About Matt

Pain relief, mobilty, adaptability.

Mission.
Hi, My name is Matt Holton.  My purpose with opening this practice is to provide practical, natural, and sustainable solutions to the problem of musculoskeletal pain.  Mainstream medicine has inadequately addressed this problem with its reliance on surgery, opiates, and antidepressants.  Patients are left unhealed and unsatisfied.  Massage therapy can help with pain and help physical injuries at every stage of healing, so it’s never too early or too late to look into massage.

While some amount of body pain is unavoidable and even necessary, many people are deal day-to-day with pain from incompletely healed old injuries, which become more and more bothersome as we age.  be improved my manual therapies, like a back that flares up if you do too much yard work or an old elbow sprain that knows when it’s going to rain.  Manual therapy can also help maintain soft tissue and joint health as we age and, if used regularly along with a healthy lifestyle,, can help make sure you keep off the operating table.

Relief

Frequently it is at this stage that clients come in looking for help.  Either through injury or chronic inflammation or both, people find themselves in a situation where pain has become unmanageable in their lives.  After a thorough intake and evaluation, specific massage and/or external therapies are applied with the intent of reducing pain and easing the nervous system.  The focus is on healing tissue and downregulating the nervous system. At this time, take-home care consists of self massage, heat, breathing exercises, soaks, walking, and some gentle range of motion, with emphasis on relaxation.

Mobility

After the initial pain has been subdued or lessened, the scope of therapy expands to include not just the area of initial complaint but also how the whole body interrelates and interconnects.  This stage of therapy still focuses on soft tissue but adds in emphasis on mobilizing restricted joints, fascial adhesion, and focused stretching.  Self-care at this stage emphasises strengthening and lengthening tissues, and focuses more on bodyweight exercises, crawling, rolling, and stretching.

Adaptability

This is the maintenance phase of therapy.  The client has resumed normal activity, work, and sport and uses bodywork for preventative maintenance and promotion of their own well-being.  The therapist focuses on the general functioning of the body and the resolution of tension and stress while issues are still subclinical.  Together the therapist and client create a self-care sequence that can keep the client’s body integrated and able to withstand increasing amounts of stress over time without overload.

Matt has studied Asian culture, language, healing, natural medicine, and movement systems for 20 years.  He graduated from ASHA School of Massage in 2007.  Before that he received a BA in Japanese Language in Literature from the University of Georgia.  Since massage school, Matt has continued to expand his knowledge and experience base, focusing his study on Western osteopathic techniques(Neuromuscular Therapy, Muscle Energy Technique, and Cranial Manipulation) as well as Thai Traditional Massage and Physical Therapies.  Matt strives to listen to clients and create simple and direct  holistic treatment strategies using massage and traditional indigenous techniques for physical conditions both acute and chronic.

My mission is to create partnership relationships with clients for the pursuit of their optimum holistic wellness. I recognize the essential unity of body, mind and spirit and acknowledge the role that the body and musculoskeletal tension play in all disease processes and pain syndromes. I strive to provide ongoing therapeutic relationships with my clients in order to use bodywork techniques and the wisdom of the body to help them realize their personal goals whether they are health, personal, or fitness–related.