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Spring Allergies: How Massage Can Help

2019-02-28T16:51:28-08:00April 4th, 2018|

Springtime: It brings beautiful flowers, sunny days, and, for many, allergies. If you experience itchiness, stuffiness, and general brain-fogginess this time of year, consider adding massage to your allergy-fighting game plan. Read on to learn how regular massage helps offset allergic inflammation. We’ll also touch on how four types of massage (facial massage, craniosacral massage, acupressure, and reflexology) can help reduce allergy symptoms. Finally, we’ll list massage resources for fighting allergic reactions.

How Allergies Work: Overactive Inflammation

Whatever your allergy symptoms, one thing’s certain: They are all related to inflammation. Think of the immune system as the body’s defensive army. Some of […]

Massage Modalities: Neuromuscular Therapy

2019-02-28T16:53:27-08:00February 27th, 2018|

Neuromuscular Therapy: A Basic Definition

NMT practitioners use deep tissue massage techniques such as digital pressure and friction to release muscular trigger points. Trigger points are pea-sized restrictions in muscular tissue. Repetitive motion, injury, stress, and poor posture are some causes of trigger points. In these areas, circulation is restricted, meaning that nutrient delivery and cellular waste are limited. Through Neuromuscular Therapy and other massage modalities, Portland massage therapists can often alleviate lingering pain, weakness, and fatigue.

Neuromuscular therapy doesn’t just consider issues in soft tissue, but rather examines multiple levels of the problem—not just where it manifests as a sensation, but also […]

Improved Sleep & Massage: Portland Massage School on Catching more ZZZs

2019-02-28T16:55:34-08:00January 18th, 2018|

Getting more sleep is a perennially popular resolution—and one that scientists recommend, as getting more sleep can help you achieve your other resolutions. Regularly receiving massage is an excellent habit for those looking to increase their shut-eye. Read on to discover research on massage and sleep. We also offer a few general tips on how to improve your sleep in 2018 (including making an appointment at our Portland massage school’s clinic).

How Good Sleep Boosts Motivation

Did you know that self-care (including getting more sleep) is the 4th most popular resolution among women in 2018? Research suggests prioritizing sleep is […]

Massage as a Treatment Tool for Opioid Dependence

2016-11-17T10:00:30-08:00November 17th, 2016|

Last month we introduced how massage therapy can help individuals who are drug dependent stay present in their bodies, rather than disassociating to the negative body outcomes of their substance of choice. We also discussed how massage therapy can break the cycle of stress and sleeplessness so common among the substance dependent, by encouraging deep relaxation and releasing serotonin, dopamine, and other feel-good hormones throughout the body. Those who abuse substances often rely on drugs to experience pleasure; massage, in contrast, helps people experience their bodies’ natural pleasure pathways. Today we’re continuing the conversation by taking a special look at how […]

The Benefits of Pre-Race Massage

2016-08-08T21:00:15-07:00August 8th, 2016|

Picture this: you’re getting ready to run a 5k, you see a massage table set up, and next to it the massage therapist offering a, what you say, a “free massage!?” But wait. There are no lines? How could this be?

benefits of a pre-race massage to warm up the muscles

As a massage therapist, one of my main goals is to support optimum performance for athletes. Often, I set up my massage table at local runs. One thing I’ve consistently noticed is that far fewer people take advantage of massage prior to the […]

Massage Therapy for Attention Deficit Disorder: Research Review

2015-07-30T20:41:55-07:00July 30th, 2015|

A literature review of complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments for children found that ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is one of the most commonly studied conditions, and that massage is one of the most commonly used CAM modalities (Snyder & Brown, 2012). According to the Mayo Clinic, ADHD “includes a combination of problems, such as difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.” The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has reported that there are 4.9 million children with ADHD in American schools. According to Dr. V.A. Harpin’s review of ADHD impacts over the […]

Massage in Grade Schools: Could it Help Fight Bullying?

2015-07-09T20:40:04-07:00July 9th, 2015|

In our massage training school, we teach adults how to treat and heal patients of all ages. Like students in all west coast massage schools, East West College students typically begin their massage training after high school. However, the success of in-school programs across the globe suggests that primary students can enjoy many benefits from learning about and practicing massage. Schools around the world are using student-to-student massage programs to reduce bullying, improve peer relationships, and increase focus. Read on to learn how international organizations are bringing massage to schools.

Primary Massage Training: School Programs from Around the World

Massage in Schools

The Massage […]

Cupping Therapy 101: How it Works, What Benefits it Brings

2015-06-25T20:29:57-07:00June 25th, 2015|

Quick: Picture students partaking in a class at a massage training school. You likely envision people using their thumbs, fingers, and elbows to press into muscles. Or perhaps, if you’ve ever experienced Thai Massage, you might see the therapists-in-training using their full bodies on clients, pulling and pressing while in yoga-like postures. For most massage modalities, this understanding of pressing into tissue to relieve pain and tension is correct. Cupping is an exception.

While most manual therapies use downward pressure to alleviate muscle adhesions, cupping uses suction to pull tissues up. As an analogy, think of a dirty rug. […]

Massage Therapy Modalities: Structural Bodywork

2015-06-11T20:27:07-07:00June 11th, 2015|

In our series on massage modalities, we’ve covered Thai massage, trigger point therapy, and Tui Na. Today we’re looking at a different form of massage: Structural Bodywork. At its crux, structural bodywork explores and offsets imbalances within the body.

The mother of structural bodywork is Ida Rolf. Ida Rolf was a biochemist, yoga teacher, manual therapist, and sensorimotor educator who had a holistic vision of health. Her focus as a healer was to improve overall biochemical functioning, rather than treating certain systems. Rolf’s creation, Structural Integration, improves health by improving the human body’s structure in relation to gravity.
Within this […]

Client Populations: Working with Elderly Patients


2015-05-14T20:20:57-07:00May 14th, 2015|

Massage careers can take practitioners all over the world, to all manner of settings. However, when envisioning a post-massage certification career path, the common image is that of a healthy middle-aged person receiving a basic Swedish massage. Reality is much larger in scope. In this series we will be discussing how to work with different client populations- in all ages and stages of life. We kick things off with a discussion of geriatric massage, including its challenges, effective techniques, and benefits.

Challenges Massaging Elderly Clients

Elderly clients can often be intimidating to massage, due to their unique health conditions and physical needs. Older […]

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