When your Child has Pain: Massage for Children

A lot of people lately have been asking “Gina, do you work on children?” I do. I enjoy providing massage for children, pediatric massage as some refer to it. I’ve worked with many, many children over the years; providing massage to aid the recovery from sports injuries or cope with the pain from other conditions. Most children enjoy massage, and really like the deeper pressure work. I thought I would share a few examples here of how children I've worked with have benefitted from therapeutic massage.

·         A football player who after repeated collisions developed whiplash-like symptoms: headaches and restricted motion in his neck

·         A competitive dancer with leg, foot and low back pain

·         A young man with cerebral palsy. Walking into the office his arms and hands were clenched tight, knees knocked inward. After sessions, he was visibly more relaxed with a more normal gait.

·         A young woman with scoliosis, a curvature of her spine, and another teen with rheumatoid arthritis both expressed significant relief after treatments.

·         A soccer player who had pain and sought to be faster, more confident and perhaps more attractive to colleges

·         A collegiate swimmer with shoulder pain. He was referred by his coach who wanted him to stay in his game.

·         And the yoga instructor’s daughter who wanted a massage as her reward after getting a great report card. While it’s not pain relief, how could I say no to that?

These are just a few examples of the kinds of conditions I’ve worked with. Do any sound familiar to you? If your children complain about pain, consider giving them a therapeutic massage treatment from a licensed massage therapist.