Her Voice: Massage therapist on path to becoming 'Pain Slayer' - Grand Forks Herald

[massage]

FARGO -- In time, Sue Lopez could be considered a Pain Slayer.


It's the highest level of training for a technique the massage therapist recently started offering at Elite Therapeutic Massage in Fargo, where she practices. Rossiter System Workouts are designed to decrease pain and increase mobility.


It's kind of like a combination of guided yoga and myofascial release (a technique of applying deep sustained pressure to connective tissue restrictions). During a session, Lopez presses down on an area of a client's body while guiding her through a series of stretches. The client is in charge how much pressure Lopez applies.

Stress, immobility and pain occur when connective tissue gets tight, shortened, thickened and hard, she said. It can be caused by injury, overuse, misuse, nonuse and age. The Rossiter System works by restoring looseness and flexibility to the connective tissue.

"Pain is a warning sign in your body that you need to stop and do something different so you don't injure yourself," Lopez said. "Pain is not a bad thing. It's just a communication. Your body is just talking to you."

Rossiter workouts are assisted active release techniques, while methods like myofascial release and ashiatsu-Thai, both of which Lopez also does, are passive release techniques.

During a recent session, Lopez pressed down with her forearm on Mercedes Barbosa's shoulder area.

"Put your head down on your chest as much as you can," she instructed. "Go into the pain as much as possible."

When she was done, Barbosa said her neck and shoulders, typically tight and tense from office work, felt loose and had more range of motion.

"Wow, that's amazing," said Barbosa, office manager for Elite Therapeutic Massage.

Lopez has worked as a massage therapist for nearly 10 years, but the 47-year-old Fargo woman calls it her hobby. Her day job is Supported Living Services director for CCRI (Creative Care for Reaching Independence), a Moorhead organization that provides services for people with disabilities.

She first studied massage therapy because someone suggested she pursue something she loved doing when she was 10 years old. As a farmer, her dad would get an incredibly tense back, so Lopez used to massage it.

"It's my passion to truly help people feel amazing so they can accomplish what they want to in life," she said. "There is nothing better than this hobby."

Lopez is also a licensed reflexologist and reiki master.

"Every 10 years, I go back to school for something different," she said.

Lopez went to a continuing education training session on the Rossiter workouts and said she was intrigued by the concept of decreasing pain and increasing mobility.

"So many people are struggling with pain," she said, adding that most of her massage clients deal with some type of pain.

"If you don't avoid the pain and you go into it, you can release it," she said. "It is seriously life changing."

Lopez has also integrated Rossiter workouts into her massage therapy to help people dealing with specific issues. Using the technique, she said she's been able to help people who have struggled the most to make progress, such as those dealing with chronic sciatic pain.

"The whole concept of Rossiter is putting back space where the body intended it to be," she said.

The Rossiter technique is more of a workout than a therapy, Lopez said, and she acts as a coach, while the client is in charge of the session. It's considered a maintenance or preventive program.

"Once you get space in your body, you can do everything and you can accommodate stress better," she said.

Sessions are typically about an hour and cost $70. Lopez said she can not do low back exercises with people who have had low back surgery, but they could still do upper body, knee and foot exercises.

Business profile

Who: Sue Lopez, massage therapist

Where: Elite Therapeutic Massage, 1121 Westrac Drive, Suite 102, Fargo

Phone: (701) 297-8191

Email: [email protected]

Online: www.elitemassage.biz


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