The most common areas I treat day to day unsurprisingly are: back, neck, and shoulders. So many of us end up in that hunched forward position despite our best efforts, and outside of that, I mean who doesn’t like having their back worked on? When it comes to what is in our scope, RMTs can treat the full body minus internally (except the jaw) or the genitalia. Before massage school, I never realized how great getting your hands or jaw could feel! It never crossed my mind that these smaller areas could be worked on either.
Personally, I feel like massaging the triceps get missed out a lot and it always feels so good! So does getting work done between the ribs. Sometimes patients will talk about their back and posterior legs being sore but will skip out talking about their glutes! Working on areas connected to the sore body parts will help fill out the treatment and give better results vs just massaging the spot that hurts.
The least requested treatment I get are abdominal and breast massage. They’re not for everyone and many don’t know that is even an option. Releasing abdominal fascia can help with breathing and trunk rotation. Many important muscles also reside in the area such as abs, illiacus, and psoas which typically don’t get a lot of love. The psoas can also feel pretty sensitive when you’re not used to pressure there! Breast massage is an interesting one – typically pregnant women or those who have had breast cancer, lymph node removal, surgery done in the area will benefit the most. I say typically because breast massage can also be part of a full body treatment or utilized when a patient just feels heavy or sore. Obviously this is only done if within the patient’s comfort level (this goes for the whole treatment anyway!)
Next time you get a massage, try expanding out of your usual treatment areas, or having work done on your lower priority/non sore body parts and see how you like it!
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