Shalyn's Massage

09/01/2025

It’s time to say Good-Bye to summer and welcome fall. For some of us that’s ok, means Halloween and pumpkin spice. I myself don’t enjoy the attack of the flies and not ready for the “W” word, winter ☹️.

4 months left of the 2025 year, now is the time to start getting back on your regular massage schedule. Your body thanks you for that verse slamming all your benefit use just in December.

Hope you had a great summer, see you soon!

09/01/2025

Why is MEDISTIK different from other topicals?
MEDISTIK is the strongest and most potent topical pain relief treatment available without a prescription. With the most active ingredients per gram compared to others on the market, MEDISTIK offers seriously strong pain relief.

Unlike other products, MEDISTIK doesn’t just mask pain, it tackles it thanks to its anti-inflammatory ingredient Methyl Salicylate, responsible for inhibiting cyclooxygenase enzymes that cause inflammation. Inflammation is often the underlying cause of pain, which is why it’s important for pain relief to contain anti-inflammatory ingredients, like MEDISTIK does.

Additionally, MEDISTIK is available in 3 convenient formats, making it easy to apply both in the clinic during treatments and at home as part of longer pain management strategies.

The most common conditions to use MEDISTIK for are:

Back and neck pain
Injury recovery
Better sleep for pain sufferers
Arthritic pain
Muscle tension related to stress
Chronic conditions
Headaches
Improving athletic performance
As an alternative to oral medication

What products should do I recommend to my patients?

Stick - Long Lasting Extra Strength: Our strongest product with the highest percentage of active ingredients and anti-inflammatories. Best for applying on the go without getting a messy product on your hands.

Spray - Fast Acting Extra Strength: Best for instant pain relief and on the go recovery And our BLUE LINE products help reduce SORENESS.

Roll-On - Natural Ice Therapy: Best for priming the body before activity, and providing a cooling sensation for inflamed areas post activity.

MEDISTIK is 100% Canadian made.

08/31/2025

https://migrainebuddy.com/what-is-a-migraine-cocktail-er-and-at-home/?lid=1s764jxjklfe

Migraine cocktails can treat migraine symptoms. Migraine cocktails at home or in ER can comprise NSAIDs, acetaminophen (Tylenol), magnesium, benadryl etc

08/08/2025

https://migrainebuddy.com/%f0%9f%8d%8a-why-fruit-juice-isnt-always-your-friend-especially-for-migraine-sufferers/?lid=qy1dj1o9jcl9

Why Fruit Juice Isn’t Always Your Friend—Especially for Migraine Sufferers When you think of fruit juice, the words “healthy,” “natural,” and “refreshing” often come to mind. After all, it’s made from fruit, right? But for migraine sufferers, and even for the general population, th...

08/04/2025

https://migrainebuddy.com/the-hidden-costs-of-untreated-migraine-beyond-the-pain/?lid=jtw1v41tbb5g

The Hidden Costs of Untreated Migraine: Beyond the Pain Migraine attacks are often brushed aside as "just headaches," but anyone living with them knows they are a serious neurological disorder. When left untreated, migraine desease can evolve into a life-altering chronic condition. From medication o...

08/04/2025

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/study-reveals-brain-fluid-dynamics-as-key-to-migraine-mysteries-new-therapies?lid=r6a9yn498232

New research describes for the first time the connection between the neurological symptoms associated with aura and the migraine headaches that follow, identifying potential new drug targets.

08/04/2025

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1209250

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently performed during follow-up in patients with known lumbar-disk herniation and persistent symptoms of sciatica. The association between findings on MRI ...

08/04/2025

Why Pain Lasts—and Why It’s Not Just in Your Head
If you’ve been in pain for a while, you might be wondering:
“Why isn’t it going away?”
The answer often lies in your immune and nervous systems—not just your muscles or joints.

🔥 How Pain Becomes Chronic
🛑 Your Body Is Trying to Protect You
When you get injured or inflamed, your immune system sends special cells to help you heal.
These cells also send pain signals to warn you to be careful—which is helpful at first.

⚡ But Sometimes, That Warning System Stays On
If the immune cells hang around too long, they keep telling your nerves to be sensitive.
That means even normal things—like movement or touch—can start to feel painful.

🧠 Your Nervous System Gets “Stuck” in Protection Mode
Over time, your brain and spinal cord can get really good at producing pain—even when there’s no danger or damage anymore.

🚫 Why Anti-inflammatories Aren’t Always the Answer
It might seem like the solution is to reduce inflammation—but that can actually slow down healing.
Sometimes, your body needs a little help finishing the process, not just shutting it down.

💡 Bottom Line
Your pain isn’t "just in your head."
It’s a real, body-wide process involving your immune and nervous systems—and it can be reversed.
RAPID helps guide your body out of protection mode and back into healing.

08/04/2025

08/04/2025

Is Sciatica Really Just a Pinched Nerve?
New Research Says… Not Quite!

If you've ever experienced that sharp, shooting pain down your leg known as sciatica, you're not alone. Traditionally, this kind of pain is blamed on a herniated disc pressing on a nerve in the lower back. But here’s something that might surprise you:

👉 New research suggests that inflammation—not just pressure—might be the real root cause of your pain.

Let’s take a look at what’s really going on

🔍 What Is a Lumbar Disc Herniation?
Your spine is made up of bones (vertebrae) separated by discs that act as cushions. Sometimes, a disc can bulge or rupture and push into the spinal canal. This is called a herniated disc, and it can irritate nearby nerves, often leading to sciatica.

But here's where it gets interesting:

Many people get better without surgery

The size of the disc bulge doesn’t always match how bad the pain feels

Some people have all the symptoms of sciatica… but no visible disc pressure on scans

So what’s actually causing the pain?

🔥 The Inflammation Factor
It turns out that inflammation—your body’s natural immune response—may be a bigger part of sciatica than we used to think.

When disc material escapes into areas it doesn’t belong, your body sees it as a threat. This triggers a local immune response, sending in:

Cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α

Macrophages (your immune cleanup crew)

Other chemicals that activate pain-sensitive nerves

Even if the disc starts to heal or shrink, the pain can stick around because your nervous system has become hypersensitive—stuck in a kind of pain loop.

📊 What the Research Shows
✅ Pain doesn’t always go away when the disc shrinks
✅ Inflammation markers are high in people with worse sciatica
✅ Nerve pressure causes numbness—but burning pain usually means inflammation
_______________________________________________________________

🧬 What’s Going on in the Body?
Under a microscope, doctors see:

Immune cells swarming the disc

Chronic inflammation in the area

New blood vessels growing (which invite more inflammation)

Pain-activating chemicals that keep nerves on edge

It’s not just a mechanical problem—it’s a biochemical storm.

🛠️ How RAPID Can Help
This is where RAPID NeuroFascial Reset really shines.

RAPID that helps reduce pain by calming the nervous system and improving how the brain processes pain signals. When it comes to inflammation-based sciatica, RAPID can:

✅ Target the inflammation – We help shift immune cells (macrophages) from pro-inflammatory (M1) to anti-inflammatory (M2)
✅ Reduce nerve sensitivity – RAPID helps desensitize irritated nerves through specific movement and touch
✅ Interrupt the pain loop – By calming the body's "alarm system" and reducing sympathetic nervous system overdrive
✅ Restore movement and comfort – So your body can heal without being stuck in a stress response

💡 What This Means for You
If your sciatica pain just won’t go away—even if your MRI looks “better”—it could be due to lingering inflammation, not pressure.

The good news? You don’t always need surgery.

➡️ RAPID offers a non-invasive, drug-free option to help put out that internal fire and get you moving again.

🧘‍♀️ Final Thoughts
Sciatica can feel overwhelming, but now we understand it better than ever. It’s not always about a disc squashing a nerve—it might be about what your immune system is doing in response.

By targeting inflammation, calming the nervous system, and restoring proper movement, RAPID can help you move forward with less pain—and more freedom.

08/01/2025

Massage therapy isn't just for athletes—it's for everyone!

Massage therapy supports people of all ages and activity levels. From stress relief to pain management and much more, it’s a powerful tool for everyday wellness.

Canadians are encouraged to seek massage therapy year-round. It is an accessible form of treatment with therapists located all across the country.

What myths about massage therapy have you heard?