MoJo Wellness Therapies

04/23/2026

The "Fluid Dynamics" of Stress (A 2:00 AM Case Study) 🧠💧

The first picture shows the moment my body hit a wall.

After a few days of a heart cath for my mom and caring for a sick pup, I woke up at 2:00 AM feeling like food was trapped behind my sternum. I checked my ring data and saw the "red" flags: my Resting Heart Rate (RHR) was 15 bpm higher than my baseline.

My first thought? Indigestion. I know better than to reach for an antacid.

The Reality? I was experiencing the physiological cost of high-level stress.

When we are in "survival mode," our body makes two critical shifts:

1️⃣ Digestion hits "pause" as blood flow moves to our muscles and brain. This can also cause constipation.

2️⃣ Heart rate climbs because stress is physically dehydrating, lowering our blood volume.

Instead of reaching for a PPI (which can have systemic side effects with long-term use), I treated the cause, not the symptom. I used electrolytes (that I thought might keep me awake because of the b12 - it didn't) and vagus nerve resets to signal to my body that the "threat" was over.

The result? My heart rate stabilized, the "heartburn" vanished, and I actually got a few more hours of sleep before Shadow was ready for the park. 🐾🥎

In clinical massage and in life: Treat the cause, and the symptoms take care of themselves.

04/22/2026

This. A million times, this. It's okay to be concerned about pain... it's what ignites the motivation to do something about it. But a body part that isn't performing its best is just a work in progress. Speak kindly to yourself in all things, and watch your body respond 😃

04/21/2026

I was a dummy and failed to get a picture of my father's abdomen before I did the first scar release treatment with the Dolphin Neurostim... But here is a picture after his first treatment on the left, and after his second treatment on the right. An umbilical hernia scar from 1951. Pretty neat!

04/04/2026

This is why I test all the way at the top to see where the compression of the nerve begins. Quit chasing the pain and get to the source. In school, massage therapists are taught to avoid an area of the neck as a danger zone... Yet that's where the anterior scalene hangs out. You can work in the area, but you have to practice clinical precision or you can do more harm than good.

The Fake Carpal Tunnel: Why Your Numb Fingers Are Actually a Neck Problem 🖐️⚡️

Do you wake up in the middle of the night with your hand completely "dead" or asleep? Do your fingers tingle, burn, or feel weak when you type on a keyboard, drive a car, or lift your arms above your head?

Most people immediately assume this is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. They buy a rigid wrist brace, take painkillers, or even schedule wrist surgery. But if the symptoms persist, or the numbness affects your entire hand and arm, the true entrapment site might be much higher up. Welcome to the structural blockade of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). Let’s analyze the 3D medical map above to see how bad posture is physically crushing your neurological cables.

[Getty Images: Illustration showing the Brachial Plexus nerve bundle originating in the neck and traveling down the arm to the fingers]

The Anatomy: The Neurological Highway
The Brachial Plexus is a massive, complex bundle of nerves (shown in bright yellow) that originates in your cervical spine (neck). These nerves weave down through a very tight anatomical doorway called the Thoracic Outlet—passing between your Scalene muscles (in your neck), underneath your collarbone, and beneath your Pectoralis Minor (upper chest muscle)—before traveling all the way down to power your fingertips.

The Biomechanics of the Crush
This intricate neurological pathway requires perfect skeletal alignment to remain open and safe. When you slump forward at a computer, your shoulders round heavily inward, and your head drifts forward (Tech Neck).

[Shutterstock: Close-up showing the chest and neck muscles physically shortening and clamping down]

This chronic slouched posture physically shortens and tightens the Scalene muscles in your neck and the Pec Minor in your chest. The anatomical doorway collapses entirely.

The Consequence: The Neurological Chokehold
The tightened muscles act exactly like scissors. They mechanically clamp down on the Brachial Plexus nerve bundle (the glowing red/white pressure points in the image) and compress the major blood vessels traveling to your arm.
Because the nerves are being violently choked at the root, the sensory signals misfire down the entire length of the cable. Your brain interprets this compression in your neck as a tingling, numb, or burning sensation in your fingers (the green arrow). You treat the wrist, but the fire is actually burning in your neck!

How to Break the Cycle

Open the Chest: You must physically stretch the Pectoralis Minor to open the pathway under the collarbone. Use a doorway stretch, keeping your elbow high to target the upper chest fibers.

Release the Scalenes: Gently stretch the side of your neck by tilting your ear to your shoulder to take the muscular pressure off the upper nerve roots.

Strengthen the Mid-Back: You must rebuild the muscles between your shoulder blades (Rhomboids) to permanently pull your shoulders back and keep the Thoracic Outlet wide open.

Stop bracing your wrist if the problem is your posture. Save this for your next anatomy study, and tag a desk worker! 👇

03/25/2026

That makes 6/6 cases of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo taken care of since I took 's class last year. The Semont maneuver proving to be second to none, including the Eply maneuver 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

03/24/2026

The current reliance on prescriptions like Gabapentin for chronic back pain is a reactive strategy with increasingly concerning risks, including emerging studies linked to cognitive decline and dementia. We are essentially trading physical pain for neurological risk, while ignoring the structural root of the problem.

It is a systemic failure that insurance providers continue to cover high-risk pharmaceuticals while refusing to cover medical massage therapy. We utilize the same evidence-based manual therapy techniques taught to physical therapists to address the 'mechanical' cause of the pain.

By systematically releasing fascial restrictions and chronic muscle tension, medical massage prevents the constant compressive force that 'squishes' intervertebral space. Relaxing these tissues is a vital step in:

- Reducing pressure on bulging or herniated discs.
- Preventing the accelerated deterioration of spinal joints.
- Maintaining mobility to avoid the downward spiral of physical inactivity.

Prevention is significantly cheaper than spinal fusions, long-term disability, and the management of pharmaceutical side effects. It is time for a shift toward structural health that prioritizes the integrity of the body over the convenience of a pill.

At the end of the day, let's remember that the Epstein Files used the term 'massage' as a cover for the abuse and trafficking of young girls, so much so that Epstein himself was given a lighter sentence because human trafficking was downgraded to solicitation-related charges. By allowing the legal system to categorize systemic sexual predation as 'prostitution' or 'unlicensed massage,' we handed a shield to abusers while simultaneously burying the clinical legitimacy of actual therapists.

When the highest levels of power use 'massage' as a euphemism for a crime syndicate, it creates a toxic stigma that insurance companies use to justify their lack of coverage. They treat a structural medical necessity as a 'luxury' or a 'suspicious' service, effectively punishing legitimate, highly-trained medical massage therapists for the camouflage used by traffickers.

Better healthcare starts with prosecuting those who invalidate my profession.

💡 Gabapentin for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Potential Link to Cognitive Decline?

A recent large-scale medical records study has raised an important concern:

👉 Among adults with chronic low back pain, repeated prescriptions of gabapentin may be associated with an increased risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

📊 Key findings (published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine):
• Patients with ≥6 prescriptions had a 29% higher risk of dementia
• Risk of MCI increased by ~85% over 10 years
• The association appeared stronger in adults under 65

🧠 Clinical implications:
• Highlights the need to balance pain management with long-term brain health
• Reinforces the importance of:
✔️ Individualized treatment decisions
✔️ Ongoing monitoring
✔️ Considering non-pharmacological approaches when appropriate

📌 Important considerations:
• This is an observational study → does not establish causation
• Potential confounders (e.g., pain severity, comorbidities, indication bias) may influence results
• Further RCTs and mechanistic studies are needed
⚠️ Clinical takeaway:
Gabapentin should not be viewed as a default solution for chronic low back pain.
→ Thoughtful, patient-centered, and evidence-informed decision-making remains essential.

📖 Source: 👀👇👇👇

Disclaimer:
👉 Sharing a study is NOT an endorsement.
👉 You should read the original research yourself and be critical.

03/19/2026

UPDATE: HE WAS FOUND AND IS OKAY!

A fire started in the shed in the office next to us, which spread to the home behind it. All humans are okay, but a black cat with a blue collar named Arlington did run out and is missing. He is chipped.

03/18/2026

I used to joke and say I'm a better therapist because I’ve injured myself all the time. But when I see people finally get the answers they need after months of stagnant progress, it’s not a joke anymore. It makes me realize my own pain wasn't in vain. Being able to help a client navigate their P*P for the right referral—and seeing them finally get a clear diagnosis—is the ultimate silver lining to every injury I've ever pushed through.

Always trust your gut when progress stalls—sometimes you just need a different lens on the problem.

03/17/2026

Why is my approach different now than it was a decade ago? It comes down to nerve decompression.

Most people think of pain as a muscle issue. In reality, your nerves have to navigate a vertical highway of tissue layers: Skin → Fascia → Muscle → Deep Fascia → Deep Muscle → Bone (Periosteum).

If these layers don't glide, the nerves get pinched. By shifting my focus from simple trigger points to these multi-layer restrictions, I’ve been able to help clients undo decades of pain in just a few sessions. This isn't your standard Swedish or deep tissue session; it is a specialized clinical adjunct designed to restore function after injury.

This is a fantastic illustrated example where manual therapy techniques found in medical massage therapy help recovery from an ankle sprain.

03/12/2026

"Should structural findings alone determine treatment decisions, or should we focus primarily on symptoms, function, and patient goals?"

Rotator cuff tears are not the only cause of shoulder pain. Anterior Scalene Syndrome—the compression of cervical nerves by the anterior scalene—can also limit range of motion and radiate pain to the shoulder. While traditional medicine is focused on localized imaging of the shoulder joint, it often ignores the upstream dysfunction originating in the neck.

Medical massage therapy remains missing from the clinical picture, but its exclusion is not merely a scientific oversight. The profession is currently caught in a devastating paradox: while it is a vital clinical tool, it is simultaneously used as a front for human trafficking and the exploitation of minors.

The absence of massage therapy in the medical world is a failure of governance and a refusal to confront systemic corruption. For better healthcare, we must urge the judicial system to prosecute everyone involved in these trafficking networks. Only by dismantling the structures of abuse and holding every participant accountable can we strip away the excuses used to deny patients access to life-changing clinical care.

01/28/2026

"Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

I'll be collecting food donations at the office. If I'm with a client, please feel free to leave on my steps at either the front or back doors of the office.