For massage therapists, Christmas usually comes pretty early…. about 4 months early. After business slows to a crawl in the summer, September usually brings a pretty sharp spike in business. It seems that every year as soon as the weather starts to cool a bit there is a flood of new clients looking for a massage. It’s different from the “slip and fall season” of the winter, the ” gardening back pain season” of the spring, or the “weekend warrior season” of the summer. This busy season is different in that it has nothing to do with physical activity or accidents and everything to do with insurance.

Most people with full time jobs have extended health care benefits as part of their salary. The average person has a pool of about $500 that can be used to pay for massage therapy. These benefits can be used and drawn upon until the end of the year, at which time they expire and the balance is magically reset to $500. This means that if you don’t use your benefits in the current period, you basically lose it… all $500 of it. This is otherwise known as the “use it or lose it” system, and September is the time of year when the heavens open up, light bulbs go off and people suddenly realise that they only have 4 months left to get approximately 6 massages otherwise it’s money out the window. This is not exactly the most worrisome predicament in the world and I am sure you will somehow find a way to work through it. Remember to first check with your insurance provider to find out the details of your policy. Specifically you need to know how much is covered in total, how much is covered per visit, and what paperwork (usually a doctor’s note) is required in order to qualify for benefits.

The beauty of the September insurance rush is the opportunities it brings to change your life. Simply dedicating some time regularly to caring about your health can open many doors to you. During their first massage, people often become aware of what is happening to their bodies as a result of the habits of their lifestyle. From this first glance, many become regular massage addicts, yoga students and gym members. This is the perfect season to start down that path of developing healthy habits that could help you live a longer, healthier, happier life.

My favourite method of treating is becoming the combination massage & acupuncture session.  From what I have seen, it gives a better chance of success for relieving chronic or acute pain and also gives a more pain free, comfortable release compared to massage therapy alone.

In a typical combination Acupuncture & Massage session, I do a half hour acupuncture treatment followed by a half hour massage.  There are some real benefits to this such as:

1. An Easier, Gentler Treatment Experience. This sounds counter-intuitive.  How can poking somebody with needles be gentler than massaging?  I start with acupuncture because it does a great job of setting the tone for the treatment.  The acupuncture treatment triggers a chain reaction that releases endorphins, analgesics and anti inflammatories into the problem areas.  After the needles are out, typically the client is more relaxed, the pain is lessened, the inflammation is reduced and the muscles have decreased spasm.  At this point, the client will not feel as much pain and discomfort from the massage.  After the needles have done the bulk of the work lessening the acuteness of the pain, the massage can be gentler focusing on flushing out toxins and stretching the muscles back to their normal length.
2. The client benefits from each technique’s unique strengths. There is no one approach or technique that does all for all people.  Massage is excellent for  increasing circulation to an area.  Stretching techniques are great for returning short muscles back to their normal length.  Fascial techniques are perfect for getting rid of fascial restrictions or scar tissue.  Reflexive neurological techniques are wonderful for releasing stubborn muscle spasms. And acupuncture is great at reducing inflammation, speeding up the healing process, decreasing pain and working deep muscles that are difficult to access.  Through a combined approach, the client has the best chance of achieving health.
3. Acupuncture decreases inflammation. When a client is in acute pain there is usually some  inflammation in the area.  The inflammatory response releases neuro transmitter chemicals which heighten any pain response.  This means that the painful area can be tricked into feeling extreme pain from even a light touch, which makes it difficult with massage to get at the root of the problem until later treatments.  Acupuncture, on the other hand, goes deep directly to the problem area and starts reducing the inflammation right away allowing the massage treatment more freedom in targeting the problem areas.
4. The combination approach allows me the freedom to give the most effective treatment that I can. I have found a few different approaches that are absolutely ideal for treating certain conditions.  For example, in acute pain between shoulder blades caused by rhomboid muscle spasm, a 3 minute application of reflexive stretching techniques can resolve most of the acute pain almost immediately.  Likewise, directed acupuncture techniques can often cause an immediate decrease in acute pain in certain types of SI joint dysfunction.
5. Acupuncture can induce profound relaxation and stress relief. I have found that more people fall asleep on my table during acupuncture sessions vs massage sessions.  Acupuncture initiates a strong release of endorphins in most people causing deep relaxation and stess relief.  There are specific points I can target for stress relief sessions that bring about a very peaceful feeling and sets the stage perfectly for the massage session.
6. Affordable.  The price of a 1  hour treatment of combined acupuncture & massage is $80 including GST.  The average for Toronto for those services separately is around $110.  As an RMT, I can bill any modality or treatment that falls under my scope of practice as “massage”.  Typically I bill combination treatments as massage therapy, which can be helpful for people that have extended health benefits for massage but not acupupuncture.  This practise is endorsed by the CMTO and insurance companies.

Since becoming a massage therapist, I have quickly found the limits my body can go before it needs help. The work is tiring and physically demanding and burns out many RMT’s by the 5 year mark. This is why I religiously follow a program of postural awareness, stretching exercises, epsom salt baths, weight training and most important of all: yoga. Yoga has done wonders for helping me maintain my core strength and flexibility and decreasing lower back pain. I plan on writing more on these topics in the near future, but for now I’d like to give props to my yoga teacher, Julia. She can be found on her website: http://www.yoga-vibe.com/

The weekend road trip to Montreal seemed like such a great idea until 500km later when I stepped out of the car and found my entire low back in spasm. I almost couldn’t straighten up and was starting to walk with a limp.  Oh how I was almost tempted to go into some downward dog yoga poses right there in the parking lot in order to relieve the pain.  Luckily I didn’t have to resort to that.  Just walking it off a bit and moving around loosened it up.  But it did remind me of a common complaint from my clients and also a condition I lived with for a few years.  Most importantly, it inspired me to write a blog post to help out all those summer travelers.

One big reason why people start to suffer from low back pain on long car rides is inactivity.  Our bodies are not meant to be immobile for hours on end.  Our muscles need to move about, contract and stretch in order to remain functional.  Inactivity decreases blood circulation, waste removal and nerve conduction to the muscles resulting in muscles that are irritated and sore.

If immobility is the cause of pain, then surely some motion must be the cure.  From suffering years of low back pain, I developed these exercises that always did the trick for me on car or plane rides.  Try some of these on your next journey and you will see the improvement.

Tips for Preventing Back Pain

• Stop frequently.  You can take a breath of fresh air, enjoy the scenery, grab a snack, etc, etc.  But most importantly, you are stretching out those muscles and moving them in a natural fashion and boosting blood circulation.
• Keep hydrated.
• If you’re stuck in a car seat, wiggle a little.  Crank up the tunes and start jiggling!  It’s good for your health!  You might not be inspired enough to break out into a full blown fist pumping dance session, but some slow gentle motion can greatly help you stay loose. Here’s how:

Mobilize Your Lower Back

1. Start by raising your left hip then lower it.  Then raise your right hip then lower it.
2. Then try twisting your left hip forward then back, followed by the right.
3. Arch your lower back so that your bum sticks out a bit more.  Next round your lower back.

Exercise Your Gluteal Muscles

1. Now you can start working your gluteal muscles.  First of all, you want to squeeze both glutes together.  If you do this right you might feel yourself lift off the seat a bit.
2. Next try squeezing just the left gluteal muscles.  It might help to push your left foot into the floor at the same time almost as if you are trying to raise that left hip off the seat.  Now try the right and alternate back and forth.
3. If you are feeling especially adventurous, turn the volume up to 11 and just dance without any shame.

Safety First

1. A few things to remember for safety sake:  To avoid accidents it is not recommended to do these exercises if you are driving.  To avoid being locked up, try these moves by yourself first so that you feel comfortable enough doing them in a way that doesn’t attract too much attention in public (the key is slow, small movements).

It might seem a bit strange at first, but with some practise it will become second nature on those long trips.  And by the way, I did these exercises on the ride back from Montreal and was amazed at how I felt no traces of back pain when I stepped out of the car in Toronto.

If you find the pain too intense or long lasting, you might need a massage or acupuncture treatment.