Western Massage Therapy
Western Massage Therapy
What I reference to as Western Massage Therapy is what some other people like to call “Regular Therapeutic Massage”.
Sylvain Broucke
Registered Massage Therapist
Osteopathy Student
What is Western Massage Therapy?
Western Massage Therapy is usually a base of Swedish Massage, using oil, lotion or gel with advanced techniques used when needed. However, given my extensive background in Thai Massage and Osteopathic approaches, my Western Massage is not very “regular”.
Most people refer to the massages that I give as “different” in a good way. I tend to use much less medium than most massage therapists. I provide firm/deep pressure when appropriate while always staying within the comfort zone of my clients.
Here is a list of approaches that I like to include in my practice of Western Massage Therapy:
Swedish Massage techniques applied with lotion, using hands and forearms. These techniques can be applied as light or deep as needed.
Stretches, including some advanced techniques from Thai Massage to improve flexibility and restore optimal length of muscles.
Joint mobilizations to free up restrictions and improve range of motion.
Trigger Point Therapy, releasing “knots” that cause imbalances and referred pains.
Myofascial release which improves the quality of the tissue making healthy movement easier.
Osteopathic approaches like Craniosacral, Muscle Energy Technique, Visceral Manipulation (stomach massage) and others can be included in your treatment for faster and longer lasting results.
What to expect?
We start with a base line assessment of your needs. This preliminary assessment can be as fast as 5 minutes or up to 30 minutes if you have serious and/or complex issues that need more thorough assessment. For more on assessment, check the FAQ below.
Chronic back pain patients are an exception to this rule! A thorough assessment is required to precisely determine the nature of pain triggers and how to best avoid them, while rebuilding a pain-free foundation. Such an assessment can take up to 3 hours, however this can be broken down into several appointments if needed.
The next step is to discuss a treatment plan to best suit your needs and therapy goals, taking into account your availability, budget and coverage.
We will then process with the treatment with your consent. After the treatment, I will give you some self-care recommendations. These tools will help you take an active role in your healing process and will give momentum for sustainable change to continue and become permanent.
