"...I want to take care of myself and I want healthcare professionals on my side who will spend time, get to know me and provide natural ways to protect and maintain my health ... I live an active, full life and plan to feel healthy and young for a long time to come..."
Welcome to Touchpoint Clinical Massage
We are a group of Licensed Medical Massage Therapists offering our love and dedication to state-of-the-art massage therapies for the health of our clients. We believe in the time tested art and science of massage for health promotion and maintenance and to speed healing and recovery from many types of injury and illness.
What areas of your health are you most concerned about?
Arthritis Foot Pain Sciatica Back Pain Headaches Sports Related Car Accident Jaw Problem Tennis Elbow Firbromyalgia Relaxation / Stress Management Work Related
Emily is 83 years young. Over the past 10 years she has had slowly worsening pain from arthritis in many of the joints of her body. She swims three times per week and receives weekly massages which help to keep her muscles flexible and supple. Her therapist works with the many tender areas which build up in the muscles around her joints. The massage does not cure the arthritis but does help her to stay as pain free as possible and helps her to stay active in church socials, frequent travels and caring for her house and yard.
Donna is a nurse who works long hours and spends a good part of her day in sitting in front of a computer and with a phone tucked under her ear. For the past month she has had a worsening pain between her shoulder blades. She says "I know it isn't anything serious ... but it really bothers me." During her massage, her therapist found and released a number of tender areas in her back muscles. This relieved the pain. Now Donna sees her therapist about once a month to help relieve the tension that builds from her work.
Anthony is a business manager who was sitting at a stop sign two months ago when his car was hit from the rear by a pickup truck. His head whipped back and forward. He was checked out in the emergency room including X-rays which showed no broken bones, but he was still very stiff and sore. His family physician suggested massage. He initially saw his massage therapist once a week. His therapist works slowly and deeply in to some of the muscles of his neck and very gently in to the most tender muscles. As he has improved he has cut back to a massage every two weeks. He says "massage has helped more than anything else". He is now able to fully turn his head and stays pain free later and later in to each day.
Cheryl started aching all over several years ago. She saw a half dozen doctors before finally being diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome a painful, non-disabling condition which causes tender points in multiple muscles all over the body. She started receiving regular massages which, along with a gentle exercise program, helps to keep her pain under control so that she can enjoy her work and her family.
Ellen is a teacher who spends most of her day on her feet. For years she has had problems, on and off, with pain around her heels. She has found that arch supports help, but during her last flare-up she asked her massage therapist to work on her feet. She was very surprised to find so many tender points in the soles of her feet and even more surprised to find that massage helped more than anything else she had tried. "I can't believe that I have hardly any pain when I get off the massage table and after each massage they are getting better."
Mandy started getting massage for back pain after tripping and falling off her treadmill. As her back pain got better, she asked her therapist if anything could be done for her headaches. She had been having daily headaches strong enough to prevent her from being able to work after an accident five years before in which she was hit in the head by a heavy metal door. After six visits with her therapist, who did a very gentle treatment called Craniosacral Therapy, her headaches were improved by more than 75% and Mandy has started looking for a job again.
Janice has a stressful job and a very full family life. Often at night she grinds her teeth. A week ago, she was eating a piece of taffy when her jaw stiffened and became very painful. She had trouble opening her mouth and chewing was painful. She saw her dentist who who called the problem "TMJ Dysfunction". He made her a splint which began to help her jaw relax and also referred her to a massage therapist specially trained to work on the muscles inside her mouth. Her therapist massaged the muscles of her face and neck and wore a glove while slowly working on the chewing muscles inside her mouth. After the first session her pain was greatly reduced and she was able to open her mouth much wider. After three visits to her massage therapist, her jaw was almost completely relaxed and she slowly started to add chewy foods like bagels and apples back in to her diet.
Ed is a physician with a very busy practice. He works long hours seeing patients, doing paperwork and arguing with insurance companies. His wife noticed that he kept rubbing his neck and his back and insisted that he get a massage. While he was on the table, Ed began to realize, with the help of his therapist, that he had been working with so much stress that his body had forgotten what it felt like to relax. He now makes time in his busy schedule to get regular massage and says that the time he invests in getting the massage is more than made up by the increased productivity he is capable of when he is relaxed.
Barry has been having problems with numbness and pain in his left hip which radiates down the side of his thigh and leg all the way to his foot. He has been seeing his chiropractic physician who recommended massage. On the first visit, Barry's massage therapist has loosened a muscle in his hip which decreased his pain quite a bit. His chiropractor says that the massage loosens his back too and allows a better adjustment. With the combination of chiropractic and massage, the numbness has resolved and the pain is steadily fading in Barry's leg and thigh which is good since his grandkids have been waiting for him to take them to the zoo.
Bill has been a weekend athlete who enjoys running and bicycling. In the last six months, he has been training for a triathlon and increasing his running and cycling mileage and also weight lifting. His training efforts sometimes leave him with sore areas in his muscles which he finds are greatly helped by massage. Recently he also added swimming to his training schedule and soon found that a flaw in his stroke mechanics caused him to develop a painful neck. Deep massage released the muscular pain and stroke coaching has corrected the faulty mechanics. Bill is now on track with his training and looking forward to a strong performance in the first event of the season.
June is a professional hair cutter who developed a painful elbow which has at times made it hard for her to hold her shears. Her doctor has called the problem "tennis elbow" even though she does not play tennis. She has had an injection in to her elbow which gave some relief and has tried liniments and an elbow band. Her greatest relief has come from three sessions by her massage therapist who worked on her hand, forearm, arm and neck very slowly with attention to sore spots in each muscle. She is now back to cutting hair with almost no pain and has put the elbow band in a drawer.
Hank is a carpenter with his own business. He works long hours remodeling homes and offices. While working he is constantly squatting, pushing, pulling, reaching and lifting building materials and tools. He says that regular massage helps to work out the kinks and keep him in shape to be able to play softball after work and spend good time with his kids.
(The cases described above are based on real clients and real client outcomes. Names and some details have been changed to maintain confidentiality.)
Copyright M. Melecki 2003 All rights reserved.
Last updated: 05/07/2006
