Stroke is one of the sneaky adversaries that snoops around members of the over-60 set, often pouncing when least expected. It can strike the nice old gentleman as he sits on a park bench feeding the pigeons or it may fell the executive bent over his putter, trying to sink the ball in the 18th hole in hopes of ending another golf outing triumphantly. A stroke can wipe out the lifelong athlete in the midst of that big senior meet.

When working with stroke victims it is important to realize that in the case of a spastic stroke, the muscles are not out of commission, but they are out of control. The balance between flexors and extenders is gone; so is the wonderful phenomenon of muscle groups that, in a fantastic choreography, can bring the most incredible variation of strength and direction of movement to bear on the most mundane moves.

Basis for Massage Therapy

The question comes up occasionally — What makes massage so special that we want to put it into patient care? The skeptic talks of placebo effect, while the massage junkie talks of the power of touch. Sometimes we ourselves are surprised at our results. We look at our hands and note they are remarkable tools, but we know that so are everyone else’s.