Earlier this month I have been learnt the Dorn Method.

"The Dorn Method is a gentle, safe and effective treatment designed to alleviate back and joint pain in people of all ages. It is used to to correct misalignment of the spine and other joints, thus addressing many health issues from back pain and sciatica to migraines. It focuses on restoring balance to the body and promoting long-term health through a combination of three elements: the actual treatment, encouraging better posture and a set of self-help exercises to practice at home."

So much from the blurb. I have been using it for the last two weeks, incorporating bits of it in most treatments. It has been amazing - the leg length correction worked every time! Though the Dorn Method it is so gentle, the results are most profound.

The Dorn Method is often combined with a special kind of massage which is named after Mr Breuss. This Breuss massage is sooo relaxing - one client thought it was cruel to ask her to get up afterwards.

After a long time the ,b>massage story section of my website is now live. I would love to hear about your massage experience. My motivation behind the massage story section is to tell the whole wide (virtual) world about the power of touch! And to draw together the people who love it, or at least appreciate it, to create a community. A bit grand, I guess, but I have to start somewhere...

Please leave some feedback. There are links on the Touching Well website on the left, and soon also on the right. You can win a copy of the one and only massage novel on the market, Gerry Pyves' "Mavis and I", plus a £10 massage voucher.

If you have a question relating to massage, pregnancy massage, on-site massage or lymphoedema, you can ask it there, too.

There are a couple of chair massage studies out! There are not many studied on chair massage. They show that chair massage is likely to reduce blood pressure, stress, anxiety and muscular discomfort! That is what I found, too. Hopefully you are experiencing this, too, if you have on-site massage. If you do, I would love your story. You can write your on-site massage story at the Touching Well Website.

Next week I am assisting at the Intermediate Psychodramatic Bodywork in Derbyshire. Thinking about this, I feel very excited and a little nervous. I have assisted in quite a few introductions, but this is my first intermediate.

The day after I come back from Derbyshire I am off to Holland for the first ever Casley Smith Conference. You may (or may not) remember that the method of Manual Lymph Drainage I have learned over five years ago is called Casley Smith, one of six methods accepted here in England. I have quite a few questions for the great and good specialising in lymphoedema, and hope to update you in the next Massage Message.

I am off to enjoy this fine autumn day, mixing cement for mosaic tiles to go in front of our new pond in the garden.
With warm regards,
Regina

Firm handshake, long life?

A handshake gives a first impression of someone, but did you know that a firm handshake actually could predict how long you are likely to live? Exactly that is the conclusion of a research study published in the British Medical Journal recently.

Chair massage brings high blood pressure down

Chair massage, plus teaching deeper, diaphragmatic breathing brought the blood pressure down in a study amongst African-American women.

Forty four per cent of African-American women suffer under high blood pressure, surely one of the highest rates in the world. Therapeutic chair massage not only decreased the blood pressure in these women, but it also reduced anxiety and stress levels.

On-site massage reduces painful tension

This study looks at cardiac sonographers, better known as ultrasound technologists. These people give patients ultrasounds after a suspected heart attack. They often have work-related muscular discomfort, like most of us, I guess.

Forty five full-time cardiac ultrasound technicians received a weekly 30 minute chair massage, or a massage plus a stretching routine, or nothing (i.e. control group). They found, perhaps not surprisingly, that the technicians liked it better to have a massage than not to have one. They also had less physical discomfort. Obviously, with 45 people this is a small pilot study, and the researchers recommend to study on-site massage more.

Slimmer ankles in pregnancy

Many women have swollen legs towards the end of their pregnancy. This is (mostly) entirely normal. It's annoying that the shoes don't fit any more, and worrying, because the legs may not go back to normal after the birth. But they do go back after the birth.

A recent study looked at whether foot massage would actually help to reduce swollen legs in pregnancy. There were two groups: 40 women received a five daily 20 minute foot massages, and 40 women served as a control group. It was found that the foot massage had reduced the swelling significantly after five days.

If you do have swollen legs in late pregnancy, I suggest you give your partner (or friend) the job of a daily foot massage. Obviously another alternative would be to enjoy a reflexology session, foot massage by a therapist, or Manual Lymph Drainage (MLD).

Issue 12b of the Massage Message, 30 September 2010.
Regina Dengler
Touching Well
0115 8457113
regina @ touchingwell.co.uk