By Pete Whitridge
Welcome to Spring! This month I will be in Gainesville to offer my class Myofascial Components of Head, Neck, and Shoulder Pain. We have a wonderful group forming for this first CE class of the year at FSM and we invite you to join us. This is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with your massage therapy family and to find support and rejuvenation for yourself amid the strident noise of the external world.
I’ve been ruminating about this class while engaged in spring cleaning here at home after the winter frosts. I’ve been picking up millions (perhaps a slight exaggeration) of Seagrape leaves, power washing fences, porches, and the driveway, in addition to the usual mowing and edging. This intense physical work has brought me into focused awareness of my elbow joint and an appreciation of its relationship to shoulder and neck pain.
I see it like this: the Biceps brachii attaches in three places including the radial tuberosity distally AND proximally, the glenohumeral fossa, and the coracoid process of the scapula. This strong chain of flexion, with the added strain of holding a power sprayer, have reminded me of the importance of some simple basics: taking breaks, changing positions frequently, flowing with intention, and finally patience. These are things we can help our clients to understand and embody. In addition to these “soft qualities” that we want to educate our clients about, it’s important to explore the physical terrain of the body and develop strategies to help our clients find their way back to pain free movement.
The elbow is an extremely important joint for functional movements of the upper extremity, whether we want to pick up a small object with our fingers or reach overhead to get a package off an upper shelf in a store. It is the elbow and the fluid movements of all the muscles that converge throughout the upper extremity that we will pay close attention to during this class.
We see so many clients who have finger/hand, hand/wrist, and elbow/shoulder pain who can benefit from some simple reminders. We cannot stretch ourselves out of pain. We must inhabit the location of stress and create a positive flowing counterbalance (extension) to our habitual flexion. And, as a therapist, it is important to use steady, gentle contact with the ligaments and joint capsules of the body to create a positive effect on the physiology. This reassuring pressure helps stimulate the release of hyaluronic acid into the tissues, which in turn helps to hydrate and replenish oxygen (O2) and nutrients within our tissues (good stuff in)! At the same time, we’re also flushing out the carbon dioxide (C02) and metabolic waste from high levels of activity like power washing or bodywork (bad stuff out)! All of these factors combine to create healing and will be among the concepts we’ll be exploring during the weekend.
We hope you’ll join us for this bodywork weekend. You will have fun while learning, connect with fellow massage therapists, and enjoy the beauty of the FSM Campus. April 18-19, 2025 – REGISTER HERE
Visit Whitridgewellness.com to see other upcoming classes.
