Keystone Therapies

Updates

Posted on Aug 12, 2021

Feet Sore?
It is possible that the large tendon - the plantar fascia, is inflamed causing pain under the foot, or the heel of the foot, especially in the mornings. With massage we can treat this by targeting the powerful calf muscles, and the small but very powerful tibialis anterior muscle in th...

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Posted on Jul 26, 2021

Do you have a sore and tight back? Sometimes I use tapotement - as shown in this photograph of me working on somebody's back. This involves using the side of the hand ( the blade) which is used in a soft chopping movement to help loosen the fascia or connective tissue in powerful muscles of the b...

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Posted on Jul 22, 2021

Neck pain at the base of your skull?
Need a good massage to relieve tension? The cause could be your jaw or even your temples, or maybe even in the upper chest or front of neck. A competent Sports Massage Therapist will work with you to find the origin of the neck pain and explain how you can con...

Posted on Jul 19, 2021

Neck Stiff, range of motion affected? Do you think Deep Tissue or Sports Massage might help?

The origin might be in the jaw or upper back, or even the muscles of the temples. Massage may well help neck pain, I'm of the opinion that also understanding what is causing the problem is the best appro...

Posted on Jul 14, 2021

Pain in the back of your neck, think Sports Massage might help?
Sports massage might well alleviate the pain, but it takes a competent therapist to target the source, which might well be in the masseter muscle in the jaw - pulling the head forward and stretching the small muscles at the base of ...

Posted on Jul 14, 2021

Working again. Have Covid-19 protocols and the space I'm using has decent ventilation.

Posted on Jul 9, 2021

Tight shoulders from sitting at your computer?
The cause might be in your chest, causing the muscles between your shoulder blades to become over stretched. Strengthening these muscles between the shoulder blades should lessen neck and shoulder pain.

Posted on Jul 8, 2021

Do you have a tight neck and shoulders?
Do you try to massage the back of your neck to relieve the tension? Does it cause you headaches? It's possible that the origin of the pain is a tight muscle called the sternocleidomastoid, located at the front and side of the neck

Posted on Jul 5, 2021

Legs heavy, can't get spring in your stride?
Rolling not working? It might be that the origin of your tight calves and tired legs is tibialis anterior.

Testimonials

3 weeks ago

Mike is an experienced, intelligent and friendly person with fantastic knowledge about the body. The massage was fantastic for pain relief and recovery for a chronic back problem that I have. He also found some new stretches/exercises that I could do to further help my back. In particular, he is a great communicator and this makes it much easier to get the most of the massage/therapy session.

- Dan Y

a month ago

Mike was so insightful and friendly. Not only did his massage help with muscle tightness a lot, but he also showed my some helpful stretches and went out of his way to send me extra stretches to do at home. I will definitely be coming back again. Cheers Mike!

- Fraser M

2 months ago

Feel like a new man after my first session with Mike. Struggling recently with sports injuries and tightness. Will be returning and definitely recommending to friends

- Alan B

Sports Massage

What a typical session with me looks like :

We start with a 5 minute consultation to find out about your injuries and your previous medical history, also what you do for a job, what sports you play and what is your dominant hand, etc. All of this tells us about the stresses your body deals with on a daily basis and gives clues as to how it might be trying to cope with them.

I encourage my clients to communicate with me so that we can figure out where the source of the pain is - often where the pain is manifesting is not the origin. This a large part of our work together, we are trying to find the origin, this involves systematically working through different muscles.

I starting with gentle warming and kneading strokes and gradually work deeper, accessing which muscles are tight or overstretched. Using very deep strokes, Tapotement (tapping), Trigger point (finding a knot and placing pressure on it and then working the tension out of the fibres of the muscle). I use a technique called Myofascial Release which involves stretching the limbs and muscles to stretch the fascia (fascia is connective tissue that binds everything together in the body), reducing tension and restoring balance.
Communicating with the client I use a number scale to access the intensity of the pressure, there is nothing worse than a massage that is not deep enough or else one that is painful! Too much pressure is counter-productive because the body tenses to endure painful pressure as it struggles to protect itself and this also makes my work a lot more difficult as the muscles are tighter. Ideally we want our work to be as relaxing as possible!
Part of what I do is help the muscle come back into alignment (they migrate during the course of our life, over-stretching opposing muscles). I use a method called Structural Integration, where using a fair bit of relaxed pressured I 'iron' the muscles back into place with pressure and very gradual movement, using either a soft fist or the forearm, its an unusual feeling, but really quite pleasant.

Everybody's massage ends up looking different as we have varying needs.

Post massage I spend 5 minutes showing you what muscles I believe are affected and why, so you can visualise what is happening. Finally I show you a few stretches or strengthening exercises to help you continue your recovery.
( Please note that if you would like a comprehensive fully body massage I recommend booking 90min or 2hrs. This is especially true if you have dense musculature .i.e are strong and are over 6 foot tall! )

Sports, Russian Sports and Deep Tissue Massage all improve the removal of metabolic waste, increases general mobility, reduces anxiety, improves blood flow and promotes muscle recovery and tone.

Confidentiality and Boundaries
I treat all the information gathered in the name of your treatment with confidence and integrity.
As my client I respect your physical and emotional boundaries.

Training
Trained at Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre for 8 Years, 3 years as a Novice Tibetan Buddhist monk.
Graduated as a LMT from Utah College of Massage Therapy- Nov 2009.
Trained in The Work of Byron Katie in Salt Lake City, facilitator accredited - Oct 2008.
Studied with Zen Master Genpo Roshi in Big Mind gestalt based meditation process from 2007 to 2011.
Completed 1 year Mindfullness training with Mindfullness Association in Dec 2013.

I hope we get to work together,
Please contact me if you have any concerns or queries

Sincerely
Mike McGovern LMT