Got hurt thumbs? Want to give an entire massage without using your thumbs, even once? Check out my new tutorial video:
You guys know that I’m a proponent of the “thumb vacation” when you’ve got pollex pain. If it acts like an injury, it needs to be treated like one: Rest, inflammation management, and rehabilitation. You wouldn’t tell a client with a hurt knee to “keep doing what you were doing,” so why do we treat ourselves with any less kindness?
The tricky part is implementation. How do I do petrissage? How will I apply deep pressure to certain areas, or scoop up muscles that beg to be scooped? In the video, I demonstrate some strategies that I’ve developed while my own thumbs were out of the game.
It will feel awkward the first few days, no doubt about it. Your flow will be off, and you might feel like you’re giving a worse massage. Don’t psych yourself out! Your clients will love the new techniques (you’re still the amazing therapist that they know and love), and you’ll find yourself coming up with some pretty exciting massage technology as you ease into it. In the end, it’s a great time to force yourself to innovate and broaden your repertoire.
Do you feel like you could make do without your thumbs for a few weeks? Are there any areas where you think the thumbs are irreplaceable? Let’s talk about it! I’d also like to hear your favorite ways of either de-emphasizing your thumbs or replacing them for different applications.