Hour 8

Day/Time: April 15, 2013, 2PM to 3PM
Patient: Tyler Valen
Body Type: female, 5'3'', skinny, but toned

I massaged my teammate, Tyler Valen, for my seventh hour. She is the setter on my team so she has a lot of stress built up around her upper back and shoulders, and her arms and hands.

I did the same routine as described in the previous post, but it was different this time because Tyler has a total different body type than Sarina. That took some getting used to because at first, I felt like I needed to be more gentle with her massage. As I continued to do so, however, she had similar knots like my sister. I realized that no matter what body type a patient is, I just needed to do the same routine and make sure they were comfortable with it.

Although each body is essentially the same, how each person reacts to the massage is different. What Sarina found ticklish, Tyler found normal, and what Sarina found normal, Tyler found very sensitive. It was interesting to see the different ways they reacted to each part. Both of them reacted the same to the thigh and calf presses, though. I think everyone dreads it a bit.

I found a lot of knots around her shoulder blades and traps. This was due to repetitive exercise without proper stretching. By the end of her massage, I had kneaded out most of them, but a couple were still evident in her back. As I learned from MAng Adring, hot and cold compress patches called Salon Pass, should help. I applied some and then Tyler was on her way.

My hands were pretty tired after the second massage of the day, but all I could do was stretch and massage them out.

Hour 7

April 15, 2013 9:00AM to 10:00AM
Patient: Sarina Salazar
Body Type: female, 5'7'', thick, muscular

On the first day of STAR Testing, I massaged my sister, Sarina, for my sixth hour.

It took me a while to start massaging people by appointments because it took a while for me and Mang Adring to coordinate a time to get the massage oil. Once I had that, I started scheduling appointments and completing my hours.

It was a little nerve racking because I didn't have my mentor next to me to tell me how to do things or correct me if I was wrong. I just needed to trust myself.

I remembered that the massage is much more effective when I concentrate pressure through the tips of my fingers rather than the pads. Even though I studied the video of Mang Adring's lesson, I was still a bit nervous. My fingers started to camp a bit but all I needed to do was power through it.

As usual, I started with her upper back, concentrating on the muscles around her shoulder blades. I massaged the muscle under her left shoulder blade, then the muscle on top of her left shoulder blade and repeated the motions with her right side. Then I massaged around the shoulder blade on both sides a the same time. Then, I reached below her traps and massaged the spot below the collar bone and above her armpit. I found this to be a very sensitive spot because she started tensing up. I did the same to the other side and did both sides at the same time. After, I applied more oil to her back and pressed on either sides at the top of her spine and followed through until the base of her spine. Then I continued pressing down with my thumbs on her lower back, working my way up, and repeated from the top of her spine. Following routine, I pressed on two pressure points located below her back. This is where Mang Adring advised me to keep applying pressure throughout the massage because that is where everything connects. The more you sooth these spots, the better it is for the body.

After her back, I started with her arms. I applied oil to her arms and held her wrist with my right hand and massaged the groove in her upper arm with my left. I secured her hand in between my side and my upper arm to massage her with both of my hands. I then applied pressure to her forearm and continued on to the pinpoints of her hands. One particular move that I was scared of doing was cracking her knuckles. Mang Adring did this to me and taught it to me during the lessons but I was scared to do it because I didn't want to hurt her. Again, this is when I needed to learn to trust myself to simply bring relief to any patient. I did so carefully but once I succesfully crack the first couple fingers, I wasn't so scared anymore. I continued the arm and hand massage on to her right side.

I then went back and concentrated my attention to her shoulders and upper back. This is similar to the first part of the massage, but instead massaging both sides at the same time from the front of the massage table, instead of the sides. I continued with her neck, only this time, I wasn't as scared of massaging the neck than I was during the lesson.

I went back to massage her full back once more and also pressed on the two pressure points below her lower back.

After that, I continued to her legs. I always found the legs a bit awkward, but I felt more comfortable as the massage continued  I applied oil to her legs and started with lightly squeezing the backs of her thighs, going up and down. She started laughing, but it soon turned out to be less funny when I continued by pressing down the sides of her quads. Personally, this was always the part of the massage that I dreaded myself. I repeated the move two more times then repeated the squeezing motion. Instead of stopping at her knee, I continued the move down to her ankle. Then I massaged her calf then to her ankle, and continued to her feet.

I continued to massage her calves then back to her thighs, then massaged the two pressure points again, and then back to her back.

Then, I had her flip over and did basically the same things, except with her face up.

Then then had her go on her side. I bent her top leg and straightened out her bottom leg. I crossed her arms. I pulled on her top arm's wrist and pushed on her hip 3 to 4 times and cracked her back. I told her to lie on her other side and repeated the motions.

Dwindling down to the last minutes of the massage, I had her sit upright and massaged her shoulders and upper arms once more. The last part was one that I personally dread, and know that she isn't too fond of either. As she sits on the massage table, I sit down on a chair in front of her. I put one of her feet on the chair I'm sitting on between my knees and bend her knee. I then but my fingers at the middle of the back of her knee and I press hard all the way down to her ankle. I repeat it 3 times and do the same to her left calf. This releases all the stress from everyday things to walking, driving, and even exercising.

The very last stage is when I take both of her wrists and find her pulse. I just have to make sure that its regular. If it isn't, then I need to do it all over again.

For the first real, full-on, massage, I my sister said I did a good job. My hands still aren't as strong as Mang Adrings, but that come with practice and experience. It's really easy for me to find knots and knciks now and I'm starting to feel my hands slowly getting stronger.

Hour 6/Status

I went to Mang Adring for another massage after my tournament. I told him that I've been practicing on my friends and he wanted to make sure that I was fully equipped with everything that I needed. He gave me a bottle of his homemade oil. He's leaving for the Philippines for a couple weeks and he won't be back until mid May. Mang Adring explained that my physical project hours will consist of me practicing with the video as reference. He advised me to trust my hands as well as myself in order to get stronger and more effective at hilot.

The solutions he uses to make the homemade hilot oil.

I have been practicing massaging my friends and teammates sporadically, such as shoulder massages at school, back massages in the middle of tournaments or massages by the water at paddling practice. I have not, however, counted any of those instances towards my hours because I didn't feel like the time spent was legitimate. It felt more like practicing practice.

I am borrowing class of 2010's April Dela Fuente's massage table, as she did a similar physical project for her senior project.

Now I am inviting my friends and fellow classmates to help me with my hours.

P.S. It's a free massage!

Hour 5

The fifth hour of my physical project consists of my personal interview with Mang Adring and my sister, Sarina, and my mother, Abby, as the translators.

Below is a translated summary and actual transcript of my conversation with Ma Adring.

Mang Adring commented that the middle of the neck has small delicate veins that you do not want to touch. Delicate veins in the middle of the neck can cause serious effect if massaged incorrectly.

Mang Adring started to learn massage through one of the masseuses that ran a business in Manila. Athletes such as boxers and jockeys came to the clinic to get a rundown of physical massage which softens the hardened muscles and eventually take out the knots from the muscles.  The pinched nerves are then released thus allowing the blood to fully circulate in the body. Mang Adring was taught the right way of massage and eventually he took over in running the massage parlor.

According to him, our body is composed of nerves and muscles that are inter connected to each other. These nerves and muscles react when the body is at work or when the body is engaged into strenuous repeated movements such as in exercise and sports. Body aches, muscle strain and fatigue are the common result of such activities.

Some people will resort to getting a massage to relieve their tension and true enough, after having a session, they feel restored and ready for action again.

He then recalled one patient who got into car accident and can barely walk with his crutches. He administered a series of massage and after a few days, this person was able to fully recover.

Massage is done by using the hand and fingers to run through the part of the body where the nerves connecting each other need to be realigned or where the knots need to be crushed out of the muscles to restore full circulation.

Mang Adring’s know how and experience helped a lot of people to fully recover from their aches, pains and muscle strains.

NAGSIMULA AKONG MAGTRABAHO SA ISANG MASSAGE PARLOR SA MANILA.

DITO NAGPUPUNTA ANG MGA BOKSINGERO, HINETE AT IBA PANG MANLALAO UPANG MAGPAMASAHE NG KANILANG MASASAKIT AT PAGOD NA KATAWAN.

NAPAG ARALAN KO NA ANG KATAWAN AY SUMASAKIT DAHIL SA PAGLALARO, PAG EXERCISE O KAYA SA PAGTATRABAHO NA PHYSICAL. ITO ANG TINATAWAG NATING SPRAIN, KNOTS, PUNCHED NERVE, MUSCLE FATIGUE O SIMPLEND - SAKIT NG KATAWN.

TINATANGAL NG HILOT ANG LAMIG, BUKOL AT IPIT NA UGAT NG KATAWAN, NA PASAMANT ALANG NABUBUO SA MGA MUSCLES O IBANG PARTE ND KATAWAN NA NAGIGING DAHILAN NG PAGSAKIT NITO.

ALAM NG MANGHIHILOT ANG MGA UGAT O NERVES NA KUNG SAAN KONEKTADO ANG MUSCLE AT SA MAINGAT NA HIMAS AT PRESSURE, NAALIS ANG BARA AT NABUBUKSAN ANG MGA UGAT SA PATULOY NA CIRCULATION AT RIGHT DISTRIBUTION NG OXYGEN IN THE BODY.

DAHIL DITO, I WAS HIRED BY AN INSURANCE COMPANY TO WORK WITH THEM IN THEIR PHYSICAL THERAPU DEPARTMENT AND WAS ABLE TO RESTORE AND HEAL A LOT OF PATIENTS.

SINCE I AM RETIRED AND GETTING OLD, I WANT TO HAND OVER MY EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE TO SOMEBODY LIKE GAEA, WHOME I BELIEVE SHE COULD DO GREAT IN THIS FIELD OF SERVICE.

Hours 2-4

I thought I posted this on February 6th, but it was only saved as a draft.

Today was the first day I started hands on massaging. My sister, Sarina, volunteered to be my first subject. We arrived at Mang Adring's home office at 4 P.M. and proceeded the session until 6 P.M.

 I was preparing myself to learn the different techniques, but once my sister got on the massage table, Mang Adring handed my the oil and simply said, "Start." I was really surprised and nervous, but he was serious. Mang Adring has massaged me countless times, but I got lost once he said to start.

First, Mang Adring would do the techniques on my sister first. "Like this," he said. So after he demonstrated, I followed suit and tried to copy him as best as I could. My sister was a great help because she told me how to adjust after trying each technique. I was really surprised because I really didn’t have any sort of practice except trying to copy him based off the massages he gave me. With Mang Adring’s permission, I video recorded the massage lesson as a reference for when I start practicing on my own, but I won’t post it for the sake of my sister’s privacy.

Mang Adring started off by showing me how and what to do first and then I would follow suit. I kept mental notes of each technique and tried to copy him as best as I could. I constantly asked “Like this? Like that?” just to make sure I was doing right.

We started my sister’s back, neck, head, and continued on to her lower body. 

According to my sister, I massaged the same areas and points that Mang Adring did, but my hands were a lot weaker. Mang Adring said that I need to practice in order to perfect my technique and strengthen my hands. There were certain areas that I did well in, such as down the spine and the legs and calves, but I need a lot of practice.

A big lesson I learned was where to apply pressure on my fingers. At first I used the flat part of my fingers, but I learned that using the tips of my fingers was more effective. Looking at the video now, I see the difference between Mang Adring’s firm hands versus my inexperienced, light hands.

Mang Adring explained that my hands will only get stronger with practice. Once he believes I'm ready, he said that he'll teach me how to mix the oils.

A regular usually lasts an 45 minutes to an hour, but since this was a massage combined with a lesson, this session stretched to two hours. Once it ended, I took the opportunity to interview Mang Adring. This interview will be posted in a separate post.