Introduction

The introduction looks at both theory and practice. It defines self-massage and and looks at its role in self-treatment and self-help. It explains the goals of massage and self-massage and how self-massage can be used proactively to build better structural integrity in muscles, tendons and ligaments and help prevent musculoskeletal problems developing or used in re actively, in response to illness and dysfunction to treat musculoskeletal problems. It can be used by the layperson if done proactively or under the supervision of a qualified health professional if it is used to treat a health problem requiring a proper diagnosis. It looks at the problems of examining oneself, especially your own spine, and identifying the problem and which tissues are involved with the problem.

This is not a self-diagnosis book. People without medical training should be under the supervision of a tertiary trained health professional, a physical therapist such as an osteopath if they want to treat themselves with the techniques described in this book. The therapist should be able to give you the name of your condition and the soft tissues you need to massage, show you where they are and teach you how to massage them.

The introduction explains the basic anatomy. The title of this book could have been ‘Self-directed Soft Tissue Manipulation’ or ‘Manipulate Your Own Soft Tissues’ but ‘Massage Yourself’ is more succinct, and the subtitle is ‘Self-massage of muscles, tendons and ligaments’ which better represents the depth of this book and the wide range of soft tissues being covered. It looks at the advantages and disadvantages to massaging yourself, the different applicators: part of your hand or another part of your body or a massage tool and what they are used for and it looks at the contraindications of self-massage.

Further topics include: the different techniques used in this book such as kneading , inhibition, stretching and friction. It looks at and the kneading cycle, focused breathing, and the need for a basic knowledge of anatomy for identifying the tissues that are the source of your pain.

It looks at the best body posture for self-massage and choice of applicator, in terms of least effort for self-massaging. The pros and cons of using oil and why oil is not generally used in this book. Further headings in the introduction include: Props used in self-massaging, Daily considerations, Self-massage for the first time, Medical conditions requiring caution, Palpation, Bad posture, Spinal curves, Postural fatigue, and The effects of gravity on posture.