreams is as important to you as it is to them.

If your child has serious athletic ambitions, then he or she is going to have to work very hard to stand out. That means three or more hours per day of athletic training, with little time between workouts to recover.

Taking care of your child so that they continue to improve—and avoid injury that could cut their athletic career short—is your priority. It’s your job to give them the tools they need to succeed. Sports massage is one of those tools. That’s why Michael Phelps has two massages every day. He and other athletes (and coaches) recognize that a complete workout routine includes not only the exercise itself, but also caring for the wear-and-tear and minor injuries that naturally occur with strenuous movement.

Sports massage can ensure your child’s muscles are strong and able to cope with the stress exercise places on them. Tight muscles are more likely to get injured and don’t perform as well. Studies show that sports massage can enhance performance, reduce the risk of injury, and speed up recovery times for some injuries.

How is sports massage different from other types of therapeutic massage? The answer is that the techniques really aren’t that different—the basic techniques used for sports massage are the same as for other forms of therapeutic massage, but the therapist may apply the techniques a little differently to help the muscles stretch easier. In sports massage, the therapist may also make more use of frictioning techniques, which involves massaging the tendons across the fibers repeatedly to break down adhesions and soften scar tissue. The massage therapist will choose the right therapeutic techniques depending on the specific needs of the individual. The general goal, though, is to ease muscle tension, improve circulation, and increase mobility.

How often and when the young athlete should get sports massage depends on the individual and the intensity of their athletic training. Most professional athletes get sports massage between training days and then before, during, or after an athletic event. For the young athlete, it’s impractical to get that much massage. We generally recommend having massage between strenuous training days. This helps the muscles recover quickly so that they are less likely to get injured during the next practice or game.

As with any therapeutic massage, it is important to see a certified massage therapist. Sports massage is popular certification, and many massage therapists specialize in working with athletes. Most therapists will require a parent or guardian be present during the child’s massage. Sports massage on children under the age of 12 is not recommended because, before puberty, children still have soft bones and the distance between the bones (joint space) is large and can be injured by assisted stretching.

Whatever your child’s dreams are, you can help them go for the gold with a regular routine of massage therapy.

It’s open enrollment season for many health plans. So now is the time to look into getting a flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HAS). You can use these accounts for a variety of things…including therapeutic massage? Based on the federal tax code, a qualified expense “must be to alleviate or prevent a physical or mental defect or illness.” If you’re like the majority of our clients who seek massage for help with chronic pain, stress, and other issues, your massage will likely qualify.

In order for your massage to be covered, there are a few steps you’ll need to take:

If you don’t have an FSA or an HSA and are wondering what they are, here are some broad definitions:

A flexible spending account (FSA) is a tax-advantaged financial account that allows an employee to set aside a portion of his or her earnings to pay for qualified expenses, most commonly for medical expenses, and is offered through an employer’s cafeteria plan. Money deducted from an employee’s pay into an FSA is not subject to payroll taxes, resulting in a substantial payroll tax savings. The medical expense FSA (also medical FSA or health FSA), is similar to a health savings account (HSA), but medical FSAs are commonly offered with more traditional health plans. With most FSA, you must use up your funds each year.

An HSA is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to people who are enrolled in a high deductible health plan. The funds contributed to the account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. HSAs are owned by the individual, and funds may be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability. Unlike an FSA, funds roll over to the next year if not spent.

If you don’t have one of these accounts, look into them now and reap the benefits!

I’m lucky that I don’t have much of a commute; traffic in the DC area is horrible. I was reminded of this the other night when my wife came home stressed and upset after driving on the Beltway during rush hour (she doesn’t have to do that very often, fortunately).

Our lives are stressful, and that causes people to behave more aggressively than they would if they were calm and relaxed. The way people drive is a great example: after a hard day at the office, they just want to get home. So they drive 80 miles an hour down the off ramp, passing the person who is doing 60 (which is also reckless). Often this behavior causes accidents, which stress everyone out even more.

When you’re relaxed and calm, you don’t do these things. You’re more willing to take the few extra minutes to let someone merge into your lane, to smile at the grocery clerk and wish her a good day, to play with your child when you get home. These little acts of kindness add up, and if everyone did these things all the time, I believe the world would be a happier place.

I challenge you to try something simple for one week. We all know how horrible parking lots are. So, every time you feel your blood pressure rising, stop and let someone back there car out of the space, let the person with the cart of groceries amble down the parking lane in front of you, do whatever you can that forces you to stop and let someone else continue. The crazy thing is, if you do that with a smile on your face, the stress will evaporate and you’ll feel great. And you’ll be doing your part to make the world a happier place.

Rejuvenations Massage was just voted one of the top three places to get a massage in the DC area by Washingtonian Magazine! We are so thrilled to receive this honor in their yearly Best and Worst of reader poll. We want to thank all of our fantastic clients who voted for us…we wouldn’t be able to provide the services we offer if we didn’t have wonderful people supporting us. Thank you!

I’m constantly surprised by how many people see massage only as a self-indulgent treat that they maybe allow themselves once or twice a year. They know they feel good when they do it, but they have no idea of the health benefits associated with getting good, therapeutic massage regularly.

This has been on my mind because I just hired a therapist who joined the profession because he had witnessed the profound healing benefits of massage while his father was battling cancer. Throughout the treatment, his father received regular massage and it made a tremendous impact on the quality of his life. Johnny believes massage contributed to his father beating the cancer, so much so that he quit his job and went to massage school so that he could bring this healing to others.

According to the American Cancer Society, studies show massage can decrease stress, anxiety, depression, pain, and fatigue in some cancer patients. Many health care professionals recognize massage as a useful, non-invasive addition to standard medical treatment. Johnny and his father will attest to that.

I love the internet. As a massage therapist and educator, all of the tools available on-line provide excellent opportunities to help my clients outside of the office, not just when they come in for a massage. This blog, for example, is the place where I can share information about the ways massage can help you. And now Rejuvenations Massage Therapy is on Facebook.

Yes, we have a Facebook Page. On it, we’ll announce events, specials, and other fun activities. More important, it will give you a chance to get to know us and other clients. We’re looking forward to building a vibrant community where we can exchange information and help each other have a happier, healthier day.

I look forward to seeing you on Facebook!