Sometimes you just can’t change a situation. You have to suck it up and move on. Hand pain when doing massage isn’t one of those times–if you learn how to combine body parts to press and glide.

How can I be so confident?

Well, I’m a wimp.

And being wimpy has pushed me to discover new ways (for me) to do massage that don’t cause hand pain.

Here’s how it works. Basically when my hands start to bother me when I’m massaging I look for a way to make them feel better.

I’m not talking about stretching or doing exercises after the massage.

I look for ways to reduce or eliminate the pain while I’m working.

This is true not just for massage but for any physical work I do.

Let’s say I’m cutting a plastic light cover with with a utility knife and my holding hand is cramping.

Wimpy me wants to end the pain so I hold the plastic cover a different way.

If my right arm gets tired turning the screwdriver, I switch to using my left arm.

Is my non-dominant arm as good with the screwdriver as my dominant arm?

Nope.

But after some practice, my non-dominant arm gets the job done.

Massage is no different.

We can change how our hands feel by making adjustments and trying out new ways to do massage.

At this point, if you’ve read my articles before, you’re probably guessing that next words I’m going to type are going to be something about massage tools.

No tools this time.

Today I’m talking about how to combine body parts.

Like a knee and an elbow?

Not quite.

More like a thumb and a knuckle.

Or overlapping fingers.

When you combine body parts to press or glide you distribute the workload so that one body part (e.g., finger) isn’t doing all the work.

And the primary pressing/gliding body part is getting some bracing action to boot.

Okay, enough talk. Let’s combine body parts.

How to Combine Body Parts

In this video I give you examples of my favorite body part combinations. Once you start experimenting, you’ll probably come up with some of your own.

This video is about transitioning between body part combinations. The idea is that the more fluid you are at using body part combinations, the more likely you’ll make an adjustment when a finger or thumb or elbow starts hurting.

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