From: keg@strathspey.llnl.gov (Keith Grant)
Newsgroups: alt.backrubs
Subject: Re: shoulders
Date: 11 Dec 92 19:15:10 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Originator: keg@strathspey.llnl.gov


In article <1992Dec9.054247.16057@pellns.alleg.edu>, gollera@reis64.alleg.edu (April Goller) writes:
|> [...]
|> 
|> I have a question for the general population out there.  I'm  
|> a fencer and have really strong (and tight) musclues right across the tops  
|> of my shoulders.  What are some good massages techniques that would work  
|> in this area?  My teammates and I would definitely appreciate an answer.   
|> Thanks
|> 

First, lay the person you're going work with face down,  Let the arm/shoulder
you're working on hang over the edge of the table, with the arm at about a 
90 degree angle to the torso.  You can use padding under the arm at the
table edge if this increases comfort.  The idea is to have the shoulder and
upper back so that you can run strokes from on onto the other.

Start out with some light strokes and kneading to warm and loosen up the
back and shoulder areas.  You can also place a hand under the shoulder and
jostle it slightly.  I place my own knee on the table next to the shoulder
I'm holding and use it as a fulcrum to lever the hand/arm I'm using to
jostle/hold the shoulder [A little body-mechanics for the massager :-) ].

I then work across the person's body, moving my strokes outward from the spine
towards the shoulder.  Hold your hand out in front of you palm down and make
a loose fist.  With your hand rotated like this, you can use your knuckles
to gently work the area between the spine and the shoulder blade (stay off of
and work outward from the spine).  

Walking so your standing next to the shoulder you're working on, you can 
use the same knuckle technique (or your extended and slightly cupped fingers)
to work from the shoulder lightly across the shoulder blade.

Now place the heels of your hands together, palms down on the persons upper
arm near the edge of the table,  Applying pressure (using your body weight)
work from the center line of the arm outward and slightly up the arm.
Repeat this, moving gradually up the arm onto the shoulder.  Repeat this
sequence several times.

Stroke lengthwise up the arm from the table edge to the shoulder using your
knuckles or the heel of one hand, steadying the arm with your other hand.
Repeat this several times with increasing pressure.  This should produce
a flushed appearence on the skin surface (hyperaemia).  Finish up with some
light strokes and jostling as a warm down.

To loosen the shoulder muscles on the front of the body (lyingface up), you 
can adapt the above techniques to the front of the arm.  Stay off the upper
inner arm where the brachial artery and nerves are postitioned.  To loosen
the chest muscles apply the following techniques from an earlier posting of
mine:

A technique for the upper chest muscles that works on both men and women
starts by placing the fingers of one hand on their upper sternum with
your fingers pointing down their body.  You then sweep across the pectorals
in the direction your thumb is pointing (right hand sweeps left, left hand
sweeps right).  The sweep is from the center to the outside of the receivers
body.  Pressure is applied with the base of the thumb and the heel
of your hand.  The more and deeper the pressure, the slower you go.  You
can cover a wider area by working with your other hand along side your 
thumb.  The main difference between working on men and working on women is
that with women you stay high enough on the chest to avoid compressing
breast tissue.  The other difference is that men have hairier chest and
require more oil to avoid pulling the hair.

You can also work with the fingers right below the clavicle, moving from
the center outward.  A nice finish is to press down (into the table or mat)
on both shoulders, stretching and opening the chest area.  Use your body
weight to do this, not just your arm and shoulder muscles.


For all these techniques, avoid working directly on injuries or bruises.
If there is any indication of a significant muscle sprain or injury have it
checked and cleared by a medic before using deep massage techniques.
-- 
  +-------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
  I                         I Common sense and a sense of humor are the     I
  I Keith Eric Grant        I same thing, moving at different speeds.  A    I
  I keg@strathspey.llnl.gov I sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. I
  I                         I (or perhaps dancing is just common sense)     I
  +-------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
  I For certain it is, that any ideas expressed above are of my own humble  I
  I opinion and bear nary a relation to the policies or positions of LLNL   I
  I or of any agency or contractor of the U.S. Government.                  I
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