You may have already read about the Balance Orlando difference, and how we target pain through medical massage and bodywork. And you may have heard us say “we’re not a spa” or “discover the difference!” But what actually makes us different from other places where you can get a massage?
Let’s start with equipment:
1. ComfortCraft tables
Jim Craft is an engineer who has his small manufacturing business in Longwood, very close to Orlando. We didn’t even know he was our neighbor when we were looking for the very best bodywork tables!
Several Rolfers and other advanced bodywork experts use ComfortCraft equipment, and talk about how much they love the tables. Of course it’s always great for any massage therapist to start working with an electrically adjustable table–just a touch of a button, and the table’s height adjusts to where the therapist needs it. That alone makes the work much easier, and is often the deciding factor whether a therapist stays in the profession or gives up after a few years.
But ComfortCraft tables have something else: the split middle and extra motor to put a bend in the table. When a client is lying facedown, this gives the lumbar vertebrae a nice opening instead of the increased arch when lying on a normal flat table. Additionally, we can use it in the side-lying position to open up the waistline, or face-up to open the chest.
The possibilities are really endless, as Jim Craft likes to demonstrate. Since he’s local, we’ve had him come over several times to instruct our therapists on how to utilize the tables most effectively for stretches and positional release.
Our clients often point out how comfortable they feel on the table, especially when they have trouble lying flat. With the special bolsters, we can make a side-lying position very stable, so even if clients have trouble lying on their back or face-down, we always have options.
Try our tables in a Consultation & Tryout session! Schedule here–ask for Tony or Flower for a bodywork tryout!
2. Well-lit, spacious rooms
Since we’re all about medical work, we need to see what we’re doing. Some of our treatments include evaluations of posture and movement, and when clients come in with pain or limited range of motion, we need to test our treatment strategy. So we have natural light and a lot of space in all treatment rooms.
For clients who are used to receiving massages in small dark spaces, this can be a bit strange at first. If you prefer it dark, please bring an eye mask!
And don’t worry–nobody will ask you to stand around naked. For most bodywork treatments it’s normal to wear shorts and a comfy bra or swimsuit top, and for massages the therapist will leave the room so you can undress to your comfort level and get nicely covered between the sheets before the therapist comes back in.
3. Well-educated therapists
Sure, everybody says that. But our therapists really have a lot more education and experience in handling pain than others do, even compared to most massage therapists in chiropractors’ offices.
The reason is simple: hardly anybody pays them as much as we do.
Most massage therapists move on after a year or two unless they have a really good place to work. A lot of the well-educated therapists can’t wait to open their own place, and if they’re qualified, and they know how to run a business and do the necessary marketing, they can do well.
So we had to make sure we’re able to retain the best of the best. Simply said: we spoil them rotten.
4. Bodywork treatments above and beyond massage
Read this article for a more in-depth description of “massage vs bodywork.”
Bodywork includes posture and movement education, as well as improved range of motion and proprioception. Pain relief is more reliable than with massage alone because pain depends a lot on how the brain experiences function of the body.
To say it another way: pain responds to what we expect. If we have a shoulder that doesn’t move properly, we have more pain in that shoulder. Once it moves better, the expectation is created that “this shoulder is working better now” and the pain is regulated down.
5. A cohesive team
Therapists at Balance work together, not against one another. We don’t try to be good at every possible manual treatment–we try to be the best at our specialty, and refer to a colleague if something else might be more beneficial.
Convinced? Book a consultation & tryout (C&T) appointment today, for just $45.