Old Soul Bodywork

05/06/2025

This past weekend I learned more about getting to the root cause of pain.

It’s amazing to see what massage therapists can do when we use the power of evaluation and assessments.

When you find the initial trigger that causes dysfunction everything else will shift.

04/04/2025

03/31/2025

Michigan requires Massage Therapist to have 18 continuing education credits every three years.

Troy Flathau, owner of Old Soul Bodywork, has been a massage therapist for 7 years with 350+ hours of continuing education. These hours are not adjusted for the amount of self-study done in reading and re-reading the material learned.

150 hours of Thai Massage (studied in Thailand 2018)
144 hours of NeuroSomatic Therapy (studied in Florida 2023/2024)
40 hours of Medical Massage (studied online & Arizona 2024/2025)
16 hours of Ayurveda Bodywork (studied in Michigan (2021)
A low assortment of hours in ethics (can't remember the courses exactly)

The human body requires a passion to study its complexities.

There is still a long, fulfilling road ahead to mastery, but our dream is to provide the best bodywork at Old Soul Bodywork.

Don't stay in pain. If nothing else has worked, please consider letting us help you figure it out.

03/15/2025

Massage Therapy and PMS

Hormonal related headaches is not something massage therapy can treat directly, but it may have indirect effects.

It is my proposition to use massage therapy during the luteal phase of your cycle to help support the sudden drop of hormones that cause PMS symptoms.

There are a lot of studies that suggest massage increases oxytocin levels. However, finding studies that use gold-standard testing methods for measuring oxytocin is challenging.

Oxytocin is considered the “love” hormone and it is associated with social bonding, connection and well-being via stress reduction.

From what I have read, and witnessed, PMS related symptoms tend to have women feeling irritated, or depressed, which might have you seeking self-isolation. This isolation may reinforce the irritation or depression.

What I am saying is massage therapy may help increase your well-being and lower your stress levels during a heightened period of stress in your cycle.

If you struggle with PMS related headaches, consider scheduling a massage during your luteal phase. Keep track of your symptoms and see if it makes a difference.

Video: Josh Feher from Fairly Good Productions

03/14/2025

Hormones, Headaches, and Tracking Your Cycle

For instance, during your Luteal Phase (the two weeks before menstruation begins) your estrogen starts to drop with progesterone not far behind it.

Estrogen is responsible for many functions, and it has an influence on mental clarity and mood stabilization.

Progesterone has a sedating effect that can make you feel ‘low’.

When estrogen is low it is not uncommon for that to trigger headaches in women and other PMS related symptoms.

If you struggle with constant headaches but don’t know why, tracking your cycle may reveal a pattern linked to hormonal shifts.

As you track your cycle you can write down the days you are getting headaches. If you notice they only come during the luteal phase your headaches could be from the large drop in hormones.

Obviously its not that easy to know without further testing, and this isn’t meant to be a diagnoses by any stretch of the imagination. This is just a guy trying to understand how to use his skills to help women.

Let’s talk tomorrow on how I propose using massage therapy to potentially support PMS symptoms.

P.S.: This is a picture of my cat, Rosie, a year and a half ago when she was pregnant with four kittens. She looks dead in this picture, but she's not lol. Thought it would relate a lot with the women reading 🤣

03/13/2025

Overview of the Menstrual Cycle

Knowing how your hormones ebb and flow throughout your cycle allows you to plan for the shift from high to low energy levels.

Lets briefly overview the menstrual cycle:

Phase 1: Menstruation (Day1-6)

The uterine lining starts to shed and you start to bleed.

Estrogen is slowly increasing in the body.

Phase 2: Follicular Stage (Day 1-14)

At the same time your uterine lining is shedding your body is also preparing the new lining and it carries into the second week of your cycle.

Estrogen is still steadily increasing.

Energy levels in general are starting to rise.

Phase 3: Ovulation (around day 15)

Ovulation is a moment in the cycle where the the mature follicle, that was produced in the follicular stage, ruptures and releases the egg into the fallopian tube where it will survive for the next 12-24 hours waiting for fertilization.

Testosterone increases along with your libido.

This phase lasts for only a couple days and its where you will have your peak energy levels.

Phase 4: Luteal Phase (Day 16-28)

The ruptured follicle that produced the egg starts to release a lot of progesterone to help thicken the uterine lining for a fetus-friendly environment.

If no fertilization occurs the ruptured follicle starts to disintegrate and be absorbed back into the body.

The cause a sudden drop in progesterone which then triggers the menstrual phase to begin and start to shed again.

The pre-menstrual phase is where you’re likely to have the least amount of energy and are most susceptible to PMS related symptoms.

There is an app called ‘Stardust’ that helps you track your cycle digitally.

It helps remind you how your hormones are shifting over the course of your cycle.

It would help in becoming aware of how your symptoms relate to your cycle.

It might make you not feel so crazy!

Tomorrow we are going to chat more specifically about the Luteal Phase since that is where the majority of PMS related symptoms happen.

Picture: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedlineplus.gov%2Fimages%2FOvarian_share.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=a73e4ff5ca21609af2c0030471865da3776a4c19db0731e6a59e43a72b114cea&ipo=images