Holly Wilson Massage Therapy

12/25/2025

Thanks to each and every one of my clients for being so supportive and wonderful! I love you all. Merry Christmas!

12/19/2025

The digastric muscle literally means “two bellies” It has an anterior and posterior belly connected by an intermediate tendon, which is pretty unusual for a muscle. Even cooler, each belly has a different embryologic origin and nerve supply:
• the anterior belly is innervated by the mylohyoid nerve (CN V3)
• the posterior belly is innervated by the facial nerve (CN VII)

One muscle is essentially “controlled” by two different cranial nerves, working together to help you open your mouth and stabilize the hyoid during swallowing and speech.

12/18/2025

Massage therapy can be very beneficial for insomnia, especially when sleep problems are related to stress, muscle tension, pain, or nervous system overactivity.

*Massage activates the parasympathetic (“rest and digest”) response, lowering heart rate and calming the body.

*Massage reduces cortisol (stress hormone) levels while increasing serotonin and dopamine, which support relaxation and sleep.

*Massage therapy also decreases muscle tension, trigger points, and myofascial restrictions that can make it hard to get comfortable at night.

*Massage reduces chronic pain conditions that commonly interfere with falling or staying asleep.

*It increases serotonin, a precursor to melatonin (the sleep hormone), and encourages more consistent melatonin production, helping regulate the sleep–wake cycle.

*Massage Therapy calms racing thoughts and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression that often accompany insomnia.

*Massage promotes better blood flow and oxygen delivery to tissues.

*Massage promotes deeper, slower breathing, which supports relaxation before sleep.

12/17/2025

12/16/2025

**Spot Filled**

Just had a spot open up for tomorrow! 60 or 90 min available at 4:00.

12/16/2025

The temporalis muscle is a fan shaped muscle on the side of the head, above the ear, that retracts and elevates the jaw (closes the mouth).

Temporalis trigger points are a common source of temple headaches, jaw pain, and facial discomfort.

Trigger point referrals of the temporalis include upper tooth pain, jaw pain, headaches in the temple region, eyebrow and orbital pain, and even pain behind the eye.

Typical causes of temporalis trigger points include forward head posture, excessive gum chewing, clenching and grinding teeth, emotional stress and TMJ dysfunction.

12/15/2025

I mean... 🤷🏼‍♀️

12/05/2025

The smallest muscle in the human body is the stapedius muscle.

The stapedius is located deep inside the middle ear and is about 1 millimeter in length. It stabilizes the stapes (the smallest bone in the body) and helps control how strongly sound vibrations are transmitted into the inner ear.

The stapedius protects the ear from loud noises (reduces the amplitude of sound vibrations), our own voice (dampens internal sound conduction), and sudden acoustic shocks.

12/04/2025

Massage therapy is a proven natural way to help curb the effects of depression. Depression not only effects the mind and emotions, but the constant state of sadness and overwhelm, contribute to muscle tension and pain (especially in the neck, jaws, and back.)

Massage causes the brain to release serotonin and dopamine, elevating the client's mood, and in turn, reducing cortisol (stress hormone) levels.

When these chemicals come into a more normal state of balance, stress is reduced, muscle tension eases, the body relaxes out of its constant state of "fight or flight" and the client can finally feel better.

Regular massage therapy is an excellent addition to mental health care.

12/03/2025

12/02/2025

Procerus trigger points tend to create localized pain rather than widespread referral. People often report deep, aching pressure between the eyebrows, "sinus-like” discomfort at the root of the nose, a sense of forehead congestion, pain when frowning, squinting, or raising the brows. In some cases, tension headaches radiating upward into the low forehead can result.

While the procerus doesn’t refer pain as widely as masseter or temporalis, it can mimic sinus headaches and contribute to frontal tension headaches.

12/01/2025

Procerus

The procerus is a small, pyramidal facial expression muscle located in the upper nose and glabella. It's part of the glabellar complex and is innervated by the facial nerve. The procerus muscle's actions include:
* Wrinkling: Wrinkles the skin of the nose and bridge
* Eyebrows: Pulls down the medial ends of the eyebrows
The procerus originates from the nasal bone, lateral nasal cartilage, and descending fibers of the frontalis muscle. It inserts into the skin of the inferior glabella.