Clinical Massage Therapy

Clinical Massage Therapy Case Study 1

A client came to me who runs his own window cleaning business. He was experiencing pain in his elbow and numbness in his thumb and index finger. It had gradually been getting worse over the last few months, but was now at the point he was having to cut down on his work. He had gone to his GP who had suggested he tried a support for his elbow, take painkillers, and rest. Not easy when you’re self-employed.

In his Consultation there was no evidence of swelling or injury in the elbow, but there were restrictions in his shoulder girdle and neck range of movements. When working on the restrictions in his neck, one of the trigger points I pressed re-created the exact pain in his elbow. When I moved to his shoulder, a muscle on the back of his shoulder blade had a trigger point that re-created the numbness in his finger and thumb. In this case the problem was in his neck and shoulder, NOT the elbow. With some stretches and two more treatments my client was pain-free.

Clinical Massage Therapy Case Study 2

In 2009 I started getting severe neck and arm pain, and as my GP was not particularly helpful I proceeded to spend thousands seeking help from various physios, chiropractors and sports therapists, but nothing helped. In 2011, my GP finally referred me for an MRI, and found I had a prolapsed disk in my neck (C5/6).   I had surgery 18 months later. Thankfully the surgery was a success, but because my daily pain had been for almost 4 years, I had gone from competing in professional combat sports, to now not being able to use my left arm for daily tasks and this took its toll on the rest of my body, and mental health.

The road to recovery wasn’t much fun, and I was still suffering from pain due to my body’s inability to correct itself from the years of chronic pain.  It was then, Gill was recommended to me.

At first I was very hesitant, having lost all confidence in anyone, other than the surgeon who ‘fixed’ my neck.  I saw Gill twice weekly initially, as pretty much all my body was suffering from painful muscle spasms, but I still didn’t have the confidence for work to be done on my neck. After 6 treatments (over 6 weeks), I was a different person.  Gill was able to work around my hesitancy to gain my trust, and by week 4 was working on my neck.  I was able to move freely, and I felt a lot stronger mentally than I had done in years….cont

Gill is still the only person I see and trust with any issues of pain (injury or other), because of her level of expertise.  I am now the lowest weight I have ever been, running half marathons and teaching combat sports daily. Everyone I have ever referred has come away feeling a lot better, and hasn’t had to have months and months of treatment to get there.

Some of the injuries I treat include: