CE INSTITUTE LLC BLOG

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Lomi Lomi Massage is part of an ancient Hawaiian healing approach.  Pule is commonly practiced as an opening ritual for both Ancient Temple Style Lomi Lomi Massage and Aunty Margaret Machado's Big Island Style Lomi Lomi Massage. It is a small blessing that's said silently or aloud prior to the session.

Pule can include:

• calling for guidance
• calling for help
• wishful thoughts
• positive intentions

Pule can also be practiced with your hands on or off the client, as  well as one hand on each.  Here is a brief video explanation and demonstration of pule:

Pule is open to interpretation and practice by each unique massage therapist for every individual treatment. While pule is often used to start a lomi session, the ways it can be provided can largely vary.

Providers do not have to practice pule to provide LomiLomi massage; however, it is a fairly standard practice and one of the elements that qualifies the treatment in the lomi modality.

To learn Lomi Lomi Massage, please register at: https://ceinstitute.com/collections/lomi-lomi

#lomi #lomilomi #lomilomimassage #hawaii #hawaiian #hawaiianhealing #aloha #massage #lmt #massagetherapist #massagetherapy #bodywork #bodyworker

By Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Hot Stone Massage Operating Temperature & Placement Stone Practice
Massage stones must remain fully immersed in water to maintain consistent temperature throughout for safe and best practices. At an operating temperature of 135-degrees, stones must be placed through two physical barriers on a client, or kept in motion while using them for massage.

Of course, anyone wishing to practice hot stone massage should seek professional training to do so.

Why Working Stones are Also Called Palm Stones
Also, the 135-degree stones used for massage are frequently called "palm stones" because they are kept in the practitioner's palms during massage, which is some of the thickest skin of the body. A practitioner can usually handle a 135-degree hot stone because it is continually rotated in their palm, and the palms have less sensory neurons than our fingers too.

Proper Stone Bath Retrieval with Hot Stones
We teach that practitioners should use a red or lighter colored slotted spoon because the water is too hot to stick fingers into a stone bath for stone retrieval.

Potential Hot Stone Massage Injury When Utensils Are Not Used
Sticking finger tips which are loaded with sensory neurons and about 1/3 of the thickness of palm skin into a scalding 135-degree bath could desensitize a practitioner's digits to the heat, if they could tolerate it.  Inserting fingers into the hot water bath also risks burn injuries to the practitioner. This is why we use tools to retrieve fully immersed stones in a hot stone bath.

Using Slotted Spoons and Tong Tools to Retrieve Hot Stones
Using tools to retrieve stones have their own issues, but for now this is the best and most commonly practiced method for these reasons and more. We prefer the use of slotted spoons instead of tongs for hot stone retrieval, because tongs tend to drop more stones with 130+degree hot water splashing which can also be dangerous. While it's easy to drop stones in the bath with a slotted spoon, we feel this happens more frequently with tongs.

For proper training in hot stone massage, please visit and register at: https://ceinstitute.com/collections/hot-stone

Here's some more info about skin thickness:

Knowing where skin is thinner or thicker in the body may help you determine a better service for your client.  For example, a hot stone during hot stone massage will be more tolerable over the thicker skin areas of the body which would be more tolerable to heat.  And services such as hot stone massage will require more attention in the thinner skin areas of the body, because the skin is thin and could easily be sensitive or burn to excessive heat.

Thin Skin:  Above is a diagram of thin skin in the axilla/underarm region.  Here, you can see that the outer layer of the epidermis (the stratum corneum) is much thinner than in the previous picture of thicker skin. 

You can also see there is no stratum lucidum, but there are apocrine glands (labeled #8 on the pictured diagram above) which can produce a scent or odor.  Most apocrine glands are found in the armpits, groin, and breast area.

Thick Skin:  Below is a diagram of the skin of the human palm.  Skin is regularly thicker on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.  This thick skin on the soles of the feet are what can lead to excessive dead skin and calluses. 

The thick skin of your palm is also an ideal place to hold a stone, hence the nickname of "palm stones", also known as "working" stones, which are used to perform the majority of the hot stone massage in motion.

In this image below, you can also see the stratum lucidum layer of the epidermis.  This is an additional translucent layer of skin of the epidermis that is found in few select places such as the palms of hands and soles of the feet, which helps makes the skin thicker than other areas of the body.

As such, it's common to hold hot working stones in your palms during hot stone massage.  The skin of your palm is usually thick enough to tolerate this heat. However, sticking the extremely think skin of one's finger tips into scalding water to collect stones out of a hot bath is an extremely bad idea, and could result in thermal injuries to the practitioner's fingers or any human soft tissue that is placed into close to scalding water of a hot stone bath.

_____________________

Author Selena Belisle is the Founder of CE Institute LLC in Miami FL.  She is a retired professional athlete and has been practicing massage therapy for over 30 years.  Selena is an approved CE Provider with NCBTMB & the Florida Board of Massage.  She now teaches full time for the Complementary and Alternative Health Care Industries. You can learn more about Selena’s training and CE classes at www.CeInstitute.com

#hotstonemassage #bodywork #massage #massagetherapist #lmt #massagetherapy #stonemassage #bodywork #bodyworker #hotstone #hotstonetools #properpractice #LMT #hotrock #hotrockmassage #massageontherocks

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Evidence Informed Massage Practices

LMTs can share research and evidence to support the validity of massage work on websites or with clients, such as Swedish massage can be used to treat headaches.  That in-part is of an evidence-informed practice when you have that research.

Evidence-Based Massage Practices

Using the actual hands-on massage protocol itself, from the research for any type of beneficial outcome, creates an evidence-based massage practice. 

Massage-related Research which includes Machine, Equipment or Product Use

Some massage-related studies use machines, equipment and products because their manufacturers usually have larger budgets to produce research, to demonstrate efficacy for sales.

Practicing massage with manufactured items would require additional information and/or training for manufactured item use and more considerations beyond anything discussed in this article.

Other Variables

There are other variables and considerations that can be applied to define evidence-based and evidence-informed practices.  These two explained above are simplified examples for evidenced massage therapy practices.

Practicing Evidence-Informed and Evidence-Based Massage
Sometimes a massage instructor will collect published research study data and provide the information in a neat, consolidated presentation.  And there are plentiful industry trade articles available free of charge for LMTs to learn more about research terms and language, on their own.

In Summary

We hope this brief summary helps clarify the difference between evidence-based and evidence-informed massage.  You can this and more by registering for training with us at:  https://ceinstitute.com/

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor of CE Institute LLC

All CE Institute LLC hands-on classes are taught from an evidence informed and evidence-based stance.  It is important to practice from evidence and research to validate the work itself.

Here are some tips for practicing massage from evidence:

Seek Large Sample Size Research Studies for Use

When using researched protocols for hands-on practice, one recommendation is to review studies with large subject numbers. Following hands-on protocols that are provided to a large control group is preferred to using something practiced in a single case study.

Unfortunately, usually due to budgetary constraints, most massage studies are researched with exceedingly small subject numbers. However, in research, there are other studies called a meta-analysis and systematic reviews. These can collect similar massage studies, regardless of size, to review their data in totality to provide a broader and enhanced picture of results and outcomes from similar studies.

Finding Massage-Related Research

There are thousands of massage-related published studies with valuable information that can be used to improve massage efficacy, notably when using resources such as pubmed.gov. Unfortunately, there are still many massage topics that have not been studied or published yet, and when they are published, they might not provide the specific information you are seeking given there are millions of possible variables.

Do not let this information process frustrate you. Instead, we should all be grateful. There is a massive amount of available information, only seconds away at the stroke of a keyboard, which provides incredible and increasing access for evidence-based practices.

Sometimes you will find rare or unknown information while reviewing research because foreign published studies often fail regular massage keyword searches from language translations. Research can be a lot of fun, but it can also take a lot of time and practice to become efficient in finding what you need, if it is published.

I have spent decades scouring massage-related studies in both journals and online. Seeking usable researched hands-on protocols for evidence-based massage training can be long and hard work. However, it is always worth it when you learn something new.

What to do if a client is not Benefiting from Massage

Sometimes clients may not benefit from massage at all, regardless of research, training, protocols used or hands-on work. Every available method in your bodywork arsenal may not work! If or when this happens, the client could be suffering with an undetected underlying disease causing whatever prompted their reason to schedule their massage appointments.

Massage therapist should refer their client back to their doctor for further medical recommendations when the client is not reasonably achieving mutually agreed massage goals.

How to Learn which Massage Studies are Considered Better Quality

There are many industry trade magazine articles that provide language of how to read or interpret a research study.  LMTs can learn much of the language interpretation on their own with these magazines.

We now spend twelve hours teaching about this and more in an evidence-based massage CE course, so there are various opportunities available for practitioners to learn more about how to use research to establish an evidence-based massage.  You can this and more by registering for training with us at:  https://ceinstitute.com/

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Corporate massage including business onsite chair massage is an incredible benefit for employers to offer, especially during labor shortages. It's the perfect wellness perk. Chair massage has a number of healthy benefits and is likely to boost employee morale and performance.

The following is a 2011 research study to review when considering chair massage at a workplace.  The research title of this published study was called:  The Effect of a Corporate Chair Massage Program on Musculoskeletal Discomfort and Joint Range of Motion in Office Workers by Polona Kršmanc Šiško, Mateja Videmšek, Damir Karpljuk.  

The study stated:  “Between the first and the last measurements, a significant increase in range of motion was found for cervical lateral flexion and cervical extension. A significant decrease in Musculoskeletal Discomfort was found in the neck and the upper back.

On-site massage sessions twice per week for 1 month are the most effective interventions (compared to one session or no massage intervention) for decreasing the duration of musculoskeletal ache, pain, or discomfort and for increasing range of motion.”

Readers can purchase and view the study in its entirety at:  https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2010.0400

These are incredible health benefits to achieve during a chair massage. Massage is well known to relieve pain, and this study showed that pain relief was achieved even when the client was massaged in a seated position. 

Improving range of motion is also associated as an aid to decrease pain.  Improving range of motion may help an employee with their physical function at work as well.

Chair massage is a wonderful way for LMTs to meet new clients.  It is great for a quick session during work. It can also be performed clothed so the client does not have to disrobe at work to receive their chair massage appointment.

Licensed massage therapists who want to learn more about how to offer their own corporate onsite chair massage event, or how to practice chair massage itself can register for training with us at:  https://ceinstitute.com/collections/chair-massage-event-work

#LMT #chairmassage #onsite #corporate #massage #massagetherapy #massagetherapist #bodywork #bodyworker #onsitemassage #corporatemassage #onsitechairmassage #businessperks #employers #employeebenefit #painrelief #rom #increaserom #increasedrom #happy #employmentbenefit #office #officeworkers #secretarial #staff #computerjob #deskwork

Massage Today Magazine recently asked readers what they felt about HYBRID EDUCATION.  Hybrid education for massage therapists could be taking your hands-on training in-person after you've completed your science and theoretical education online. 

We have asked NCBTMB to approve this method of training for over five years, but the answer has always been no.  The reasoning I have always been provided is that because universities and colleges were not providing or authorizing hybrid education, they couldn't either.  They said they wanted to follow mainstream education models and hybrid education was not there, yet. 

Since the pandemic, a lot of online learning has become the new normal.  And while we do not feel massage should be taught exclusively online, especially for those who wish for in-person hands-on training, we feel a hybrid model of learning the "book work" at home is long overdue.

Here is our response which Massage Today Magazine has printed:

We're going to offer hybrid education whether it's board approved or not. We'll provide two different continuing education classes and certificates if that is what is required to provide hybrid schooling. One class will be an online class/certificate while a second class will have the in-person class/certificate.

This will likely lead to student confusion plus an advertising and registration nightmare, but hybrid education must be part of today's educational model. And if the boards can't keep up with the times and offer legitimate approvals for reasonable training models, then we'll do whatever we have to do to offer it—which includes the example as provided above (offering both a hybrid option and in-person option).

We will explain to students that the boards require us to offer separate classes because they are not providing us an option to offer hybrid-approved training. This will likely lead to an unfavorable opinion of the boards and regulatory authorities who are not keeping up with the times of online education and offerings.

 You can review the full magazine article by clicking HERE.

#massage  #bodywork #bodyworker #massage #massagetherapist #mt #LMT #amta #massagetoday #education #training #hybrid #hybridmodel

WebMD has shared a new study on January 25, 2022  (https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220125/omicron-survives-longer-plastic-skin-than-other-covid-variants) that shows the Omicron variant of COVID-19 can live on SKIN for 21 hours and plastic for 193.5 hours.

According to WebMD prior to Omicron (https://www.webmd.com/lung/printables/graphic-coronavirus-live-surfaces), they published in 2020 that COVID-19 can live on surfaces for:

5-Days: Metals (door knobs), Jewelry, Silverware and Dishes

Up to 5-Days:  Newspapers, Drinking Glasses and Windows

4-Days: Wood and Wood Furniture

2-3 Days: Plastics, Sinks, Water Bottles, Elevator Buttons

1-Day: Cardboard

 WebMD has also reported that COVID-19 can also cling to HAIR.

Given that COVID-19 and omnicron can live longer on surfaces than originally thought, it is important to practice these sanitary measures and more:

CLICK ON THE TITLE OR LINK TO REVIEW THE INFORMATION:

• 7 STEPS FOR PROPER MASSAGE THERAPY TABLE SANITATION DURING COVID-19: https://ceinstitute.com/blogs/news/7-steps-for-proper-massage-therapy-table-sanitation-during-covid-19

• HOW TO SANITIZE MASSAGE STONES: 7 STEPS TO REDUCE YOUR RISK RELATED TO COVID-19: https://ceinstitute.com/blogs/news/written-by-selena-belisle-owner-founder-ce-institute-llc

• How to Screen for COVID-19 Symptoms for Massage Therapy, Bodywork and Spa Appointments: https://ceinstitute.com/blogs/news/screen-covid

To view all of our COVID-19 Safety Information to help while practicing massage therapy, bodywork or cosmetology service, please visit our COVID-19 awareness blog for more articles and tips at:  https://ceinstitute.com/blogs/news/tagged/covid-19

To learn more, please register for quality, affordable, professional training at: https://ceinstitute.com/

#COVID19 #omicron #covid #safetyfirst #massagetherapist #massage #bodyworker #bodywork #spa #salon #salonlife #salonsuites #LMT #lmtlife #safety #prevention #cosmetology #cosmetologist #esthetician #communications #clientcommunications #cleaning #disinfection #plastic #metal #skin #wood #massagetable #hotstone #hotstonemassage #hotstonesafety #hotrockmassage #medical #esthetics #medicalservices #appointments #massagesessions

by Selena Belisle, Founder, CE Institute LLC

Do you feel energy in your massage or bodywork?
Many massage therapists (LMTs) and bodyworkers who are in harmony with their sessions and clients might feel something that they cannot measure with scientific methods. I'm talking about those feelings that are happy and positive with one individual but may be scary or negative or some other reaction with another.  They are feelings that we sometimes cannot explain. These feelings are likely a result of the energy shared between the practitioner and the client.

Energy is not largely talked about because it's not wholly recognized by science. We feel it but we're taught to ignore it and simply focus on what we can physically feel or what we can see with our own eyes.

Humans are Energetical Beings
Emergency Room (ER) procedures will apply an energetical electric shock to the chest when the heart stops beating. ER staff use machines to emit energy but then, do not recognize the energy being emitted from humans. This should give us a pause and make us think. We often feel these human energies especially when someone is touching us, but most of us will regularly ignore these feelings, especially during medical distress.

How Science is Used to Measure Something Else we Cannot See
What we do acknowledge is that humans have different blood types and they do not all match. We cannot visually see the differences in blood types, but science has developed a test for it. An individual with type A blood cannot receive blood from an individual with type B. The body’s immune system of type A will attack the type B blood. What’s to say that our energies would not be dissimilar?

Have you ever been “rubbed the wrong way”? Who has ever felt worse after receiving bodywork than before starting? Or have you ever been in the presence of someone who made you feel awkward or ill without words or physical contact? All of this might be influenced by an individual’s energy, never mind two combined energies which can produce a whole new feeling.

Does the Practitioner and Client Match?
Acknowledging human energy could explain why some massage therapists instantly blend with some clients.  Unfortunately because we have different energies, sometimes we do not blend well and we can usually feel that too.  We usually soldier on with those feelings, but is it healthy to do so?  That's a multi-million dollar question that should be answered soon by researchers in science.

Unintentional Transfer of Energy During Massage Therapy and Bodywork
The tool used in massage and bodywork application should primarily be the practitioner’s hands. So, whatever energy the practitioner has will be extensively inputted to the recipient’s body. And whatever the client is energetically holding onto is likely "rubbed off" onto the practitioner as well.  There’s probably better efficacy for the massage or bodywork when the energy between client and practitioner are congruent.

A Brief Summary
In time, science will likely catch-up to those secret feelings that we're all taught from early on to ignore. Don't ignore them.  Those energetical feelings might be the most important part of your being, but until we have science behind us to validate them, we'll just do our best to direct them with positive intention and know that there is something there, even if science cannot prove it.

To learn more, please register for quality, affordable, professional training at: https://ceinstitute.com/

#energymedicine #massage #massagetherapist #bodywork #bodyworker #energy #feelings #health #healthcare #alternativehealth #complimentaryhealth