Skin rolling is one of those things we learn in massage therapy school and then (in my experience) it's discarded because "many people just don't like the feel of it." Well, that's what I was warned. Certainly, if it's something people don't usually like, then why go there, right? After all, it isn't the soothing and gliding one imagines when thinking of a relaxing massage. Nor is it the satisfyingly deep pressure of trigger point therapy others seek out when getting massage. In fact, it can be pinching and uncomfortable, especially when the therapist hasn't practiced it very much!
Skin rolling isn't something I would have thought I'd have the opportunity to explore and learn to do well. At least not until a client told me that she really liked skin rolling. Since this client likes it and she get massage every week, I've had the chance to really use the technique and play around with it. At first I would only skin roll her back before getting to the effleurage and deep tissue work. Then one day she said, oh, you can just do skin rolling on the back. Then as I got more comfortable working with her and using skin rolling, I became inspired. She enjoyed it so much, that I started using it on the neck and arms. One day as I was massaging her face, I was moved to skin roll her cheeks and she smiled, she loved it! My skin rolling has gotten quite good. Often it turns into muscle rolling as well. For this client, skin rolling causes positive changes in her body. A painful hip issue was relieved when I skin rolled her quads. Rolling the skin above the pelvic crest on the back of the body, causes a pulling in the tissues in the gluteus muscles, releasing tightness there.
Have you ever experienced skin rolling? If you think you would like to try it, just ask your therapist.
I was googling finger rolling after my massage therapist used it today and it was a powerful way to get energy to flow and release scar tissue from surgeries and trauma. Thanks for posting this!
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