Massage Therapy Vancouver

Massage therapy is an effective approach to pain management and overall wellbeing. It uses a variety of techniques that include manual therapy, myofacial release, as well as stretching and strengthening exercises. 

People often use massage to treat medical conditions. However, it is also a key element in helping to achieve overall wellbeing. Massage helps increase the body’s range of motion and flexibility as well as reducing stress and improving circulation.

Registered massage therapists are trained by and registered with the College of Massage Therapists of BC. They use registered massage therapy (RMT) to treat a variety of conditions:

• Headaches/migraines
• Post-injury rehabilitation
• Post-surgical rehabilitation
• Sprains and strains
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Lymphoedema
• Back pain
• Tendinitis/bursitis
• Neck and shoulder tension
• Muscle spasm
• Pregnancy pain
• Whiplash
• Sports injuries
• Temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ)
• Sinus congestion

During your initial visit, we will  ask you to fill out a brief health history and consent form. The next step will be a physical assessment by your Evolve Wellness Centre RMT to evaluate your condition. This will help your therapist determine the best treatment plan. Your RMT will give you privacy to disrobe and allow you to position yourself on the table under a sheet.

Your massage therapist may use a massage oil or lotion, depending on the technique used. Be sure to speak up if you feel any discomfort. This way, your massage therapist can adjust hand pressure or use another approach or technique that works better for you.

A massage usually leaves most people feeling extremely relaxed. Some patients no longer feel long-term aches and pains caused by tension or repetitive activity. People often experience increased energy,  heightened awareness and greater productivity. We also recommend that you drink plenty of water following your massage to flush the toxins  released from your soft tissues.

The craniosacral system includes membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that protect the spinal cord and brain. Craniosacral practitioners use a gentle touch to improve a patient’s craniosacral system by releasing restrictions within it. This promotes the body’s natural healing process and helps to restore correct function to the central nervous system. It helps remedy a wide variety of medical conditions and improve resistance to disease. Commonly treated problems are:

• Migraines
• Scoliosis
• Trauma to the spinal cord and brain
• Post-surgical recovery
• Chronic pain
• Nervous system disorders

MLD is a technique of manual lymphatic drainage, created by Dr. Bruno Chikly. A massage therapist uses their knowledge of anatomy to feel how lymph flows in the body. Practitioners use a gentle touch of hands and fingers for manual lymphatic mapping. This mapping process determines circulation and supports alternate pathways for draining stagnations and removing blockages.

With soft, wave-like movements, the massage therapist encourages fluid circulation to:

• Improve function of the immune system
• Detoxify the body
• Help with tissue regeneration
• Relieve chronic pain
• Reduce insomnia
• Diminish swollen specific areas of the body, such as hands or ankles
• Relieve bronchitis and other chronic or acute inflammations
• Relieve tension

Joint mobilization is a manual therapy technique used to increase the movement and the health of a joint. It’s different from a chiropractic adjustment, as registered massage therapists mainly treat the muscles that surround the joint. This treatment helps reduce joint pain, promotes relaxation in the surrounding tissues and increases joint movement.

Evolve’s RMT uses gentle strokes on the face in a specific order to help with sinus congestion. Patients sometimes feel the effect right after a treatment, but most often the full effect is felt over the next day or two. Massage therapists typically include it as part of the massage. They often perform it at the end of the session as it can be incredibly calming  for most patients.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder is pain in your jaw because of hypertonic jaw muscles and/or joint dysfunction. It can be genetic, or caused by a combination of clenching, grinding and/or arthritis. Some people may experience difficulty chewing, jaw tenderness/pain and sometime locking of the joint.

Evolve’s registered massage therapist can release hypertonic muscles either inside the mouth or externally with the patient’s permission. This will help to reduce jaw pain, increase the range of motion of the jaw and prevent locking of the jaw joint.

Myofascial release is a technique used by Evolve’s RMT. He uses gentle pressure and movements to release muscle adhesions. This allows the body to increasing blood flow, improve lymphatic circulation and increasing the ability to stretch muscles.

Yes. Trigger points are sensitive spots in a muscle that cause pain in a different area of the body. When pressure is applied or a muscle contracts, a distinctive referral pain pattern sets off, dictating which muscle may need to be released. 

Evolve’s RMT is trained to determine which muscle the referral pain path  affects. To treat the trigger point, he applies pressure to the tight muscle for 30-40 seconds. This helps the muscle to release, offering pain relief or even eliminating the pain altogether.