Successful Side-lying Massage

I know you are with me when I express that there is no better feeling then to have a client walk upright out of your massage studio with a smile on their face after walking in bent over in back pain. I seldom achieved this immediate result until I started to include side-lying massage in my sessions. So, whats the magic?

Side-lying positioning for massage slackens the low back muscles and most importantly, it presents the femur-to-acetabulum joinery to the practitioner for easy access. The femur is the key to unlocking low back and hip tension. It even looks like a key ! (I love that).

4 reasons why side-lying massage rocks

1) Side-lying slackens the low back. We know that when a muscle is slackened it is way easier to get deeper into it.

2) For easy traction and compression (When we traction and/or compress the the femur/acetabulum joinery, the hip flexors and adductors will respond. In traction they stretch and when there is compression, they slacken and rest.

3) Side-lying is the ultimate positioning for DFR’s pin-and-stretch of the QL.  Passive and active pin and stretch is so effective on the muscle, tendon, ligament and fascia for opening range of motion!

4) If your client is pregnant you have no other way to get to their back besides side-lying.  Some practitioners use cut-out tables or pregnancy pillows but those will only strain the back further. From a structural perspective, side-lying positioning is superior to cut out tables.

Are you intimidated?  Don’t be.  I’ll even show you pillow set up and draping techniques to make sure you have the foundation down and you can relax into it.