Jamie Pearson, LMT, CES

It’s come to my attention that in these intraoral massage videos, a lot of laypeople don’t know what the heck my hand is doing in there! This is just soft tissue work - just like the other bodywork I do, except I’m accessing specific muscles from inside the mouth.

In these clips, I am working on:

1. 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗱 - We have one on each side. When the two work together, they open the mouth by bringing the jaw forward and down. Each side also works alone to move the mandible to the opposite side (grinding motion) - AKA, contracts unilaterally to produce lateral movement to the contralateral side - say that five times fast!
2. 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 - This is the primary muscle of chewing. It raises the mandible. Those who clench and grind their teeth can experience pain and tension around here as well as headaches and TMJ pain.
3. 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 - so, a little different than the other two techniques. My left hand is palpating the TMJ while my right hand slightly pushes downward on the rear molars to provide gentle traction to the condyle of the TMJ. I have a post with more details on this one from May 20th.

Gentle soft tissue work to these muscles, plus a couple others not shown here, can quickly provide long-lasting relief from headaches, TMJ pain, and earaches.

If you’re interested in receiving this work, I recommend booking a 60 minute session which will include thorough work to the other muscles of the head, neck and shoulders.

A lot of my clients ask me about what other kinds of athletes I work on. Most of my athletic clients are either powerlifters/weightlifters or endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, triathletes).

But others are involved in group fitness, circus arts, rowing, jiu jitsu, football, obstacle course racing, golf, dance, horseback riding, and more!

Some clients are not super active, but benefit from bodywork to manage pain and movement restrictions associated with their occupations and everyday activities.

And when I say “athletes”, I’m talking about people like you and me. Sure, there have been some bigger names on my table, but most of my clients are recreationally active adults who want to feel and perform better in their chosen activity.

SCM work. I sometimes have the client slightly lift their head off the table to make it easier to grab ahold of that thing. Add a little rotation in and repeat down the length of the muscle.

Lots of clients skip arms when they get worked on. I even suggest it if we only have 60 minutes and I’m doing targeted work elsewhere. But, you’ll be missing out on this 💪

60 minutes is enough time for full body Swedish/relaxation massage. For thorough deep tissue work, not so much. If you need me to get more than a couple areas, be sure to book for 90 or 120 minutes! I can do a little bit everywhere in an hour, but you might not feel much different when you leave.

90 minutes is my most popular session, and even then that’s not usually for full body work. Most clients have a couple areas of concern they want me to work on, and then get a little on the surrounding areas. Or, they get detailed work on either upper or lower body. OR, they don’t have any particular areas that need detailed work and only then do I have time for full body (still faster-paced) deep tissue.

I’m finding that I don’t have to explain this to new clients as much anymore, as they are coming to me because they want targeted work and understand that they could get a full body routine elsewhere.

Basically, if you’re feeling it “everywhere” and want my slow-paced and focused style of work…go for the 2 hours! At least for your first session - then we can make a plan to address specific areas in shorter sessions over time.

I am always happy to answer any questions you have about how long you should book for if you’re unsure.