Integrated Bodyworks

01/03/2026

Effective 1/1/26, we will no longer be offering 120 minute (2 hour) massages.

01/03/2026

12/15/2025

Subject-Important Update: What Really Causes Pain (It’s Not What You Think) -from RapidNFR

I wanted to share something important with you - something that’s changing the way many people think about pain, especially back pain.

A new landmark study just found that people with higher levels of inflammation in their body were much more likely to have low back pain.
In fact, the group with the highest inflammation levels had a 66% higher chance of experiencing back pain than the group with the lowest levels.

This means something big...

👉 Pain isn’t always about damage.
Often, it’s about inflammation - and how sensitive the nervous system becomes because of it.

And here’s the interesting part…

We’ve been talking about this with RAPID for almost 10 years.

Why inflammation affects pain
When your body is inflamed - whether from an injury, stress, illness, or overuse - the immune system releases chemicals that can make your nerves more sensitive.

That’s why inflamed areas can feel...

more tender

more reactive

more painful with movement

sore even when you're resting

This doesn't mean something is seriously wrong.
It just means your body’s alarm system is turned up too loud.

And here’s the surprising part…
Most of us were taught to immediately use:

ice

rest

anti-inflammatories

But we now know that trying to shut inflammation down completely can actually slow healing and keep pain around longer.

Your body needs inflammation - just not too much, and not for too long.

So how does healing really work?
Inflammation is supposed to...

Protect the area

Bring in the “clean-up crew” cells

Start the repair process

Then naturally settle down

But sometimes that process gets “stuck,” and the area keeps feeling sensitive even after the tissue is okay.

12/14/2025

Posture!!! I preach the importance of good posture daily.

12/07/2025

11/15/2025

I am often asked what the tight, painful, spots in muscles are. Thanks you Rapid NFR for this explanation-

Back in 1994, Drs. Milton Cohen and John Quintner rocked the pain science world by suggesting that trigger points were not lesions in muscle at all, but zones of peripheral nerve sensitization.

“Maybe what we’re feeling isn’t a lump of tight muscle — maybe it’s a neural phenomenon.”
— Cohen & Quintner, 1994

Their model explained how small nerve fibers and nociceptors become sensitized after injury or inflammation.
The nervous system responds by turning up its local protective tone, and the nearby muscles contract reflexively — creating that familiar taut, painful spot.

11/10/2025

11/06/2025

11/05/2025