– by Doreen Marion Gee –
This is the fourth in a six-part series of profiles on some great local businesses that are working to keep us all in good health.
Hollywood has it all wrong. Don’t believe the glitzy film image of a typical massage: Jennifer Aniston chilling in a luxurious spa, soothed by new age music as a hunky masseuse tenderly plies her perfect back. Those types of spas do exist but the reality of true massage therapy is a far cry from the tinsel town myth. Massage therapy is a serious and complex medical therapy with diverse techniques that directly facilitate healing and recovery. If it was up to Alison Esser, massage therapy would get a total image makeover.
Alison Esser is on a mission to educate people about the real nature of massage therapy as an important part of our health care system. A Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) for five years, Alison has been working at Sidney’s Reach Health Clinic since last September.
Right away, Alison is keen to dispel the stereotypes: “We are more than what you see in the movies where a therapist just kneads someone’s body. Massage therapy is medically-based. As Registered Massage Therapists, we align ourselves with chiropractors and physiotherapists.” Alison asserts that massage therapy treatment helps people recover from a diverse range of medical conditions, both orthopaedic and systemic. The former can include sprained and fractured joints, arthritis and tendonitis. Her profession has a “huge rehabilitative and hands-on component”: Alison treats affected muscles around injured areas to restore the use of limbs and joints. She prescribes therapeutic exercise homework, giving clients the tools to strengthen their muscles. A UBC Human Kinetics degree adds even more to Allison’s expertise.
“The compensation that can occur in individuals with long standing conditions, can cause almost as much of a problem as the original physical condition!” When an injury causes pain, our bodies respond by protecting the affected area, by tightening the muscles. Alison massages the muscle to relax it, returning it to its normal position and length. With osteoarthritis, sore hips or knees may force a change in gait, causing some muscles to tighten more than others and producing an imbalance in the joint, inappropriate pressure and pain. Alison gently moves the joint to aid joint health and uses techniques to balance the muscles – restoring function to the joint.
Massage therapy plays a very beneficial role in keeping people as healthy as possible even in the face of chronic systemic illness. Multiple Sclerosis is a shining example: When a client compensates for loss of nerve function with an altered gait, Alison works with the leg muscles to help the person regain their balance. She helped a three-year-old with juvenile arthritis. Her therapy improves the quality of people’s lives.
“Personally, I have a passion for working with natal and post-natal care as well as pre and post-operative scar tissue.” Alison’s expert fingers soothe stretched muscles during pregnancy and help bodies return to balance after baby arrives. Scarring from injuries and surgery can cause problems with muscles and connective tissue. “One of the biggest complaints from women that have had breast cancer surgery is that they can’t lift their arm above their head.” Alison’s specific massage techniques restore the range of motion in the afflicted shoulder. With ‘C-Section’ scarring, her healing techniques return normal movement to affected tissue. This is hardly ‘cosmetic’, but medically essential.
“I really want people to know that they can recover from surgery and that I can help with that.” Alison also performs the vital function of pre-surgery massage treatment. As patients wait for new knees and hips, Alison can treat balance problems and overstretched muscles. “Anyone can get a massage, at any age.”
We are still discovering the unique benefits of massage therapy to human health. Alison Esser is an avid cheerleader for a profession that offers an effective health option for people who suffer, giving them hope and the promise of recovery and a better life.
Listen up, Hollywood.
Contact: www.reachhealth.ca
