The Benefits of Chest and Rib Massage

A little over a year ago I took a class in Seattle on Chest/Breast/Rib massage. Ever since I began massage school I thought that the chest and ribs were a very important part of the body that is overlooked consistently. I felt like this day and age, everyone is either on the phone, typing, driving, and essentially allowing their shoulders to turn into each other causing a rounded back and problems around their shoulders (even their low back). My prediction was that this was coming from the front of the body, the chest and rib area, not from the back itself. The chest forced together was causing a big pull on the back and causing pain for people.

It took time for me to build up enough confidence with my touch to feel like I wanted to tackle this almost unknown, yet powerful area of work. I says almost unknown because we had a single day in school of doing chest/breast/rib work and because (as a male therapist) I was fearful of working on women, I partnered up with the only other male in the class.

About 3 years later I went to a massage convention and competition where a male instructor discussed how he learned chest/breast/rib massage because all of his sisters had gotten breast cancer and he wanted to be there for people as another form of screening and breast cancer prevention. This gave me some motivation but I was still fearful.

A year later, a fellow massage therapist whom I recommend (The pdxist) , based in Vancouver, Washington told me about this class being held and I decided I wanted to conquer my fears and learn new skills to help clients. I was the only male in this class and felt anxious, but all the women were very welcoming, listened to my fears, shared their own experiences, how to be a safe place, and were very encouraging to me. After the class was done my teacher encouraged us to begin talking about it immediately with our clients and begin practicing. She thought the chest/rib area was just as important as me. She said particularly for women, the breasts sometimes feel like they aren't a part of them anymore. It may feel like they are for their partner or for their children. Our teacher didn't want us to avoid it out of fear, losing our newly found skills in time.

I started off by asking my male clients to make sure I had the technique set. Then I began asking my female who I had built the most trust with. With all my clients I began to hear everyone tell me wow, they had never had their ribs before and they feel like they can breath much better. They all pointed out that they could stand up straighter, taller and didn't feel so hunched over. Everyone says they had no clue that they were holding that much tension in their chest. One of my female clients told me that she was consistently jealous of their male friends who would receive a chest massage, come out feeling refreshed and then kept talking about it, making her upset and wanting work done their herself.

Overall I highly recommend receiving chest/rib/breast massage from any trained practitioner. It helps open up the lungs, reduce back pain, feel like you're standing taller, as well as bring a sense of wholeness back to the body.