massage
Therapeutic Massage for Equines, Canines, Bovines and all other beasts!
Regular session fee: $75
Includes travel up to 25 km and up to one hour of physical muscular manipulation.
Kerri-Jo Stewart has been doing massage therapy for over 10 years. She received her certification from Grant MacEwan Community College and also has a Masters degree in equine physiology and nutrition from the University of Guelph.
You can phone for an appointment or fill in the contact form below. Read more about Kerri-Jo under About and more about massage:
Traditional Definition:
Massage is the systematic and scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. The purpose of massage is to bring about any of the physiologic, mechanical, or psychological changes to return the body to homeostasis (its regular state). There are many causes of metabolic imbalance in the muscles and most can be treated with massage.
Massage causes stress relief and relaxation, relieves pain, increases range of motion and decreases some types of oedema, as well as activating the immune system to increase healing.
Mechanical Effects
1. Assists venous flow:
In a healthy individual blood is pushed to the heart with muscular contractions. A decrease in venous circulation due to injury or illness disturbs the metabolism. Massage will increase the circulation and directly increase the venous drainage.
2. Assist lymphatic flow:
Lymph is a viscid fluid that moves slowly through the lymphatic system depending on muscular contraction and the pressure generated by fluid filtration. Inactivity can cause a decrease in lymph drainage causing oedema. Massage can manually increase the blood’s filtration rate.
3. Stretches:
Massage causes a stretching of superficial tissues. As well, massage can be combined with other therapeutic measures to provide a form of passive exercise when stretching muscle tissue.
4. Loosens scar tissue:
Massage can prevent scarring to a degree by not allowing stagnation of tissue oedema following an injury and thus preventing the fibrosis. Massage can also break down adhesions between the skin and tissues around a well healed scar and increase ones range of motion.
5. Muscle mass:
Massage can’t delay the loss of muscle mass or strength, but it can increase the voluntary and reflex action once nerve injury has begun to recover.
Physiological Effects:
1. Metabolism:
Muscles maintain a chemical balance with normal activity. The contractions create lymph and venous flow to carry away the bi-products and the muscular relaxation allows fresh blood to flow in with its nutrients.
Over-activity can cause toxic products to be formed faster than they are eliminated and not enough time for the inflow of the nutrient products. Under-activity will decrease venous return and lymphatic drainage also increasing the chemical environment in the cells.
Massage assists with the drainage and can help re-establish a healthy cellular environment.
2. Pain Relief:
The pain relief and relaxation affect accompanying massage is thought to be the result of endorphin release.
3. Reflex Effects:
Massage stimulates the sensory receptors of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. The stimuli flow throughout the nervous system and can benefit in any area supplied by the same segment of the spinal cord.
Athletic Benefits:
Massage can play many roles in athletics. It allows the therapist to evaluate the condition of the muscles and thus plays an important role in injury prevention and ensuring the athlete is in top condition. Metabolically massage can also prepare muscle and soft tissue for exercise to their fullest capacity. And psychologically, massage can also have a positive effect on athletic performance by reducing tension, anger, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and confusion.
It should be noted that following high intensity exercise massage therapy may not be beneficial in aiding recovery, but can inhibit the body’s more efficient drainage. (Wiltshire et al. 2009)
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Cafarelli E, Flint F. The Role of Massage in Preparation For and Recovery From Exercise.
Sports Medicine 14(1):1-9, 1992
Frances M. Tappa, “Healing Massage Techniques”, Appleton & Lange, 1988.
Literature review 2003: massage doesn’t increase blood flow
