I will be happy to email you more information at mkampnylmt@gmail.com. For short enquiries, call me at 352-281-1048. See below for Frequently Asked Questions.

What are the benefits of Massage Therapy?

Experts estimate that upwards of ninety percent of disease is stress-related. And perhaps nothing ages us faster, internally and externally, than high stress. Massage is an effective tool for managing this stress, which translates into:

Decreased anxiety. Enhanced sleep quality. Greater energy. Improved concentration. Increased circulation. Reduced fatigue.

Massage can also help specifically address a number of health issues. Bodywork can:

Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion. Assist with shorter, easier labor for expectant mothers and shorten maternity hospital stays. Ease medication dependence. Enhance immunity by stimulating lymph flow—the body's natural defense system. Exercise and stretch weak, tight, or atrophied muscles. Help athletes of any level prepare for, and recover from, strenuous workouts. Improve the condition of the body's largest organ—the skin. Increase joint flexibility. Lessen depression and anxiety. Promote tissue regeneration, reducing scar tissue and stretch marks. Pump oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs, improving circulation. Reduce postsurgery adhesions and swelling. Reduce spasms and cramping. Relax and soften injured, tired, and overused muscles. Release endorphins—amino acids that work as the body's natural painkiller. Relieve migraine pain.

Where will my massage or bodywork session take place?
- Sessions are usually at our clinic in a quiet, warm room where there is a special massage table with a face cradle, allowing you to lie face down without twisting your neck. Occasionally I do outcalls (home or hospital visits) with my massage chair or table, or using your recliner chair or reclined hospital bed.

Must I be completely undressed?
- No - a large factor in the success of a session is your ability to relax! So for massages, you may undress to the level you are comfortable, and cover yourself with a large sheet or "drape". For Zero Balancing, you remain fully dressed except for shoes and belt.

Will the practitioner be present when I disrobe?
- No. After the intake (asking your health information and planning the session with you), I leave the room to wash my hands. I will knock on the door to ask if you're ready on the table, covered in the drape (top sheet).

Will I be covered during the session?
- Yes. You will be covered with a flat sheet (and if you like, a blanket for extra warmth). I only uncover the body part I will be working on at each time of the session.

What parts of my body will be massaged?
- We plan this before the beginning of the session. Definitely the part that is hurting, but since all body parts are connected and influence each other, at least the parts above and below will also be worked on. Of course, if for example your feet are very ticklish, you can request that they will not be massaged! Your comfort is important for your ability to relax.

What will the massage or bodywork feel like?
- Generally, touch feels good and relaxing. For massages, various oils may be used (let me know if you have allergies). If a muscle is very tense or has a knot (trigger point) in it, it may feel sore or pinch-like; let me know so I can adjust the pressure to your comfort. Once circulation improves, the soreness will fade. Conversely, if you have numbness in a body part (e.g. after surgery), sensation may return as the connective tissue around the nerve is loosened.

Are there different kinds of massage and bodywork?
- Yes, there are quite a number of different modalities or types of manual therapy. Usually a session will use a selection (such as trigger point therapy, myofascial release, and passive movement) depending on your tissue needs.

What should I do during the massage or bodywork session?
- Mainly, relax! Definitely let me know if something is too strong or too much, or you are getting chilled and need an extra blanket. Healing takes place in a relaxed body! You may be asked to slowly move a limb as I stretch its fascia. Towards the end of the session, I will ask you to mentally scan your body to see if any spots still need extra work. And when you get off the table, I recommend paying attention to what feels different, and to walk back and forth a few times to process the changes in your tissues.

How will I feel after the massage or bodywork session?
Push up to seated slowly and sit for a moment - massage lowers blood pressure and blood sugar, so you may feel a little woozy. When you get off the table, I recommend paying attention to what feels different, and to walk back and forth a few times to process the changes in your tissues. For the rest of the day, enjoy your usual activities but do not try anything too strenuous. Most people feel very relaxed. Some experience freedom from long-term aches and pains developed from tension or repetitive activity (though there may be an initial flare-up of pain the next day that resolves into improvement the next day). After an initial period of feeling slowed down, people often experience increased energy, heightened awareness, and greater productivity which can last for days.

What are the benefits of massage and bodywork?
- Massage and bodywork relax individual tissues and the whole bodymind, so taking painful knots out of the muscles, decreasing post-exercise soreness, improving joint flexibility, loosening adhesions and scars, reducing anxiety, tension, and stress, improving sleep, tissue metabolism and lymph drainage, and encouraging an overall feeling of well-being.

Are there any medical conditions that would make massage or bodywork inadvisable?
- Yes. Acute inflammation, infection, or fever are contraindications, as are kidney or liver failure unless prescribed by a physician for palliative care. For some conditions, gentle bodywork may be possible if care is taken with, or working around, fragile tissue (blood thinners, osteoporosis, burns, radiation therapy, recent surgery). It is very important that you inform me of any health problems or medications you are taking. If you are under a doctor's care, it is strongly advised that you receive a written recommendation for massage or bodywork prior to any session. Depending on the condition, approval from your doctor may be required.

My injury/surgery site is all stiff and hard, will this be permanent?

Careful massage can soften swelling and hardness. Scar tissue resulting from trauma such as surgery, injury, or burns forms from the body's efforts to seal off the wound as quickly as possible. The inflammation response calls in immune and construction cells, resulting in irregularly placed scaffolding fibers. Manual Lymph Drainage helps to reduce inflammation-induced swelling which reduces damage to surrounding tissues and speeds healing. Once the inflammation subsides, and the would closes, gradual scar massage can remobilize the tissues.

Later in the healing process, application of pulling movements can give cues to lay down a more functional network of connective tissue. Still, often adhesions, roughness or bumps and tight bands persist that can impede movement, lymph flow, or nerve sensation, resulting in swelling, pain, or dysfunction.

Adhesions can also from from inflammation caused by infections, leading to decreased mobility of tissues. Since all connective tissue is, well, connected all through the body (I call it the Intranet), immobility in one place will disturb the whole network. Imagine a knit sweater being pulled out of shape in one place - the distortion will continue through the whole garment. Joint function, breathing, or organ function can be compromised by adhesions.

Fortunately, massage can soften the fascial matrix and signal to the body that reorganization is needed. Connective tissue or fascia can be very responsive to skilled manipulation such as ScarWork that integrate the scar tissue into the healthy surrounding fascial fibers. Thickened scars are reduced, stiffness softened, overall mobility is improved, and rough bumpy surfaces are smoothed. And: there is no time limit on scar work - even decades old scars respond to manual therapy.

Can bodywork help sciatica and hip pain?

Yes - but it may take some persistence as well as "homework'" on your part, depending on the cause and whether it is acute or chronic.

Hip Pain, often also running down the outside or back of the leg, may be caused by tense muscles, or by trigger points (knots) in parts of the muscles - it can be excruciating, leaving you barely hobbling along, and even hurting at night disrupting your sleep.

Trigger point therapy and myofascial release can make a difference even in one session, though the muscles will try to revert to their accustomed pattern sooner or later, especially if the problem is long-standing. Trigger point treatments can be done by yourself several times during the day (and night, if necessary), empowering you to gain control over the pain. Postural and safe movement training can help remove the root cause of the muscle contractions.

One peculiar problem with trigger points is that they not only hurt at the knot in the muscle, but can also cause referred pain at places quite far away, leaving you rubbing the phantom pain without relief! Hence sciatica-type pain can be caused directly in the nerve but also from hip muscles causing phantom pain down the leg. Fortunately, once you know where the knots lurk, you are no longer helpless and can tackle them several times a day, giving you periods of relief.

Sciatica type pain and muscle spasms can also be the result of nerve impingement and irritation due to prolapsed vertebral disks, or Baker's Cysts from the lateral spinal joints. In the case of disk prolapse, protective behavior as explained in the McKenzie Method, can help the disk heal over several weeks, and prevent recurrences. With a cyst, plenty of movement helps to pull on the connective tissue of the joint, helping to wear away the membrane pouch pressing on the nerve.

Combined with changing behaviors to protect your tissues, trigger point and myofascial treatments can retrain your body to facilitate healing. It takes persistence, and there will be ups and downs, but your health is worth the effort! I can get you started, showing you where and how to do the home self-care, and encourage progress with regular maintenance bodywork and exercise, and more advice. Empower yourself!

Can TMJ-D or phantom toothache be helped by massage?

If you've been having tooth or jaw bone pain and your dentist has not found anything wrong to account for it, you may have referred pain from tense, overworked neck or chewing muscles. Trigger points (muscles knots from localized tight contraction in the middle of a muscle strand) can irritate nerves into causing phantom pain at a distance. Rubbing the apparent sore spot will not help much...finding and eliminating the true cause will. Massaging the point and carefully stretching the muscle will get rid of the problem, in combination with training yourself not to aggravate the muscle by gritting your teeth - and to reducing your automatic response to stress (Yoga anyone?).

If gritting or grinding your teeth has resulted in jaw joint pain, ear pain, and an uneven bite,(aka temporomandibular joint dysfunction, or TMJ-D), your dentist can prepare a splint for nighttime use. During the day, self-treating the knots in the jaw muscles and moving your jaw (when no-one's looking...) will help to interrupt the pain-tension-more pain cycle.

A few office visits with me and a commitment to self-treatment will bring results and a satisfying feeling of empowerment over the condition!

Trigger points can cause odd symptoms - after a long dental treatment with your mouth wide open, the muscles responsible for opening and holding your lower jaw can develop contractions that refer a nervy itch to your lower incisors. Many years ago, this happened to me and I had to leave a party and rush back to the dentist who guessed the new filling may have irritated a nerve. If I had known about trigger points then, I could have gotten rid of the symptom so easily...

If you are planning a lengthy dental procedure or oral surgery, I suggest also planning a visit with me for a combination of manual lymph drainage (see blog) of the head and neck against swelling and inflammation, and of jaw muscle massage to take the tension out of any latent trouble makers. (NB if you've had a tooth infection, we need to wait until the antibiotics have started working, about 2 days later).