Scar Tissue from Breast Implants cause Capsular Contracture- We can help!

Scar Tissue from Breast Implants cause Capsular Contracture- We can help!

Through the use a combination of deep tissue massage and other advanced therapy techniques we were able to help. I was contacted by a woman whom recently underwent a breast lift with implants. Soon After her surgery she noticed that the breast were hardening. She contacted her doctor and they told that her breast maybe forming scar tissue around the implants making what is called a capsular contracture. To her displeasure her implants became oddly positioned. She told me she’d undergone a revision surgery to release the encapsulation of both her breast. After matter of weeks, this woman realized that the surgery had taken for one of the two breast. One breast began to have a natural fall to it while the other stayed rounded at the top, extremely firm, and pulled her arm when she moved the arm to shoulder height or above. This person just happened to be friends with me but did not think of me when it came to this specific situation. She was just venting to a girlfriend. I told her of the other women with varying breast situations and how I was able to get them satisfying results.

With her surgeons full knowledge but skepticism, she postponed her surgery by a month in the hopes of us releasing the tissues by her next appt to schedule her second revision surgery for the remaining encapsulated breast. We made an aggressive schedule for bodywork 2 x week for that entire month. The bodywork was done in a manor to release the pulling to the arm, soften the overall breast, and address the top the breast first. In this week’s sessions I’ve been thinning out the thickened scar tissue along the incisions along the bottom of the breast, the anchor cut area. At this weeks appointment the woman let me know that her doctor was very happy with her preliminary results. The one remaining encapsulated breast was dropping and had softened. He asked her to have me focus along the incision area and felt that if this area could have a decrease in thickness that the breast would most likely continue to drop and she could quite possibly not need yet another surgery.

Check back to find out how this story turns out! If you are suffering with scar tissue limiting your range of motion or your ability to be pain free from old sports injuries, carpal tunnel surgery, a shoulder condition, or anything else, contact us or schedule an appointment to see how we can help your condition!

Deep Tissue Massage Benefits

Deep Tissue Massage Benefits

Deep tissue massage is designed to relieve severe tension in the muscle and the connective tissue, focusing on the muscles located below the surface of the top muscles. Deep tissue massage is can be a great benefit for those individuals who experience consistent pain, athletes involved in heavy physical activity, and clients who have sustained physical injury. Deep tissue massage is often misused to explain a deep pressure massage which is a separate category of massage therapy, used to treat particular muscular-skeletal disorders.

The following are a couple benefits of deep tissue massage:

• Deep tissue massage Benefits – Can increase blood flow by losing the muscles are the vessels allowing improved circulation
• Deep tissue massage Benefits – Can provide stress relief by loosing of tight muscles
• Deep tissue massage Benefits – Can reduce Chronic Pain
• Deep tissue massage Benefits – Can also lower your blood pressure

The main thing to know about deep tissue massage is that if done improperly can result in damage to the muscles or can result in a more serious injury. That is why all of our therapist are highly trained in advanced deep tissue massage techniques to ensure proper use

Through the use of advanced deep tissue massage techniques we provide effective non-surgical treatments for carpal tunnel, hiatal hernias, bulging discs, sciatica (sciatic pain), plantar fasciitis and much more. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. If you are in pain or just need a decompression session, please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Golfers- How we can improve your Golf Swing?

Peggy Boyd, founder of Surgical Alternative Tampa discusses the use of our cranial structural and advanced deep tissue massage techniques to improve your golf swing and range of motion.



Through the use of our cranial structural and advanced deep tissue massage techniques we provide effective non-surgical treatments for carpal tunnel, hiatal hernias, bulging discs, sciatica (sciatic pain), plantar fasciitis and much more. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. If you are in pain or just need a decompression session, please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

How Surgical Alternative Can Help You!!!

How Surgical Alternative Can Help You!!!

I started Surgical Alternative to provide the best most effective and personalized alternative therapy treatments for those in pain. Here are a couple way we can help you return to a pain free life.

• We can restore and improve your functionality
• We can restore and improve your pain free R.O.M
• We can restore and improve your independence
• We can help you get back to doing the things you love
• We can permanently get rid of aches and pains you thought you had to live with for the rest of your life
• We can help you function at a more efficient level
• We can get rid of scar tissue from old injuries
• We can give you hope when other therapies have only managed pain or had limited benefit
• We also Restore balance in imbalanced pelvics/hips
• We help correct longer leg length balances
• We rehabilitate soft tissue structurally from MVA

Through the use of our cranial structural and advanced deep tissue massage techniques we provide effective non-surgical treatments for carpal tunnel, hiatal hernias, bulging discs, sciatica (sciatic pain), plantar fasciitis and much more. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. If you are in pain or just need a decompression session, please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Surgical Alternative-Tips for a long day at your desk

Surgical Alternative-Tips for a long day at your desk

Here are some general guidelines for proper sitting posture:
• Maintain the normal curves of your spine – Do not sit slumped or bent forward. Use a cushion or rolled towel if your chair does not provide adequate support for your lower back
• Place feet comfortably on the floor or footrest –Your feet should rest on the floor or footrest and not dangle.
• Knees and hips and elbows should be bent at a right (90 degree) angle –Avoid crossing your legs, cross your ankles
• Sit close to your work – Locate frequently used materials within arm’s reach. This will help you avoid awkward movements and excessive reaching, bending or twisting of your spine.
• If you have limited legroom, try sliding forward on the chair slightly and lowering your knees – This will allow you to get closer to your work. Also, use a cushion or towel roll for added low back support. This position is not recommended for extended periods of time because it increases pressure on the back of the legs.
• Perform some of your work standing, if the job permits – This can reduce some of the pressure on your back
• Keep a good sitting posture while driving – Keep the seat close to the steering wheel. Use a small cushion or pillow for additional support to your low back.

Stretching every hour or two is also a good strategy to preventing back pain from sitting too long. Hold each of these stretches for a minimum of 20-30 seconds and do several repetitions.
• chin tuck
• shoulder blade squeezes
• seated Hamstring stretch

So now that you know about good posture, what will you do?

Through the use of our cranial structural and advanced deep tissue massage techniques we provide effective non-surgical treatments for carpal tunnel, hiatal hernias, bulging discs, sciatica (sciatic pain), plantar fasciitis and much more. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. If you are in pain or just need a decompression session, please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Unnecessary Surgery- Surgical Alternative

Unnecessary Surgery- Surgical Alternative

Unnecessary surgery has had considerable debate and some outlandish accusation in recent years. I often get asked why I’m still show passionate about what I do after 15 years and one of the big reasons is to give people a surgical alternative. According to the Harvard school of Public Health, the unwarranted or unnecessary surgeries could be as high as 30% in the United States. The most come reason for unnecessary surgery is the uncertainty of the physician about the effectiveness of an operation. We are blessed to live in a time where we have access to so much information and can research the information given to find alternative methods to heal themselves. A lot of my new clients have the same concerns that you, my husband and friends have. If this is so effective at relieving pain, why I haven’t heard of it and secondly how effective is it. One of the main reasons you may not have heard about it, is simply money and marketing. Until the internet, alternative therapies were mainly just word of mouth and most traveled within the same circles. But now we have access to other types of alternative therapies that many use to. Look at the amount of vitamins and supplements we now take.

I have always been fascinated with the body and its ability to heal itself and though unnecessary surgery we limit that ability. As we become more educated about our bodies and how to better take care of them, I hope alternative therapy becomes a viable option and not just an afterthought or a last chance. Our techniques, like those in the medical fields, continue to evolve to find new way to heal the body using a non-surgical approach.

Through the use of our cranial structural and advanced deep tissue massage techniques we provide effective non-surgical treatments for carpal tunnel, hiatal hernias, bulging discs, sciatica (sciatic pain), plantar fasciitis and much more. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. If you are in pain or just need a decompression session, please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Improper Running- How much pain can it cause?

Improper Running- How much pain can it cause?

In one of our previous blogs, we discussed collapse arches and how shoes can play a major part in causing the injury. Another big culprit is running. I’m not trying to say that running is bad; it has been a big part of my life and many others as well. Injuries from running can vary and can be caused by many different reasons. They can range anywhere from not having the proper footwear to improper stretching to not knowing how to run properly. When we run the force and impact exerted on the body is great. Improper running can cause the body to be out of balance leading to tight and pulled muscles or in some cases permanent damage. We have all seen people running down the street that look as if their body was in some type of convulsion, arms and legs flailing everywhere. As a therapist that has been working with athletes, muscles and structural balancing for over 15 years, I know the importance of proper techniques and how the body reacts when things are imbalanced. As our body ages, the trauma and injuries we incurred throughout the years tends to come back with a vengeance. I guess that’s why a lot of our clients are in the 35+ age group. In our bodywork sessions, we use cranial structural rebalancing which involved releasing the restrictions through pressure point in the cranium allowing the body to return to normal. We then use several advanced techniques including deep tissue massage to loosen the muscles around the restriction allowing the skeletal structure to remain in balance. Think of it like this, if you have two teams playing tug-o-war that are constantly pulling on each other, it is almost impossible to keep the rope in the same place. Well, that is also what your muscles are doing to your skeletal structural. No matter how many times you realign your skeletal structural if your muscles around the restrictions are pulling everything back out of alignments then the pain will continue. Running can be a fun and enjoyable way to exercise, just make sure you do it properly. In our upcoming blogs we will be discussing the treatments and successes we have had with professional and amateur athletes such as golf and tennis players.

At Surgical Alternative, we have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 15 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues, collapsed arches and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Herniated and Bulging Discs Treatments-Non-Surgical

Herniated and Bulging Discs Treatments-Non-Surgical

Many are confused by exactly what are bulging discs and viable non-surgical treatment options. The more general term is called a herniated disc.

Herniated or bulged discs will be an extruded disc, where the disc will actually tear through the tough outer shell and will push into the spinal space. It can cause compression to the nerves in the spinal-cord causing you to feel significant pain, weakness, or numbness.

Many people ask me how I got this or where did this come from. The answer is that there are many factors that can contribute to herniated discs or bulging discs.

One of the big contributing factors is obesity; the heavier you are the more likely you are to putting stress on your spine. Increasing you chance of experiencing a bulging or herniated discs. Lifestyle can also be a big factor, if you have a lax lifestyle that doesn’t involve any type of exercise or other strenuous activities over the years your muscle will weaken making it easier to have bulging or herniated discs. Other causes can be a simple injury such as a blow to the back, a car accident or some other trauma to the body can easily cause a herniated disc as well. Another big factor is aging; as we begin to age our spinal structure begins to weaken causing the chances of you incurring bulging discs or herniated discs to increase significantly.

Depending on where the injury on your spine may have occurred your symptoms can will be different. A herniated or bulging disc in your neck can cause significant pain in your arms, chest, neck, and hands. If the injury occurs in your lower back you may feel pain in your legs and lower region. Because the spine controls some many areas of the body you can feel pain or discomfort in many areas of the body.

At Surgical Alternative, we have been providing effective treatment options for bulging discs and herniated discs for over 14 years now, using non-surgical methods. We are passionate about what we do and spreading the message so that we can reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Nerve Entrapment Treatments

Nerve Entrapment Treatments

If you research treatment for nerve entrapments you will come across different options. Those may include local injection of an anesthetic, oral medications or therapy and for more severe cases surgery.
A nerve entrapment or pinched nerve can feel like someone is stabbing you in the back with a knife or a constant shooting pain and can happen all over the body.  I have even worked on nerve entrapments in the feet that have cause people to be unable to walk. I have clients who have gone through various treatments before I have seen them sometimes.  Many times I am the last option, after injections or other medications that temporarily resolved the pain.  I even have clients that have had their nerve ending burned off to try and alleviate the pain.  Unfortunately that didn’t work either. Nerve entrapments and other muscular issue can be effectively resolved through our therapy sessions.  Our bodywork sessions use a combination of many techniques including advanced deep tissue massage and cranial structural rebalancing.  Our cranial techniques are designed to release the pattern your body is in and we then follow-up with deep tissue massage to loosen the muscles around the nerves allowing them to return to a normal position, therefore alleviating your pain.  Explore your options and make the best decision for you.  Just remember, these aren’t new issues. People have been suffering from these conditions since the dawn of man and way before we had prescribed drugs or surgery to resolve these issues.  The body has an amazing ability to fix itself and sometimes just needs a little bit of help that we provide.
At Surgical Alternative, we have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 14 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues, collapsed arches and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. We are passionate about what we do and spreading the message so that we can reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions.   Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Hiatal Hernia Treatments

I often get asked, “Can you do anything for Hiatal Hernias?” The short answer is yes. To understand how our advanced deep tissue massage and bodywork sessions fix hiatal hernias, we must first examine the causes and what exactly a hiatal hernia is. A hiatal hernia is the protrusion (or herniation) of the upper part of the stomach into the thorax through a tear or weakness in the diaphragm. There are many different causes for hiatal hernias ranging from heavy lifting or bending over, obesity, stress, heredity or even straining with constipation. In many cases people don’t even realize they have one. Some of the symptoms include acid reflux or severe abdominal pain.

So how do we fix it? Some of the most severe cases sometimes require surgery but most can be fix without it. Using our advanced bodywork techniques, we are able to go into the area of the protrusion and begin working the tight muscles around the bulge to allow the muscles to loosen and return to normal. By loosening the tight muscles that cause the hiatal hernias, we allow the protrusion to return back to its normal alignment alleviating the pain.

At Surgical Alternative, we have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 14 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues, collapsed arches and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. We use a combination of deep tissues massages and cranial structural techniques to balance and align the body. The reason we started blogging was so that we could reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Collapsed Arches- What cause them? Shoes!

If you have ever had a collapse arch then you know the pain that can cause. In a lot of cases it pulls on the other muscles in the foot causing it to feel like you got a sprained ankle. One of the main reasons this happens is due to improper footwear. Improper shoes can cause all types of problem with your body, from lower back pain or even a pinched sciatic nerve. If you are like a lot of my clients, you work in the corporate world where you have to wear heels or dress shoes that in most cases provide little support. Many seek insoles and other types of shoes inserts to help resolve the issue. There is a reason there are so many types of shoes, because everyone’s feet are different. One of my clients had been having the same problem for a month or so. He would come in and I would perform our bodywork session that involves advanced deep tissue massage and cranial structural techniques that rebalance and realign the body. He felt great after he left and within days his body would revert back to the same painful problem. After further consulting, we had determined that the shoes he was wearing was causing his body to go back out of alignment every time he wore them for a long period of time. I am happy to say once he got a new pair of shoes that we tested to make sure his body was supported and stabile the pain went aware. In short, proper footwear can make a big difference in your posture and the way you feel, just be sure to change them periodically once the arch support has worn out. Prevention and proper education can save you a lot of pain and discomfort, that why we at Surgical Alternative take the time to understand the underlying problem so that we can properly address the issues.

At Surgical Alternative, we have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 14 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues, collapsed arches and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. We use a combination of deep tissues massages and cranial structural techniques to balance and align the body. The reason we started blogging was so that we could reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Plantar Fascitis Treatments

Effective plantar fascitis treatments! Didn’t enjoy holiday shopping because your feet just won’t let you? Is your foot pain robbing the joy out what should be an enjoyable time? Whether or not you find shopping this time of year enjoyable you should be able to shop pain free. It’s no fun trying to concentrate on the best gift for those on your list or other daily tasks when every step you take is painful! The worst part is that all the shopping is most likely contributing to the irritation. It has been reported by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons that plantar fasciitis occurs in two million Americans a year and 10% of the population over a lifetime. The pain is usually felt on the underside of the heel and is often most intense with the first steps of the day. Another symptom is that the sufferer has difficulty bending the foot so that the toes are brought toward the shin (decreased dorsiflexion of the ankle). Things that will put you at a higher risk are new or increased activity, sudden weight gain or obesity, very high arches, and tight calves . A symptom commonly recognized among sufferers of plantar fasciitis is increased probability of knee pains, especially among runners. Through our cranial/structural and deep tissues techniques we are able to provide effective plantar fascitis treatments! We not only address the area that is in pain but more importantly we focus on the area’s that are the source of the pain.

At Surgical Alternative, we have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 14 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues, Plantar Fascitis and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. We use a combination of deep tissues massages and cranial structural techniques to balance and align the body. The reason we started blogging was so that we could reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

Where's Your Head At? Part 2

Where’s Your Head At? Part 2

In the last post I discussed how our lives tend to lead us to position our head in front of our body, which overtime can cause neck strains, herniated discs, nerve entrapment, and other related conditions. If we have been injured in an accident, this pathway to pain can accelerate rapidly.

With our approach here at Surgical Alternative with SET Bodywork, we know how to address the key areas causing pain, even if they are not the places where our clients are feeling their pain. It wasn’t until I learned this specialized therapeutic approach to structural bodywork in SET that I realized how much the front of the neck plays a key role in back and shoulder pain.

The muscles in the front of your neck and chest are often very tight when you are experiencing neck pain, but not every massage therapist knows to release them, or how to do this effectively. Now that I practice SET Bodywork, I have seen dramatic changes in my clients. Often after just one session.

As one client who was experiencing chronic pain in her neck noted, “I never had that much of a shift from just one session before.” That was last Spring. I haven’t seen her since because she still feels great. What are you waiting for?

We feel very fortunate and excited to do what we love to do, help others. We have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 14 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues, degenerative disk disease and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. We use a combination of deep tissues massages and cranial structural techniques to balance and align the body. The reason we started blogging was so that we could reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

About the Author: This post contributed by a member of the Surgical Alternative team, Nyssa Hanger, to find out more about her click here.

Healing with Heat, Part 2

Heat is an amazing therapeutic tool that sometimes gets overlooked because of its own simplicity. Though heat may not relieve long term pain permanently, it can provide temporary relief and is really very easy to do.

Providing heat to an area of pain will help to lengthen and relax over tight muscles, improve circulation, and reduce muscle spasms. The increase in blood flow allows the cells to receive nutrients and exchange their waste materials, allowing tissues to repair where damaged. Plus, as I mentioned in the last post, it feels comforting. As someone who practices therapeutic bodywork, I know that just feeling safe, supported, and cared for is sometimes enough to let our body heal itself.

At home, heat therapy can be as simple as drawing a bath; use some epsom salt for additional release of toxins from your body. Or you can heat up a rice sock or one of our Mother Earth Pillows, sold here in the office.

When using heat, always remember to be MINDFUL OF TEMPERATURE. Never put a hot pack directly on your skin, and always test out the water before getting in. There is no use in burning while trying to feel better.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use both hot and cold therapy for pain relief, be sure to come to my talk at 11:30am at our Grand Opening here at Surgical Alternative on December 10th.

As an advanced deep tissue massage therapist in Tampa, I believe in helping people who live with chronic pain to learn how to also help themselves. Though our SET Bodywork ( a combination of advanced deep tissue massage and cranial structural techniques)is highly effective for many conditions such as herniated discs, bulging dics, scoliosis, plantar fascitis, heal spurs, myofascial relief and more, the therapist and the client are a team. I can’t be with my clients all the time, but I can help them learn what they can do for themselves in between sessions. That’s empowerment.

Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz,FL near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

About the Author: This post contributed by a member of the Surgical Alternative team, Nyssa Hanger, to find out more about her click here.

Healing with Heat, part 1

Healing with Heat, part 1

Now that it is getting cooler out, the use of heat for therapy seems to feel even more comforting. Whether you suffer from chronic pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, backache during pregnancy, or just are looking for an easy way to relax and unwind, heat therapy is an easy and inexpensive form of alternative medicine.

Cultures from all over the world and across time have acknowledged the power of the sun as a source of health and vitality. I don’t know about you, but getting my skin in a little bit of sun is sometimes just what I need. The sun’s rays feel so good partly because they help our body produce chemicals essential to our well-being, but I think it is also because warmth soothes our bodies.

There are physiological reasons why heat therapy in the form of baths or hot packs can help alleviate the pain of muscle aches and soreness, chronic lower back pain, chronic neck pain, muscle spasms, tension headaches and more, which you can learn more about my talk on Hot/Cold Therapy for Pain Relief at 11:30 am on December 10 at our Grand Opening and experience our new product, Mother Earth Pillows.

Heat is a great compliment to types of myofasical release therapy like SET Bodywork and why I use it in my sessions in the office.

We feel very fortunate and excited to do what we love to do, help others. We have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 14 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues, degenerative disk disease and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. We use a combination of deep tissues massages and cranial structural techniques to balance and align the body. The reason we started blogging was so that we could reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

About the Author: This post contributed by a member of the Surgical Alternative team, Nyssa Hanger, to find out more about her click here.

Check back soon for how to use heat at home in part 2!

Good to Go

One thing about this job is that I get pretty intimate with my clients. I strive to create a space where they feel comfortable to share anything that may help me to maximize the benefits of our sessions. Sometimes that means talking about something we all hopefully share in common: bowel movements.

A client I have been seeing for a few years recently revealed that beyond the other areas of pain we have been working on, he has never been really, “regular.” So in his session before last I made sure to address the abdomen. Even though I have worked in this area before, it had been a while and now that we had this new objective I paid particular attention to releasing restrictions in this area.

I found out when I saw him again last week that the results of that session were monumental. He felt like he got to let go of a lot of old stuff; and indeed, he did.

A recent study on PubMed reveals that massage can be very beneficial to constipation, and suggests that massage helps the client to learn to relax both physically and emotionally contributing to increased regularity. Our advanced deep tissue massage and cranial structural techniques allow the body to rebalance and relax allowing some of those more uncomfortable restrictions to let go.Our stomach area is one of the most vulnerable parts of our body, housing vital organs upon which our survival depends.

Sometimes our body wants to protect itself, but ends up cutting off the normal physiological function of our bodies. Even being under constant stress can do this to us. When we are stressed out our bodies are responding as if we are preparing to fight or flight. In the instances when we need this, some systems like digestion are shut down to reserve energy for defending or fleeing. Unfortunately, we have the capability to be stressed about things even when they are not happening and can create a constant depletion of energy for digestion. Imagine someone you know that you might call a “tight-ass” – do they seem stressed to you?

Stress is not the only cause of constipation, but can be a major contributor. Relaxation is all about learning to “let go” – sometimes even the simplest human functions are great metaphors for life.

We feel very fortunate and excited to do what we love to do, help others. We have been dealing with clients in severe pain for over 14 years now, that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. We use a combination of deep tissues massages and cranial structural techniques to balance and align the body. The reason we started blogging was so that we could reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. Surgical Alternative is now located in Lutz near New Tampa. We proudly service Tampa, St. Petersburg, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and all surrounding areas. Please call today, or schedule your appointment online!

About the Author: This post contributed by a member of the Surgical Alternative team, Nyssa Hanger, to find out more about her click here.

Decompress for the holidays

Decompress for the holidays

Sciatic Pain- How to get relief! Part 1

Sciatic Pain- How to get relief! Part 1

When I was in massage school, we were taught that sciatica (shooting nerve pain that travels down the back of the leg) was most often caused by a tight hip rotator muscle called the piraformis ( a muscle in the gluteal region of the lower limb). The piraformis connects our tailbone (or sacrum) to the top of our femur (or leg bone) and when contracted or when the muscle constricts, pulls the leg and knee to the side away from the body, opening the hip. Since this muscle crosses over the sciatic nerve, if it is overly contracted then it can pinch the nerve and cause pain. If someone came in complaining of sciatic pain, I would release their piraformis during the session using several techniques including deep tissue massage and body rebalancing.

In these sessions, the piraformis release “hurts good” at the time of the session but the clients often don’t receive lasting benefits from this release. A tight piraformis does not live on its own; it often a symptom of an imbalanced structure. Though we can get the piraformis to release and let go, if this is not done within a session where all the muscles of the hips contributing to a pattern are also released so the body can find a new way to balance more efficiently. Then the body will often return back to the starting pattern and sciatic pain returns. Addressing pain as a symptom of structural issues is our objective at Surgical Alternative. We utilize SET Bodywork release the muscles and rebalance the body.

This became very clear to me once I started to study structural approaches to pain rehabilitation. The piraformis, I discovered, is certainly not the only culprit to sciatic pain. Determining how to most effectively address this issue depends on adequate evaluation of the body’s structure. This is way we first visually assess the structure by observing the client standing so their weight-bearing structure emerges. Almost every client I have seen reporting a painful condition presents an imbalance in the pelvis with one side rotating forward and one rotating backward.

Although massage has been around for hundreds of years we are still discovering the power the body and mind having in the healing process. I have seen and lived this process with many of my clients, that is why I feel very fortunate and excited to do what I love to do, help others that are suffering from herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. At www.surgicalalternative.com we can help! Check back for Part II

Why we are not just another deep tissue massage?

Why we are not just another deep tissue massage?

I get inquiries from potential clients looking for deep tissue massage. Sometimes I think that clients have the impression that the deeper the massage the better the results. You’ve heard the adage “no pain, no gain.” I am here to tell you that you should expect more from your sessions and your therapist than just depth! How would you like to experience a session where several evaluative tools are used to assess your total body alignment and the bodywork systematically releases the soft tissue directly affecting your pain, and more! After discussing with your therapist the pain causing condition that brought you in, we perform a postural analysis to observe how your body is compensating to keep you going. Through postural analysis it is possible to determine which areas of their body are under more strain than others, and which muscle groups are causing this strain. We use kinesiology/ muscle testing before and after to show you which muscles are involved in the collapse and the changes that the cranial/structural work has made to your structure. Only after a thorough analysis, we finally couple all of this with the slow but deep tissue restructuring body work! Our therapists are highly trained and specialize in SET Bodywork which prepares us to help and effectively treat conditions ranging from herniated discs, bulging discs and much more, to helping you recover from that painful sciatica pain or the plantar fasciitis you’ve now been putting up with for months. Once you book your appointment , you are in for lasting changes within your entire body structure that will have you rehabilitated from pains you thought you had to live with. Managing pain is not acceptable here! We approach the body as a whole. We look to address the source of where the pain originated from, not address all the symptoms. When this is kept at the fore front of your rehabilitation plans we can rehabilitate you from pain, not manage it. You’ll find yourself resuming life activities you had not fully enjoyed in years! Contact us regarding your condition. WE CAN HELP!

Unleashing an Athlete's Potiental

Unleashing an Athlete’s Potiental

I have worked on athletes in the past but usually after they have finished competing. By then their bodies had begun to breakdown and they began to feel aches and pains from all the years of trauma they put on their bodies while competing. As an ex-athlete, I understand the toll years of training and competing has on the body. In my past, I have worked on athletes before competitions to help them stretch and warm-up their muscles but have always wanted to try our advanced bodywork sessions on them, to measure the impact. Well, I finally got the opportunity. My old track coach has a daughter that competes in high school and she was having some issues with tight muscles in her abdomen that caused discomfort when she ran and asked if I could help. As an athlete, the importance of keeping your body and muscles in top condition is vital to your success. I started by cranially rebalancing her to bring the structure into alignment and then followed up with the bodywork session, which combines deep tissue massage and structural therapy techniques that allow the body to remain balanced. The next day at practice she had mentioned being sore, but the pain had almost completely gone away. Luckily, we had a couple more sessions before her next match. After a couple more session she mentioned feeling pain free, but what effect would it have on her performance. Well, she called me right after her next match and was super excited. She had beaten her best time by over a second, which in the track world is a major accomplishment. It proved what I had always believed. What we do, can impact lives in many different ways and can help to gain that competitive advantage that athletes are looking for. There are more and more articles such as this one, http://www.amssm.org/complementary-and-alterna-p-47.html?StartPos=50&Type=, that show the advantages of complementary and alternative medicines.

I feel very fortunate and excited to do what I love to do, help others. We have been dealing with clients in severe pain for almost 25 years, that are suffering from painful conditions associated with herniated discs, bulging discs, hiatal hernias, peripheral nerve damage, nerve entrapments, pinched sciatic nerve issues and many more symptoms that people think they either have to have surgery for or are told they just have to deal with the pain. The reason I started blogging was so that I could reach and help some of those people that suffer from these and many other painful conditions. At www.surgicalalternative.com we can help!