Sage spa

The Hormone Guide

I couldn't resist posting this for our massage-for-PMS clients and for women everywhere. I found the image on Pinterest.

How Massage Heals Sore Muscles

NY Times February 6, 2012 By Nicholas Backalar

"A massage after vigorous exercise unquestionably feels good, and it seems to reduce pain and help muscles recover. Many people — both athletes and health professionals – have long contended it eases inflammation, improves blood flow and reduces muscle tightness. But until now no one has understood why massage has this apparently beneficial effect.

Now researchers have found what happens to muscles when a masseur goes to work on them....

________

Vigorous exercise causes tiny tears in muscle fibers, leading to an immune reaction — inflammation — as the body gets to work repairing the injured cells. So the researchers screened the tissue from the massaged and unmassaged legs to compare their repair processes, and find out what difference massage would make.

They found that massage reduced the production of compounds called cytokines, which play a critical role in inflammation. Massage also stimulated mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses inside cells that convert glucose into the energy essential for cell function and repair. “The bottom line is that there appears to be a suppression of pathways in inflammation and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis,” helping the muscle adapt to the demands of increased exercise, said the senior author, Dr. Mark A. Tarnopolsky."

READ THE ARTICLE>

Valentine's Day for All!

Boyfriend-girlfriend, partner-partner, mother-daughter, grandma-grandchild, husband-wife.  All kinds of love is celebrated at Sage Spa on Valentine's Day.  Well, maybe except one... we know you love your dogs and cats; but, that's one kind of massage that we don't do. :)  Anyway, Sage is celebrating your love by offering a special Valentine's discount on our couples massage.  The special will be available from Friday February 10th through Valentine's Day itself February 14th. The price (normally $260) will be only $199!  There will be hundreds of red balloons in the air as usual.  Book now to reserve your place.

What should every modern woman have? (No need to read this, guys)

There are several apps for tracking your periods (and the moods and symptoms associated with it) but this one seems to be particuarly good.  Sage is conducting a study on PMS and one of the participants in our study turned us on to it.

Here is a REVIEW by a woman iPhone user that I thought pretty much covered all the plusses and minuses of the app.

Also, you can check out Sage's PMS session if you are interested.

 

What Real Women Look Like

Unhappiness with our bodies is pretty common among women.  

I suspect it's the reason some women avoid coming for a massage, which is a shame because an attentive, professional massage could be just the gateway we need to open the door to healing these negative feelings.

 Though our society has come a long way, it seems that men are still judged more on their accomplishments and wealth and women on their beauty and body.  I hope this dichotomy will be gone in the not too distant future.  Meanwhile, we as women need to present ourselves with all of the positive body messages that we can.  

Recently I found a website that I really like.  It's called "My Body Gallery... What Real Women Look Like."  On this site women submit photos of themselves (heads/faces excluded).  Then you plug in height, weight, pant size and shirt size.  You also post a few words about your feelings like:

"I'll never be a size six." 

"I don't remember a time when my body wasn't big." 

"It all started before I was even a teenager."

"I've always been called too skinny by everyone I met."

After submitting your search parameters a group of pictures of people similar to your body type will come up. It's often amazing and instructional how lovely these bodies are even though the women with these body types don't like them.  It's also somehow comforting to know that others struggle with this issue. The site is just beginning and they could use more photos.  I plan on submitting one.  I'm tiny to most people but with large, athletic legs, which I've always hated even though they are such talented legs (I was a dancer).  

A final word:

Women need to bond together on this issue and celebrate our differences and our beauty as well as our accomplishments. Celebrate your life and your body; get that massage! And, If it makes you feel any better, massage therapists, work by feel, often with our eyes closed while doing a massage! 

Looking for an excuse to get a massage?

Low back pain is one of the most common complaints of our Sage clients ... and the rest of America too so don't feel alone.

New research shows that massage alleviates low back pain better than traditional medicine treatments like medication or physical therapy.

 This is important because low back pain is a major cause of absenteism, disability and 'presenteeism" (you're actually at work but can't perform well because of the pain.  The massage participants in the study were required to get (lucky them) one massage a week for 10 weeks.  At the end of that time, their back pain was significantly reduced or gone entirely.  If you're looking for an excuse to get a massage, I think you've found it!

Acupressure Is Good Pressure

At Sage we have several different treatments that include shiatsu/acupressure points. These treatments are Massage for Menstrual Cramps, Massage for Headaches and Massage To Encourage Labor.  We believe in the effectiveness of point work not only because our extensive experience at the massage table shows that it works but because research studies have proven it to be so .  We are not "just winging it" although we certainly use our creative intuition when we need to in order to personalize a treatment that will be most effective just for YOU.    

If you're interested in reading the research (and I know there are some science nerds like me out there who are), here are a few studies that prove the effectiveness of shiatsu/acupressure:

Acupressure is more effective than physical
therapy for low back pain: MORE

Acupressure effective and reduces the need for pain medications in
migraine and tension headache.  MORE

Meridian Massage (shiatsu points) relieves
PMS/menstrual cramps:  MORE

 

I've Got Feet On My Mind

The New York City Marathon is 1 day away and, in the past few months, runners have been coming into Sage for relief from various physical pains or just to relax prior to the race.  Combine this with my return to ballet dancing after 20 years and you can see why I've got feet on my mind.  Mostly painful feet, mind you. Sore ankles, achy ball-of-the-foot, bunions, bent toes, sprains and of course calluses and blisters, oh my!

Massage can most certainly help with soreness and sprains after they occur; but, what could possibly help runners and dancers to prevent these injuries from happening in the first place?  I've been looking around and have found a product called the AFX or Ankle Foot MaXimizer.

Its unique design has a variety of resistance bands which allow a post-injury patient or a high performing dancer to achieve balanced stretching AND strengthening.Balancing strengthening with stretching is often key to preventing injury.  Some sports focus too much on stretching and not enough on strengthening or vice versa.  

 

Progressive Health Innovations' Innovative Resistance System provides balanced strengthening from early stage rehabilitation to high-performance athletic training. I plan on buying it.  It may not help you out with this year's marathon or next week's ballet class; but there's always next year!    

 

 

 

Smokin' Shoes!

Just 3 more days until the NYC marathon.  We've been massaging a lot of runners who want to be in top-notch form for the race and we are very excited about our clients' and friends' prospects for running a great race.  

The race passes only a block from Sage Spa in Brooklyn and we will be walking over to 4th Avenue to watch everyone from the elite runners on down to those amazing average joes who do what I can never myself imagine.

As I was thinking about the race, for some reason it reminded me of Hermes, the ancient mythological God.  He is described in Wikipedia as "the great messenger of the gods"  and also as "the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them...". Here's to all the marathon runners who pass boundaries they never thought they could.  You inspire us all!

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Touch is powerful. We know it; animals know it too.