One woman lost her voice, but she got it back, thanks to a massage

Check out this article on muscle tension dysphonia and myofasical release. MFR helped a woman who had thyroid surgery and had to give up singing - her inspiration and her life - as a result. It always makes me swell with pride when massage can help someone in such a significant way!

One woman lost her voice, but she got it back, thanks to a massage

Seasonal produce

Peak-Season Map at Epicurious.com

Check out this seasonal produce map. I've been looking for a good one for what feels like forever, but was only ever able to come up with ones that are too area-specific or too general. This one lists what's in season by month and state. You can grab these things at the grocery store if you like to stick to seasonal eating. Chances are they'll be at their best flavor if you buy them in season, and your grocery store might even stock them from a locally grown source at that time. It's also a good indicator at what will be plentiful at local farmers' markets.

Right now in Maryland, asparagus, spinach and strawberries are where it's at. Enjoy!

Massage for Your “Manly Man”

Want to give a special father in your life the gift of massage? Is your man resistant to massage, though? Maybe he thinks it's 'for girls'. Maybe he thinks he's fine and doesn't need the bodywork. Lia Suzuki in Santa Barbara gives some excellent tips on how to make massage appealing to a 'manly man'.

One point she makes is to get a gift certificate that is fairly plain. My online gift certificates only have one simple graphic (my logo).

Click for more: This Father’s Day: Massage for Your “Manly Man” | Massage Santa Barbara

Meanwhile, in my personal life ...

My husband and I recently adopted this sweet guy.

His name is Sidney. He's nine months old, is a black Lab mixed with something, and is fun, playful, bright and clever. He has lots of energy and is a very fast runner. He came to us knowing "Sit" very well. We didn't have to house train him, which was a blessing. I think he might know "Stay". He has selective hearing with "Come here". We taught him "Gentle" for treats and he got really good at it really quickly.

We had our first obedience class last week. We worked on sit (reinforcing it for us), getting and holding his attention, and loose leash walking. He picked up on that one very quickly as well. I worked with him a lot on it today in the backyard, and when my husband gets home from work we'll try it out on a real walk around the neighborhood. I'm looking forward to learning "lay down"! He's still a puppy and likes to chew on whatever he can, including my arms, legs, feet and slippers.

We adopted him from Lab Rescue of the LRCP. He was given up by his owner to the Humane Society. No reason was given, but I think it has something to do with the fact that he is small. He's only 51 pounds, which is small for a Lab. We don't think he's going to get much bigger, if at all.

The Humane Society gave him to the Lab rescue, who placed him with a vet until a foster home opened up. Our adoption coordinator brought him to our attention, though, and we drove to Virginia just south of Frederick to visit him. He was totally spastic from being in a kennel at the vet for 11 days, but once he calmed down a bit, we could see that he had a sweet, friendly disposition, and that he was eager for love and attention. So, we brought him home! He already has a play mate; neighbors of ours have an 8-month-old silver Lab. They wrestle, then chase each other around the yard, then take a water break, then run some more, wrestle some more, have some more water and then wrestle again. And then at night, they sleep :)

Update: Not long after posting this, my husband did some research into what Sid might be mixed with. Sid has a small white patch on his chest, plus one on his groin and some white on his back toes. My hubs googled "Labs with white spots" and found some very interesting results. Turns out, Sid might not be mixed with anything and may actually be a pure bred Lab. Labs were developed from the St. John's dogs, which had white chest patches. So they pop up from time to time in Labs. The American Kennel Club has listed the white patch as an undesirable trait, though, so Labs are sometimes given up if they have one. Most people think Labs are always supposed to be all one color, but sometimes they aren't and it's perfectly normal.

Also, some Labs are bred to be field Labs. They are smaller, typically 50-60lbs, as well as sleeker and faster. This explains some things for us. Sid is incredibly fast and obsessed with birds. He will stalk the birds at our bird feeder like a cat (he never catches anything, though). He also likes to dig and put his whole head into holes if he can. It probably also explains his small stature. 

I am totally smitten with my young field Lab!

Recently, in my massage life ...

Earlier this week, I gave a presentation to the members of the Hunt Valley Rotary Club Chapter in nearby Hunt Valley, MD. I spoke about the benefits of massage and how it affects the nervous system, as well as some of the different bodywork modalities. I also gave a brief history of massage therapy and how it got to its status today as a growing viable routine health practice (hint: it's has to do with clinical research!).

It was a lot of fun and I think the group really enjoyed it. Plus, I got to have a delicious lunch and talk to some of the members one-on-one, answering their questions and discussing massage. I enjoy talking to anyone about massage as much as I love to eat, so it was a win-win for me!

 These are pictures of me with the Chapter President, Eric Miller, after my presentation.

Anatomy Lesson: The Carpal Tunnel

Too many times in a week, or even a day, I hear clients, friends and people in general complaining that they think they have "carpal tunnel". Most people don't realize that the carpal tunnel is an anatomical part of the body. Sometimes I point out that, actually, everyone has two carpal tunnels, and it's compression or inflammation of the median nerve that runs through the carpal tunnel that is referred to as carpal tunnel syndrome.

The carpal tunnel lies at the radiocarparl (wrist) joint. The bones that articulate to make the wrist joint are the radius in the forearm and the proximal carpal bones at the heel of the hand. The radiocarpal joint is an ellipsoid joint. An ellipsoid joint is when an oval-shaped end of one bone articulates with the elliptical basin of another bone. This type of joint allows for flexion, extension, abduction (movement away from the center line of the body) and adduction (movement toward the center line of the body). In your wrist, the carpal tunnel lies on the palmar side.

You have eight carpal bones in the heel of your hand (this is your anatomical wrist). These form the "floor" of the carpal tunnel by creating an arch. You can feel the concave groove of this arch on the palmar side of your hand, at its heel. It's called the sulcus carpi.

Of the eight carpal bones, there are four that are very important to the carpal tunnel: the scaphoid, the trapezium, the pisiform and the hamate. These carpals are the attachment sites for the flexor retinaculum, a band of connective tissue that forms the roof of the carpal tunnel. As illustrated here, the tubercles and other bony landmarks of these four carpals are the exact attachment sites for this "roof".

These attachment sites are easily felt in the heel of your hand as bony protrusions (illustrated further below) and "anchor" the flexor retinaculum, creating, in effect, pillars on each side of your carpal tunnel.

So, to review, your carpal tunnel is a floor of carpal bones, bony landmarks on the sides holding up the connective tissue that forms the roof. Kind of like a tent.

In your forearm, you have two main muscle groups: the extensors and the flexors. The tendons of these flexor muscles (not the muscles themselves) pass through the carpal tunnel:

• flexor digitorum profundus (four tendons)
• flexor digitorum superficialis (four tendons)
• flexor pollicis longus (one tendon)
• flexor carpi radialis (one tendon), considered part of the carpal tunnel, although it is more precise to state that it travels in the flexor retinaculum, which covers the carpal tunnel, rather than running in the tunnel itself.

The median never is the only nerve to pass through the carpal tunnel, between tendons of flexor digitorum profundus and flexor digitorum superficialis.

The carpal tunnel is narrow and when any of the long flexor tendons passing through it swells or degenerates, the narrowing of the canal often results in the median nerve getting entrapped or compressed, and that is carpal tunnel syndrome.

Now you can school all your friends in the anatomy of the carpal tunnel when they claim to "have" it.

These pictures are from Trail Guide to the Body, Second Edition, by Andrew Biel, illustrated by Robin Dorn (both massage therapists) and published by Books of Discovery.

Less Stress Could Lead to Weight Loss

Check out this interesting article on stress and weight loss. While it points out that massage therapy induces relaxation and reduces stress, it doesn't mention studies that have shown massage to reduce the stress hormone cortisol for up to two weeks.

Less Stress Could Lead to Weight Loss