Treatment Plan
The goals of my treatment were to:
- Ease any muscle spasm in the areas causing her pain i.e. back, neck, shoulders and arms
- Enable Client M to relax
- Allow Client M take some time out for herself
- Reduce the number of headaches she had been getting
- Allow her to get a good night's sleep
- Encourage mobility in hands and fingers
First Treatment
We agreed that the primary complaint this time was her aching back and neck.
I recommended a back, neck and shoulder massage for the first treatment, which is relaxing as well as easing those muscles, which were in spasm.
After the first treatment Client M remarked how she felt a load had been lifted off her shoulders and she found her range of movement in her neck had improved and her neck felt much easier.
I advised Client M to get a regular massage to really benefit. For her to get some relaxation time for herself this would be an additional bonus to the reduction of muscle spasm in her back, neck and shoulders. Feeling more aware and relaxed would have knock-on-effects.
Other relaxation techniques were advised e.g. listening to relaxation tapes and breathing exercises. Also discussed was the importance of her posture when working and warming up her wrists and fingers before starting work. I suggested exercises to improve general circulation and stretches between clients. I also advised Client M to drink at least a litre of water during one of her busy days.
Second Treatment
Client M had a busy week with her regular clients, so she reported that her back, neck and shoulders had begun to ache again. However, she had felt better, slept better, felt more refreshed but was becoming more agitated again.
Another back, neck and shoulder massage was done, areas of tight muscles were found mainly on her right side and also around her scapula. Again her neck muscles on both sides were tight and quite painful. During the treatment I played some relaxing music and suggested Client M try to imagine she was in her favourite place.
Client M enjoyed her massage, and although had felt some muscles were sensitive at first upon massaging. She really felt the benefit of the massage, also re-energised and felt a lot of her tension had disappeared.
Third Treatment
Client M commented that her back, neck and shoulders had not been as tense as normal, her husband also commented to her that he had found her not so 'crabby' and was more enjoyable to be around.
For this treatment I recommended a full body massage as Client M had again been busy and was feeling tense and tired. It also gave me a chance to do some work on her arms, wrists and hands. I found her arms to be very congested and as her arthritis in her hands had flared up, I did some gentle active and resisted exercises.
I advised Client M to come back and get some more massage done to her arms, as I did not have enough time to work on them during a full body massage. After doing her massage Client M felt pampered and hadn't felt so relaxed in ages and left floating on air!
Fourth Treatment
Client M commented on a decrease in the number of headaches she'd been having and that she slept very well that night. But she was still experiencing some pain in her wrists and in her forearms
I massaged Client M arms for half and hour to get rid of the congestion, improve drainage and ease any muscle spasm. It was also beneficial for her hands and fingers too in that it helped improve her joint mobility.
Conclusion
Client M found she was more able to cope with her stress, had more energy and was able to cope better with her workload. Her tension and aching muscles disappeared with regular massage as did her headaches. She now also had the knowledge of the benefits of Massage Therapy and that if her signs and symptoms of stress returned all she had to do was make another appointment, but would also still come once a month for a MOT session. We agreed that this would help all aspects of her life. Also massage boosts the immune system.Created
by Robyn MacGregor
