How to (safely!) use your thumbs for massage
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- My new book is out! It's called Massage Is Weird: massagesloth.com/book/
Want to use your thumbs for massage without pain or fatigue? The trick is to use them ergonomically - find positions that feel intrinsically powerful. In this video I demonstrate how to stack your joints for better body mechanics, as well as how to avoid potentially painful positions. Join me, won't you?
0:00 Introduction
1:03 Using your thumbs ergonomically
2:00 Tip #1: Use your thumbs in push-up position
4:19 Tip #2: Keep your thumbs close to the rest of your hand
5:08 Tip #3: Create a shape, then apply it
6:35 Tip #4: Double up
7:53 Alternatives to using your thumbs
8:58 The mystery of the covered thumb
Videos mentions:
Self-care for thumb pain: • Massage therapist self...
How to give a thumb-free massage: • Massage Tutorial: Thum...
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Yep. Was taught in massage school like you said at the top of the video - "don't use your thumbs". Which is kinda good advice when starting out, to prevent injury to a novice therapist. Good news is that one can use them safely and has the potential of adding an additional tool to a growing massage tool chest.
Same. I don’t use my thumbs at all really unless I’m focusing on a TP or “knot”. When I do I stack my thumbs (that’s the most comfortable way for me.)
I'm in school right now and my teacher always say "don't use your thumbs" I find this video very helpful! I want to practice and apply this on my client. Thank you!
So great, my thumbs are pretty burned out and I'm a new therapist. So excited to use this info, thanks again 🙏
gotta have good thumb technique!
Thank you Ian!! So great to see you back!
Thank you Ian for very detailed instructions and demonstrations in this video. Your videos are always so helpful and your instruction is from the heart. So glad to see you back. 💕
I was taught to stack my thumbs for powerful point work. I find it more comfortable than covering with any part of my palm, but I do use it sparingly and get the area nice and pliable before I do it. I’m hypermobile, so keeping my thumbs in a neutral position is a challenge! I can only pull it off for short periods. I love your channel!!!
Same here with the hypermobility! I've got pretty pronounced hitchhiker's thumb, as well as hyperextensible carpometacarpal joints. I've found strength training with putty and bands to be quite helpful; a cocoon of strong thenar muscles is better able to keep those joints in their stack. I try to limit my consecutive time too, which I forgot to put in this video! 😑 Thanks for the kind comment, btw 🙂
Thank you Ian! Great way to stack your joints for the thumbs. I'm a new massage therapist in the Houston area in Sugarland texas trying to learn new techniques. Thank you Ian
A very good lesson, and I'm thankful to have seen it.
You’re the best Ian! Thanks for your great contribution!
One person disliked this with a sore thumb
Finally!! - massage therapist from Greece, much love!
Hi Ian! Good to see you back!! I do the covered thumb technique sometimes, but I use the ulnar side of my palm rather than the thenar eminence to apply the pressure, so the top hand is almost at a 90 degree angle to the bottom hand. It is a very specific deep point of pressure and I usually don’t make long sweeps with it. So grateful for your work.
Great description, I'll play with that. And thank you! 😊
Great to see you back. I use thumbs, and the covered thumb as well in a modality called zenthai shiatsu.
I'll have to look into that! I love shiatsu and I'm so grateful my school included it in the basic curriculum
I just had a graduate tell me they tried the covered thumb technique that they found on CZcams with their thumb placed in the thenar eminence and now both areas are inflammed from the pressure. They saved the thumb joint and created injury to another area. You do good work Ian. Keep it up! I use your videos in class all the time.
You know, that makes sense to me, and I think that if I'm just going to be using my thumb as a way to concentrate the pressure of my palm, why not use a tool (e.g., a hot stone) in a way that's comfortable for me? Thanks for passing this along, and thanks for using my videos in class! 🤗
Excellent video. Good pace, excellent visuals, and fantastic demonstration of the right way vs the wrong way with a smattering of anatomy.
And doing these techniques on a patient really shows the depth and *squishing* of the skin and muscle which really added to the content.
He’s back 🙏
Thank you for this Ian!!🙏🏽💜
This is great. I used to be afraid of using my thumbs until recently. Thanks for another awesome video!
I love these videos, thanks so much!!
Thank u very much sir for this brilliant masage detail .it's very essential for us .
Useful information. Thanks!
Love every single vdo you crated.
Beautiful thank you 🙏🏼
Thank you so much!
Good to see you back.I like to use my thumbs, but it hurts all the time. Thank you for sharing those Great techniques of using thumbs. Really needed this.
Thank you for sharing this information
Solid info thx
Great information Thankyou. 🙌
Hi Ian! Good to see you back ))
I use the covered thumb between the ulnar and radius as extra forearm work in a downward stretch of the arm in sports or DT. This provides a safe position for my thumb without hyper extending or stressing my thumbs
👍 Thanks, Ian!
Another great video!
Thank you
Thank you so much Ian, cant' wait to try some of these techniques when we can resume with the general public. So great to have a new video from you! Thanks again :)
Hello Mary
Ur saving me. I’m new to profession & still trying to figure out my proper body mechanics as I’m starting at 42 and come into my practice already w/ an older, fatigued body. I tend to be more heavy handed so I desperately need to figure out deep tissue mx w/ better form so my career doesn’t end just as it’s getting started!
Thank you!
Thank you🙏😇
Oh man thank you so much. I was doing this intuitively but stopped because of schools suggestion. So many years ago. I’m so grateful to you. You taught me my work and I have continued to make it my own.
Awesome! I'd be interested to hear how it goes.
one of the most important topics
im not the only like non therapist who watches these videos right? its sorta like asmr to me, Dudes voice is very soothing, plus i almost get like a second hand massage watching him work out the techniques, also sorta just makes me want to get a massage even more lmao.
that's why I'm here 👁👁
I'm a therapist but I listen to these videos, about my profession to relax after work. Definitely relaxing and I imagine I retain more knowledge watching just before I go to sleep, like reading your homework before bed and then it all sticks.
Merci beaucoup 🙏
Beautiful video, as always :).
Hi Fiama
"Covered thumb" works well for moving the thumb in a straight line along a muscle. Perfect example is erectors or stripping tibialis anterior. The action is like a stroke with the palm of the other hand, and the thumb is used just as if it were a tool.
That helps a lot! I'll play around with that
Yep! I was just thinking about how to explain this to my students during a massage yesterday, and now see Ian's video on it today! I use a straight thumb with flat palm to glide up between radius and ulna ins relaxed stroke, and all of the pressure comes from the other hand covering that thumb!
very useful & inspiring, Healthy Greetings
Great video. I missed this notification idk why!
Great to see you again Brother. I use that covered technique when/if it feel appropriate for the situation and client, so, not every treatment, but not rarely either. I've been thinking about how it feels to me, and how to describe it. Now, I'm no prolific carpenter, but I imagine I'm controlling a tool, a little like I holding a "plane", not the aero type 😉 and I use the top hand to push down and manoeuvre the thumb. The thumb is relaxed and the thumb hand acts as a guide and stabiliser for the "top" hand. I'm really not sure if that makes any sense, but it is the way I characterise it when I'm performing that technique. It's interesting because it stands out to me as one of the techniques that I've actually had to ask myself, "what is it I'm doing here?" more so than many other techniques... and "can I transfer this to the other hand?" And yes, you can. I guess it strikes me that most techniques I utilise simply seem rather intuitive, self-explanatory and simply an extension of my body... this technique seems more like holding a separate "tool" an instrument. That's what stands out to me. Hope that brings some clarity. And BTW, cheers so muchly for your vids. They got me thru my Diploma a number of years back and continue to guide me. You've been a major influence or guide in how I've formed much of my "style". Even though we aim to be shapeless and formless ☯️ 😏 much of what you illuminate resonates. So, thank you 👍🙏☺
Thanks so much Emmett, and excellent explanation!
Hi
Good morning
I like ur all video. it's very knowledgeable 😊I'm also massage therapist but not that much expert
I use the covered thumb on one or two moves that I use. It is useful when you are on a rounded portion of the client's body... for instance I use it when i want to run over the lateral portion of the scapula in a stroke coming from below the lats, and up to the armpit. if on the left side, i take my left hand and form a large C with my thumb on the most lateral side of the torso, and then take my other hand over my thumb, on the lateral side again, to go up over the lats and the lateral side of the scapula. As I go, I guide my thumb so that it catches at the lowest angle of the scapula, using the pressure of my right hand to hold it firmly against the ribcage. You did a video on this move, but I modified the move so that my thumb will follow the lateral edge of the scapula up, and finish with a double hand going over the flat of the scapula into the shoulder and deltoid region. I never considered how hard this is to describe.. wow. I hope it makes sense.
You did an example that has almost the same effect, but only used one hand.. here, I split it up into a two handed move. Your video "Serratus Anterior (and its Friends!)" at 6:17 shows the same move, but with only one hand. Hope that helps.
That's awesome, I never would have thought of that application for the covered thumb. Great explanation, too!
Glad I came across this video, gave you a "thumbs-up" 😂😒 (loved your little humo(u)rous comments by the way 👍). I've become a Day Spa Therapist again in the past two year's (mainly wellness and deep release massage), after a 14 year long break from working 😔 so my hands became extremely painful for a while, eventually lowering pain down to an occasion sore wrist, thumb or finger.. so I found these little tips to be helpful, thank you! ☺ and will apply them at work on the weekend to see what difference they make. Cheers~ 🍻 😉 from 🇦🇺
As usual, you're always reading my diary. 😂
I will add that I oftentimes will use my elbows, instead of my thumbs or fingers, just to switch it up, and give them a break. It definitely requires you to be able to make proper pressure, angle of your forearm, and hand position (while in the air) adjustments. But, it's a great way to give your hands a break, and still provide an awesome massage.
Absolutely, great advice!
Thanks so much for this. I’m a new massage therapist and my thumbs are pretty messed up.
I experienced pain in my thumbs that brought me to exploring how best to use them and care for them. How I hold my cell phone, squeezing a stress ball, melt balls to massage my thumb. During massage I'm constantly checking in to make sure the joints are stacked. If it's uncomfortable I adjust, but I'm still able to use my thumbs. Thank you Ian and fellow slothers.
You look great. I barely recognized you.
No need to worry about using your thumbs. they are powerful tool for you as therapist. I have been working as massage therapist for 20 years and my thumbs are just fine and I use them a lot. yes, a lot.
I love the 'apply pressure with a covered thumb' technique, but I find the key is to keep the bottom hand/thumb very relaxed and let the top hand be active and add pressure. If you don't relax the bottom hand, that thumb and entire hand can get worn out pretty quickly.
Hello Anne
I'm more in the Acupressure department but I'm lucky with powerful thumbs one thing I've noticed with more pressure for the thumb is laping 1 thumb over the other. For the deep tissue. So having the dominant thumb then pressing into the thumb with the other roughly around the Interphalangeal joint idk helps me with applying because then I won't have you use the dominant thumb as much
Acupressure is a bit different though. My niece is a massage therapist. She has been showing me some massage technique. To improve my pressure
though.
I am a big covered thumb gal myself!
Thank you, I have found myself using my thumbs more frequently lately. What do you suggest when using your thumbs on a trigger point?
I like a thumb plus the fingers of the other hand (think "spear hand"). I bunch the fingers and the thumb together onto the spot, and it's not a lot of work for any one digit. Doubled up thumbs are good too.
Any advice for pain in my fingertips and tendons in my hands been dealing with it for a few weeks now I'm trying to switch up techniques so that I don't aggravate it further
I think that all of my advice for that will be similar to what I have in my wrist video: czcams.com/video/_maOxcNEJkc/video.html I like your idea of switching things up. Keep an eye out for moves that aggravate your symptoms and de-emphasize those while increasing your fist, stacked palm, and forearm use. Get yourself a daily stretching and strengthening regimen going, and consider expanding that to your shoulders and upper body (a 15 minute yoga routine every morning could be helpful, for instance). If your symptoms linger or intensify, consider seeing a physical therapist or occupational therapist who specializes in hands/forearms for a customized regimen. You might also consider asking this on the forum (search "massage sloth clubhouse" on Facebook) if you'd like a wider array of advice. Best of luck, and be well!
@@MassageSloth thank you very much for taking the time to reply I will take all of this advice into consideration
I hate the feel of knuckles myself so I don't use them on others
Please remove subtitles to another angle as they cover your hands and thumbs movements
Sorry about that! If you're on a computer, you can click and drag the subtitles to a new position. If you're on mobile, there might be something similar.
I work at a casino and give only chair massage. I started recently and wanted to quit because my hands hurt so much 😭 I had an injury 6 months ago were I fractured my elbow and now I’m working cause I need to make money 😢 plz help. Doctor said I’m okay to work again, even if I use my body to not hurt my hands and barely use the arm I had an injury. Everything still hurts 😭 I don’t know how long I’m gonna last. People at the casino sometimes don’t like when I use my elbow, only my hands and most people that go there are really big 😭 the money is good but is difficult
That's a tough one Jleen, and I'm so sorry! I'd love it if you'd ask about this on our forum (search "Massage sloth clubhouse" on Facebook), and I've got a couple of resources that might help. First is a video that I made for hobbyists, but it's my best advice for sparing your thumbs during a shoulder and neck massage: czcams.com/video/ocioXi-8TY4/video.html Second is a video on chair massage that I've got on private because the quality sucks, but the info is still decent: czcams.com/video/F5jvTtp2Dx0/video.html Finally, this is a job for physical therapy! It might seem crazy for me to recommend more exercise when you're already hurting, but a customized regimen of stretching and strengthening might be just the ticket to get your hands out of pain. See if your insurance requires a referral prior to seeing a PT (just call the number on the back of your card), and if you don't have insurance you can still get it through the national marketplace through January 15th: www.healthcare.gov (if you're in the US... if you're not, hopefully you have a sane healthcare system). Once you've checked out the resources above, play around with switching things up at work. If you're still having trouble, email me at ian(at)massagesloth dot com and we'll do some troubleshooting. Be well!
I learned how to use my thumbs by injuring them. It is not the best method but pain teachs a lot than other ways of experiencing. But still, NEVER OVERDO IT. Being lucky was MY conclusion, it might be different for you...
This is actually how I learned to use my thumbs more ergonomically... and a lot of other advice on this channel. Injuries suck, but they sure can teach a lot!
Thank you Ian for very detailed instructions and demonstrations in this video. Your videos are always so helpful and your instruction is from the heart. So glad to see you back. 💕
Hi tracie