Swedish Massage Therapy
Traditional Swedish massage was introduced by Swedish physiologist, Henri Peter Ling, in Stockholm, Sweden in the year 1812. This massage technique is characterized by its firm, yet calming pressure that improves blood circulation, eases muscle tension, and improves flexibility. Today, a Western-style Swedish massage still employs a series of long, gliding strokes, kneading of the muscles, tapotement and vibrations that are so common when one thinks of massage. A therapist will also create friction and do what is called cross fibre work to help promote the release of tension or breaking down of scar tissue. This type of Massage Therapy is what is taught in many colleges today.
Sports massage is a direct descendant of Swedish massage because both techniques help heal injuries like muscle strains, spasms, and ligament sprains. Many of the techniques of sports massage such as strokes applied in the direction of the heart are borrowed from Swedish massage. This technique is just as important for athletes as it is for relaxation. Therapists will use massage oils or lotion to achieve smooth, long and deep strokes over their client’s body in both types of treatment.
Temporal Mandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJD)
In 2013, Jennifer completed a Mastery TMJ dysfunction course that taught the principles of inter-oral work on the muscles of the jaw. TMJD is a condition where the muscles of the jaw can get tight and painful causing clicking, popping, tension, and limit mobility or movement of the jaw bone (mandible). This can also cause headaches or pain which can worsen with the grinding of the teeth or clenching of the jaw. Treatment of the jaw can aid in decreasing overall tension or pain, relaxing the muscles which can aid in bettering alignment; malalignment may be causing popping or clicking. Treatment of the jaw in this manner may be done externally, over the face where some of the muscles reside, as well as with a gloved hand inside the mouth to better relax and release muscles that help swing the jaw side to side, as well as clench the teeth together. Although some of the muscles of the jaw can be treated on top of the skin, there are some muscles that can only be accessed inside the mouth which is where this type of treatment can help.
Cupping
Jennifer started her journey on learning the fundamentals of Modern Cupping Therapy in January of 2020. Since then, she has taken other courses on cupping for the treatment of scar tissue, lymph drainage, magnet cupping, cupping with movement, facial cupping, and advanced techniques involving cupping of the deep muscles of the body. Cupping is a wonderful technique that can have great affects on individuals who do not react well to the pressure used in regular massage therapy. It uses negative pressure instead of the positive force that manual therapists usually apply with their hands during treatments. It can help decrease adhesions in the muscles and fascial restrictions in the tissue of the body through the separation the fibers through the suction.
Kinesiology Taping
Jennifer started utilizing Kinesiology taping (K-taping) in her practice after attending a course in 2015 and has continued to update her education with the application of this method of taping by attending another course in 2023. K-taping is an effective technique to help relieve muscle hypertonicity, decrease pain, and/or to help support muscles when they are in a weakened state due to injury. Taping usually occurs at the end of a massage therapy treatment to help the client with pain management or support during the healing process of an injury while they continue with every day tasks or activities. It has also been extremely helpful for prenatal clients in their third trimester to help with low back and pelvic pain at the tail end of pregnancy.
Craniosacral Therapy
Most recently, Jennifer has attended a course on level 1 Craniosacral Therapy in 2024. This treatment is based off of Osteopathy techniques that is very light, but extremely effective in treating a variety of conditions including, but not limited to headaches, migraines, post-concussion syndrome, neck pain, hip/tail bone and low back pain. With this type of treatment being so light, it is ideal for clients that are pain sensitive or sensitive to the pressure applied with massage therapy. The technique utilizes the motion of the bones of the skull and sacrum to help facilitate the body to heal by moving the bones into a position of ease to help rebalance the body system.
