Massage Therapist Self-Care: Upper Body Freedom of Motion

(Massage Magazine Article July 8, 2022; Author Amy Bradley Radford)

I would like to teach you an application for self-care for your most important tools: your hands, arms, shoulders and neck using Pain Patterns and Solutions (PPS) bodywork. PPS is a form of bodywork categorized as structural and postural balancing by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

While this work is a type of connective tissue work, there are a few unique components. When employing PPS for the body, we work with adhesions that form up and onto bony surfaces, which are coined platforms.

These platforms of adhesions form in pairs in order to have correct balance against one another and within the body at the same time (head/feet, right/left, above/below). This laying down of adhesions or scar tissue is the body’s natural response to injury and healing, and also occurs for balance, to compensate against consistent perceived pressure and repetitive motions. (read more here....)