What can help period pain – Part 1?
It is reported that period pain affects two thirds of women ranging from mild discomfort to pain at some time or other. Period pain happens because of contractions in the uterus, or womb, which is a muscle. If it contracts too strongly during your menstrual cycle, it can press against nearby blood vessels. This briefly cuts off the supply of oxygen to the uterus. It’s this lack of oxygen causes your pain and cramping.
The cramping can be felt in the lower belly or lower back or both. The intensity of the cramping can very from mild to severe.
In addition to cramping women can get leg pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or extreme fatigue.
When period pain has no obvious cause, it is classified by the medical profession as “primary” while pain caused by an actual condition e.g. endometriosis, fibroids, PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) is called “secondary”.
In the next few blogs I want to share some tips on assisting those women like myself who suffer from primary period pain.
I personally have found that placing a hot water bottle on your lower back/belly or taking a warm bath may provide some relief. If you are at work, you can put a hot pad on the area. One of the things that got me hooked on reflexology was that it helped it reduced my PMT and I felt that my periods were less painful too.
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Does Reflexology help foot pain/tension or plantar fasciitis?
One of the most frequent questions I am asked by clients, is "will reflexology help my foot pain/tension or plantart fasciitis"? Reflexology is a whole body treatment, where the therapists stimulates reflex points on the feet to effect healing in the corresponding parts of the body. Reflexology allows the body to rebalance, which assists you to:
- De-stress
- Improve your sleeping patterns
- Reduce anxiety
- Calm an over active mind
- Relax the body to aid digestion

Foam Rolling Guide – Part 1
What is a foam rolling? A foam roller readily available from the likes of TK Maxx is a tool for self massage. Foam rolling is basically a cheap and easy way of keeping your muscles flexible. How do you foam roll? You place the foam roller under the area you’re targeting and use a gentle, flowing backwards and forwards motion to apply pressure to the area. How does it work? You know how if you visit us for a massage, we apply pressure to release the knots in your muscles. You use the same principle with a foam roller except you use your body weight to apply pressure. Are there any downside to foam rolling? While I fully recommend foam rolling it will never replace the precision and experience of a massage therapist. It can be difficult to target small areas with a foam roller so a spikey ball is a better alternative. How often should you foam roll? The simple answer is as much as you can. When exercising a foam roller should be used both before and after exercise for best results. Please try to remember foam rolling isn’t a chore it’s a therapy you will gain benefits from it!

Is deep pressure in a massage ever bad?
One of the first things you learn as a massage therapist is that everyone wants deep pressure in massage. This is because no one wants a light fluffy massage because they feel there will be no benefit and they have wasted both their time and money. The second thing you learn as a massage is that everyone has their own idea what deep pressure is and what would be light pressure for one person is deep pressure for another person. Even if you take one client, the pressure they consider deep on their tight shoulders will be different from their idea of deep pressure on their legs. So there is no fixed concept of what deep pressure is, it varies from client to client, and with the same client it varies treatment to treatment and depending up on the part of their body your are treating. Given all this how do we work out pressure in clinic. First, we base it on our experience, your body type, the tension in the muscle we are working on. But most of all we talk to you about how the pressure feels to you and respect your preferences for pressure. I am sure most of you have heard me talk about good pain. Its based on a phenomenon that I have seen in clinic over the years. This is where someone comes into clinic in pain, we apply pressure and the pain turns into a good pain – because the pressure is a source of relief. For some people this “good pain” just feels right. This good pain is strong but welcome and came sometimes be described as a “sweet ache”. For some clients the good pain, is such a welcome relief that pain doesn’t even seem the right word. A word of warning, I like all my other therapists are only human and sometimes we get it wrong. This can be if we have missed a trigger point that is very sensitive, and we go into deep or the opposite can happen where a muscle locks up and we apply pressure and you as the client can’t feel anything. These situations can also arise due to change with your body i.e. an intense gym session or longer work hours than usual so lots of extra time sitting at your desk. I try to ask all my clients regularly without sounding like its some automated message, do you want the pressure deeper or lighter and if so let me know. I know the other therapists in clinic do this as well. In clinic we always want you to get the most out of your treatment. So please remember we always welcome feedback on pressure throughout your treatment.

