Day 31 - Thai-ing the Knot

I forgot to add something to last night's entry. One of our TA's for last night's class is currently taking a Continuing Education class in Thai massage. From the little bit I've learned about it, it's like Yoga for lazy people because somebody else is doing the stretching for you, using your body. Our TA was demonstrating a few moves to a few of us using a classmate as the guinea pig. He had her upside down with him on the floor and her glutes on his knees. She was almost in a backbend position with him supporting her. In another move, she was lying on the floor, on her back, and he picked up her legs by the ankles, crossed them around his legs and he did a squat, stretching her quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, and goodness knows what else. It fascinated me, seeing as how she was pretty much a pretzel. I think I'll have to be in better shape to try that. From either end...giving or receiving!
As far as tonight's class goes, we had another quiz on the nervous system. Despite not having the luxury of being able to study like I did over the weekend, between work and school and driving to or from, I managed to earn a 9.5 out of 10.
After the quiz, we learned about the Endocrine System and the basics about all the glands that make up this system. We learned about how the endocrine system uses positive feedback and negative feedback to control its systems and the hormones the glands release. To sum it all up with an example, we went over the system's role in the female menstrual cycle. One of the classmates declared that he was glad he was a guy.
In learning this, I also discovered that I am looking forward to learning pathology in regards to the endocrine system. For those of you like me, who don't (or didn't) know what "pathology" is, it's the study of why certain systems don't work the way they're supposed to. Or at least, that's my understanding of what it is now. Check back with me next week...well, how about tomorrow?

Day 30 - Trigger and a Pain in the Neck

We had some more lecture about trigger points in the neck and head, and potential injuries that we may see as Massage Therapists (whiplash, TMJD, and other stuff), and then did some bodywork to practice what we had learned. One of the things we learned about trigger points the very first night was that not everybody will have them. Also, they can be caused by an event, such as a sports injury, or caused by perpetuation, like bad posture.
Sunday night, as I was practicing on WGH, I was palpating his scapula (that means I was feeling around his shoulder blade), and he jumped and said that he felt a little pain in his foot when I touched in a certain area area his scapula.
HOT DOG! I found a trigger point! I got a real chance to see what I had just started learning last week! I tried working it out a little from my memory. I'll get it next time, for sure.
This evening, as my partner worked on my neck, I had almost a shooting pain in one area she was working, but didn't feel it in any other part of my body, which is a tell-tale sign of a trigger point. It was quite fascinating to feel as she worked on it and learned in practice the theories we heard about in lecture.
I can tell that WGH is going to be getting some neck work in from me as I need to practice a lot more.

Day 29 - Nervous Progress

This evening's class represented my progress in learning the nervous system, as we had our first QUIZ! I've been graded on written and hands-on final exams and I've been graded on homework, but tonight, we had our first quiz, worth only 10 points, in Anatomy, and more specifically, the Nervous System. More importantly than the points, though, it demonstrated where I may need to study more or if I'm studying enough. To make a long story short, I got a 100%, so I guess I'm stduying well enough.

After the quiz, we learned even MORE about the nervous system, specifically the Central Nervous system, and the different names for connective tissue and spaces within the brain, like dura mater, pia mater, and arachnoid mater.
Even prior to this class, I had a tendancy to break down words when I heard new vocobulary, sometimes taking it back to the Latin roots and such. So, do you know what these names actually translate to?
Dura Mater - Strong Mother
Pia Mater - Delicate Mother
Arachnoid Mater - Spider-like Mother
I like Dura and Pia, but Spider-like? When looking at the anatomical reason for that name, it makes sense, but I think that most mothers out there may be slighty weirded out by that.
We colored some brain pictures to get used to where things are, and I realized that my coloring skills haven't improved that much since I was five. We learned about craniosacral fluid, where it's produced, not in Colorado, but in the Choroid Plexus, and also what it does - protects the brain, giving it cushion to keep from bumping up against the skull everytime it gets jolted.
Speaking of brains, mine is on overload, so good night and watch out for Spider-Mothers.

Day 28 - Trigger in Action

This evening, we looked at Trigger Points again, learning more of what to do about trigger points and how working them out can benefit a client. We got to get with partners and put into practice what we've learned in theory. One interesting thing about trigger point therapy is that it's done mostly without lotion.
Speaking of lotion and oils, have I mentioned that we use mostly lotion? I had always thought that oils were the preferred lubricant when doing massages, but they (the school staff) encourage lotions instead. Very interesting.
Back to trigger points. Despite not having had the classes in anatomy that teach about the skeletal system or the muscular system, we need to know quite a bit of those systems just to be able to know what the teachers are talking about. For instance, tonight, we were told to palpate the Iliad Crest. As I was wondering what it was during the bodywork portion, I did a couple things: watch classmates and then go up to the big poster in the room with the skeletal system laid out with numbers and descriptions. I guess I'll have some studying to do this weekend. Between the nervous system quiz for the anatomy class and learning muscular and skeletal parts, I'll be quite busy, I'm sure.
As for going to class on a Friday night, it wasn't too bad actually. The really great thing was knowing that I don't actually have to get up anytime early in the morning.

Day 27 - The Temporal Lobe and the Space-Time Continuum

We had yet ANOTHER night of lecture tonight and by the third night of no bodywork, my eyes are glazing over a bit and my head just may explode. Well, would it be my brain instead? Along with its cerebellum, front lobe, parietal lobe, and my favorite part of the space/time continuum, the temporal lobe.

Ooops, sorry. My geekness seeped out again. I may have admitted previously to being a bit of a geek. Possibly.
Why is it that learning anatomy makes me think about Star Trek?
Anyway, we delved into the brain, spinal cord, and some of the parts of the Peripheral Nervous System, like the Dorsal and Ventral Roots and the Dorsal Ramus and Ventral Ramus. Wasn't Harold Ramus in the Ghostbusters movies? Are Dorsal and Ventral his kids?
On another note, my class is becoming a pretty tight group, even with its many personalities, diversity, and humor. One of my classmates mentioned this evening that I'm shy! I guess I don't think of myself that way, and find it interesting that somebody else does.
Anyway, I am really punchy right now and must seriously go to inspect the inside of my eyelids.

Day 26 - Pull the Trigger

Do you have problems with your sciatic nerve? Do you have shooting pain sometimes or pretty much all the time? I learned tonight that sometimes these issues are actually with dense muscle fibers that need to be worked out and they're called "trigger points." In learning about trigger points, we'll be learning how to alleviate the pain associated with them.
Just as a note, too. They hurt. When they're getting worked on, it will hurt. One of the indications that we're hitting the trigger point is called a "jump sign." That's when the client jumps as you touch the trigger point.
We learned lots more vocabulary and concepts. More flashcards.
I also learned that one of my classmates says he can read minds.

Day 25 - Getting a Little Nervous

I began my first Anatomy class. I can't remember if I've ever even HAD an anatomy class - even in high school. During this four week class of Anatomy, we'll be studying the Nervous System, the Endocrine System, and something else. I forget what it is without looking at the syllabus. Eh, you'll find out later anyway.
We learned tonight that the nervous system is kinda like a biological computer - it takes input in, processes it, and spits out output. We learned about neurons, synapse, myelin, and a bunch of other words that I'm going to have to write down on flashcards, with descriptions on the back.

Part of me has a nerd-like fascination about this - as talking about synapse reminds me of Star Trek because Dr Beverly Crusher would talk about the double synaptic relays that Klingons like Lt Worf have - and part of me wants to blankly stare into space. And yet another part wants to take everything in because it's the nervous system that is mostly affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a disease that my brother was diagnosed with in 1991. I'm sure I will be learning more about MS when we get to the Pathology section.
Whatever happens from today on, I'm a bit nervous, but I can almost see me going "geek" with this.
I also found out that I have a 4.0 GPA right now. Yay!
Let the fun begin!