July 2014 – Wellness Focus

ADHD: Why Massage Works

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects about 3-5 percent of children and it’s known that symptoms carry on to adulthood affecting about 4% of adults. ADHD affects males at higher rate than females in childhood, but this ratio seems to even out by adulthood. While medication is often used to treat the condition, research suggests that periodic massage can have some profoundly positive results with dealing with the symptoms and helping sufferers clear their head, calm themselves, and focus.

ADHD condition is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Adults with ADHD may have difficulty following directions, remembering information, concentrating, organizing tasks, or completing work within time limits. If these difficulties are not managed appropriately, they can cause associated behavioral, emotional, social, vocational, and academic problems.

Besides well documented symptoms like hyperactivity, other symptoms may include stubbornness, having a “short fuse” when it comes to temper, defiance, and a strong tolerance for very loud music or other noise. ADHD sufferers may also seek physical stimulation, including touch. It’s not uncommon to see a strong liking for very hot or very cold showers, back rubs, and activities that stimulate any of the senses, such as video games, sports and most any kind of exercise. It’s that touch-seeking behavior, and lack of focus demonstrated by some with ADHD that drove researchers to see if massage could help. Continue reading “ADHD: Why Massage Works”

Perform a Mental Reset with Massage

Most modern day computers and mobile devices have a limit. You’ll know when you’ve hit it when things start running slowly, battery life drains fast, things just don’t work the way they should. You try everything, then pick up the phone and call for tech support–they always recommend a restart.

A mental restart sets things back to normal. It clears extra memory baggage and dismisses extraneous code that causes things to bog down. It returns important settings that balance your machine to default status. POOF! The restarted device seems to have a new lease on life. It just works better.

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Why You Should Consider a Once-a-Month Facial

Many people pay more attention to cleaning their car than cleaning their face. They wait until the encounter itchy skin, dark spots or breakouts before they seek help. Then they usually make it worse by not consulting a professional and heading the to drug store for the solution.

A good professional facial is both a treatment and a pre-emptive strike against future skin issues. Getting a facial treatment once a month, or perhaps more if you have an acne breakout, will make a significant, visible difference in what you see in the mirror – and what other people see when they look at you. Like any other thing you focus on in life, you will get results and you can keep those results by focusing on skincare on a regular schedule.

Here’s a quick list of other benefits:

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Read this if you work out more than 4 times a week

There’s a special tribe of gym goers who are full-on focused on a specific goal–maybe it’s weight loss, getting six pack abs, or some rehab from an injury–and they’re driving toward the goal by going to the gym, a lot. This tribe can be found in a gym just about EVERY day, in fact. They’re the hard-core gym members, and they are serious about their bodies.

While most people who go to the gym a lot will tell you about the rush they get from a great workout or that they can’t imagine NOT going to the gym, they’re probably NOT talking about soreness and pain they often feel from the stress of the workout, the run, or the CrossFit-Zumba–spinning marathon. The fact is, you’re getting bigger, more toned or faster because as you work those muscles, they are constantly stretching and tearing, and then regenerating building new tissue or stronger tissue. Micro-tears in muscles over a long term with no rest can result in pain and soreness, and, if left alone, can actually lead to a weakening of muscle tissue that may cause injury.

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The Power of a Positive Attitude

What if you could change one thing about yourself that was proven, time and time again, to have a significant positive impact on your business success, that helped build healthier and long lasting relationships, that improved the quality of your social life, and that had a measurable effect on your health and wellness–and it was FREE–would you do it? Introducing the solution everybody’s capable of, a positive attitude.

Having a positive attitude isn’t about being overly optimistic or super-happy all the time, it’s more about perspective. It’s looking at the things, people, feelings, and environment in your life and changing the way you think about those things. It means changing your focus from “I wish” to “I can”. It’s addressing negativity, defeatism, and hopelessness with a perspective that redirects your thoughts toward solutions and positive change.

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Massage Therapy for People Living with Cancer

Half of all men and one-third of all women in the US will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Survivability is increasing exponentially as medicine and lifestyle changes help us understand more about the disease.

Massage therapy is completely safe for people living with cancer, and there are some significant benefits that can help improve the quality of life for the cancer patient. Massage can NOT spread cancer and when massage therapy is practiced by a skilled therapist, it can dramatically reduce stress and provide welcome relief from many cancer treatment related maladies.

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The Game’s A Foot

Compared to chimpanzees, the human foot is more adapted for walking upright. Your toes are smaller and your big toe is better suited for stability than for grasping tree branches. We’re hard on our feet though, and they often need our attention.

Each foot contains 26 bones, 33 muscles (intrinsic and extrinsic), 31 joints and over 100 ligaments. The feet contain 1/4 of all the bones of the body (52 bones in a pair of feet)

The body lines up over the feet, when a foot goes out of alignment the ankle, knee, pelvis and back follow. Analyzing the way you stand, walk, run and sit helps determine the cause of misalignment, which is most likely the culprit of pain. Finding and targeting the misalignment with massage and/or chiropractic work usually relieves the pain.

“One in six people in the US have foot problems. Eighty percent of all foot problems occur in women. Two-thirds of foot problems can be attributed to shoes.” Web MD (2013)

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Your Pore Skin

For every hair on your body, there’s a skin pore. You’ve got more than 5 million of them.

Maintaining clean, healthy skin is important for maintaining healthy looking skin. Dirt and oil on your face, shoulders and chest collect around your pores like leaves around a storm drain. When pores get clogged, it creates a pile-up of oil and dead skin cells. Bacteria make their way to the blockage and inflammation occurs. Not pretty.

Squeezing, poking and rubbing the blocked pore just stretches them and makes things worse. A skilled esthetician, like the ones we have here at SVMTG, can offer your a soothing, effective deep cleaning or more aggressive acne treatments, to keep your pores (and you) happier.

When to Get a Sports Massage

Sports massage was originally developed to help athletes prepare their bodies for optimal performance, recover after a big event, or function well during training. Sports massage keeps you flexible and your motions fluid, while helping with the prevention and healing of injuries to the muscles and tendons.

Of course, you don’t have to be an athlete to benefit from sports massage. Sports massage is also great for people with stiffness, minor injuries, chronic pain or restricted range of motion.

The massage therapist generally concentrates on a specific problem area, like neck, shoulders, or lower back, rather than a full-body massage (but there are exceptions). They borrow techniques from a range of massage modalities, including Swedish massage, that stimulates circulation of blood and lymph fluids and trigger point therapy to break down muscle knots and increase range of motion. Sports massage can be done on a table or mat with the client in loose-fitting clothes, or disrobed to their comfort level.

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