Can anyone help me with this please? I've not been in practise for long but so far I have had three ladies with what feels like muscle going across the shoulders at the base of the neck. I cant feel the cervical vertabrae through this and the ladies say it is not painful. Does anyone know what causes this and what it is called and is there any way of "treating" it? The ladies in question are all quite large. Thank you.
RE: base of neck area
Hi Susie
OK the ladies in question are as you say rather large, so this is more than likely just excess fat since there aren't any muscles that run over the vertebrae like you are describing, there is not a lot you can do with fat as you would burn more fat off yourself trying to generate enough heat to get the body to reabsorb it 😉
RE: base of neck area
Thank you Paul, what a shame I wont be able to help them with it and they wont get the full benefit of the neck massage as half the neck area is covered. I'll just massage over it as best I can and hope they take it upon themselves to lose a bit of weight.:)
RE: base of neck area
Hi Susie
Fat does not stop the treatment being effective, it just means you have to apply a little more pressure to get through the fatty layers into the underlying tissue, when you have worked the area for a few minutes then you should start to feel what you are looking for 🙂
A good exercise to improve the sensitivity of the fingers is to get a short hair and a telephone book, get someone to place the hair under the first page and rub your fingers over the page until you find it, repeat the process with more pages between you and the hair and in no time you will learn to extend your senses beyond the surface, hope that helps 🙂
RE: base of neck area
Good exersize. Will keep you posted on the ladies progress (and mine) xx
RE: base of neck area
Hi Susie. I agree. I have some larger clients and it doesn't really hinder a good deep massage. You just need to work that bit harder.
The same can be said of people with well developed muscle, it's much harder work but there are ways and techniques. Using the underside of your forearm is a good way to massage large areas deeply and you can apply quite a lot of pressure expecially when you grab your wrist with the other hand.;)
Elbows and fists (du-pong) are also useful. Suggest you get a good remedial or sports massage book. I've got a couple of really good ones, can't remember the names right now, they weren't cheap (about £30-40) but worth it.
Other suggestions, book yourself on as many advances workshops as possible and get treated yourself by a good therapist and then give them a treatment and don't be afraid to ask for feedback and take on board what they say. I found this invaluable. You might also learn a lot from a good osteopath.
The more people you treat the more experience you get and the more sensitive your hands and fingers become. But be careful about using your fingers for deep work, it is a killer.;)
The hardest ones for me are muscular men. One of mine is 6'8" and solid. I really thought I wasn't having much effect, but it seems to have done the trick. He is lovely but my heart sank when he had to duck to get through the door.[&:]
RE: base of neck area
Thanks for all your help on this subject and many others. I have spent 3 hours reading all the very interesting messages from the past and I'm so glad that although this is a very serious subject for all of us, we can also have a laugh about it too. What a great bunch you all are :). I have a very muscular son, a mother in law with fatty tissue around her neck and a partner who is like "son of king kong", so I have plenty of variation to practise on. Since reading the posts this morning I have printed a pdf file regarding Breast Wellness, I have ordered Pain Erasure The Bonnie Pruden Way and read all about LaStone therapy which I have booked in September (really looking forward to that now). I will look into remedial massage too so I think you've given me enough to think about for a while:eek::(. I will catch up with the rest of the forums as soon as I get time (cant wait). I still have reflexology and Indian Head Massage to catch up on (not to mention all the other stuff that catches my eye). Love you loads xxx
RE: base of neck area
You have been busy!!
With regards to the "son of King Kong" I would definitely recommend you try the Tui body waxes (you have probably read that thread too!) I bought them on recommendation from this site - and really have found them beneficial with the more hirsute!! [8D]
I am also doing a hot stones workshop next month which I am really looking forward to, too!
k xx
RE: base of neck area
Yup!! thanks to Fozzio (bless him) I've now sent details to register for the Tui body waxes and spend MORE money....oh what fun. love n hugs xx
RE: base of neck area
Hi susiesue
the(muscle) tissue you describe may be a condition called dowagers hump it is unfortunatly becoming more common due to obesity and long hours at computor.It mainly only effects females,a search on the web should help with required info.
Fraid i cant agree with using elbow techniqes on the neck itself.Of all the areas of the body we treat the neck is one of the most delicate, elbow techniques can be sensitively applied from T1 down.
I would like to recommend my favorite bible Posture and pain by the Kendals, on first examination the book appears old and out of date but actually provides a unbelievable amount of knowledge for £40, a must have for any remedial massage therapist.
wishing you a succesful career
steve
RE: base of neck area
Thanks Steve
I think I'm actually learning more from this forum than I ever could at college. One thing leads to another and I seem to have my head stuck in all sorts of books that I would have never dreamed of reading before.
Love 'n' hugs
RE: base of neck area
Fraid i cant agree with using elbow techniqes on the neck itself.Of all the areas of the body we treat the neck is one of the most delicate, elbow techniques can be sensitively applied from T1 down.
Sorry. but you have taken my comments out of context. I would NEVER use elbows on the neck area. I was simply saying that this is a method of applying deep pressure.
Not for the neck, and sorry if anybody thought it was!!!!!
RE: base of neck area
apologies candie[&o]
I read base of neck and elbows and fists in same sentence!!!!!!
RE: base of neck area
Hi Steve
Welcome to the forum.
I will have to go and look this one up as I have not come across it myself, I tend to refer to "spinal manipulation" which is again getting a bit long in the tooth as far as books go but is still very informative as well as being very expensive 🙂
RE: base of neck area
I do it all the time. It's called being an 'Eager Beaver'. Rush rush rush!
😀