Save Your Hands!® Injury Prevention & Ergonomics for Manual Therapists

We all spend a great deal of time working with our arms in front of our bodies, often hunched forward. We type on the computer, wash the dishes, change the diapers, make dinner, etc., all in this position. Massage therapists and bodyworkers also work much of their time in this position. The result is often muscles that are shortened in the front of the body (especially the pecs and abs), stretched-out and weak in the thoracic (like the rhomboids), and tight in the upper thoracic/base of the neck (upper traps, levator scapula).

I’ve found two wonderful exercises to counteract this problem that I’ve started doing every day, and I’d like to share them with you. They use a product called the OPTP Pro-Roller-Soft (about $32), a tool that was recommended to me by a physical therapist (www.optp.com – I’m not affiliated with the company). It’s basically a solid foam cylinder that’s fairly firm but has some give to make it comfortable. If you feel any pain or discomfort as you do these exercises, stop doing them.

Exercise I: Lie down with your coccyx at the bottom of the roller and your head at the top. Let your arms fall straight out to the sides, perpendicular to your body, and bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor to let your low back relax against the roller as much as possible. You’ll probably notice that your low back (lumbar spine) doesn’t lie completely flat against the roller at the beginning. As you balance on the roller, raise one foot about 6 inches, then place it down and raise the other foot – keep going as though you were marching in place, alternating feet. This works your abs, and you will probably also notice that after you’ve done this for a few minutes, your low back will lie flatter against the roller. Also, your arms will gradually lie flatter against the floor – at that point, you can try to move them along the floor toward your head as far as you can go, to get a greater stretch through the chest and back.

Exercise II: sit on the floor with the roller horizontal behind you. Clasp your hands behind your head with your elbows out to the side (this is to support your head – don’t pull forward on your neck). Lean back on the roller, lifting your butt slowly off the floor, and start rolling back and forth on it, which will give you a nice, fairly deep massage. You can roll on your lower thoracic/upper lumbar spine, then work up to the top of the thoracic spine. Then roll to where the roller is just below your shoulder blades, and lean your shoulders and head back (still supporting your neck with your hands) to get a good stretch through the entire front of your body.

When you get up after doing these two exercises, your posture will be much improved, and your chest will feel lifted and open. Your upper back and neck muscles should also feel more relaxed. Keep your roller at work with you, and do these exercises (which take only two or three minutes) on your break between massages!

Let us know how these exercises work for you. If you have any other exercises that you find really help counteract the effects of your massage work, please post them here.

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