After almost 30 years of office work for a large, multi-national company, in 2016 I decided to take early retirement and change careers.
I have been involved in Swimming and Triathlon for most of my adult life as a competitor and coach, so a new career related to sport seemed an obvious choice. Massage allows me to work with my clients and help them to heal themselves through my hands-on treatment and their lifestyle changes.
Since qualifying as a BTEC Level 5 Soft Tissue Therapist at the Oxford School of Sports Massage in July 2017, I now work from home in Lower Earley, Reading (RG6).
Being a full member of The Institute of Sport and Remedial Massage (ISRM) and regularly updating myself with new skills and techniques, I can now treat anyone with aches and pains caused by their lifestyle, posture or sporting activities.
Since early 2019, I have taken a number of training courses in Scar Massage therapy. These slow, soft and gentle techniques can help with scars that are causing discomfort or restricting movement. Scars that may be sensitive, stuck down, lumpy or puckered. This treatment can improve the functionality of the scar tissue and enable a wider range of movement without pain.
During the first half of 2020, I completed a six – month course on how to adapt all my massage techniques in order to help people who are either living with, having treatment for or who have recently finished treatment for Cancer.
This is called Oncology Massage and the extra training helps me to understand the implications of the disease and treatment on my clients. This may be because of surgery, the side effects of the drug treatments, low immunity or skin problems from Radiotherapy.
Numerous studies have shown that massage can help to reduce common symptoms such as stress, nausea, pain, fatigue and depression that can be caused by living with this disease and the medical treatments involved.
