Rachel Himebook has been a massage therapist since 2014 and running her own business in Chattanooga since 2016. But even before her training, her family and friends came to her frequently asking for massages to find relief from tension and pain. With encouragement from those family and friends, she attended Blue Heron Academy in Grand Rapids, MI and became a Certified Medical Massage Therapist.
When she started school, Rachel didn't know anything about medical massage, but became passionate ab...
Rachel Himebook has been a massage therapist since 2014 and running her own business in Chattanooga since 2016. But even before her training, her family and friends came to her frequently asking for massages to find relief from tension and pain. With encouragement from those family and friends, she attended Blue Heron Academy in Grand Rapids, MI and became a Certified Medical Massage Therapist.
When she started school, Rachel didn't know anything about medical massage, but became passionate about it during the course. Logic and puzzle solving is something that she has always enjoyed as well as helping others. She discovered this is a new way to use those skills and significantly help others improve their lives. Medical massage puts together the pieces of a clients’ health history, symptoms, and anatomy to create a picture of what areas need attention and provides a step by step process to provide relief from tension and pain. She believes that each person is a unique individual and requires a massage tailored to their body and goals. Using this process allows her to be able to focus on each individual and provide effective and lasting treatment.
She has continued to grow her skill to be able to work with individuals with injuries or chronic pain. Some areas she has focused on are headaches and migraines, carpal tunnel syndrome, TMJ disorders, IT band tension and pain. In 2023, she became a Certified Manual Lymphatic Drainage practitioner and has been using this skill to help with injury recovery, post-surgical recovery, and lymphatic issues.
Besides her passion for helping her clients on the path of recovery, Rachel also enjoys being outside whenever possible. Going for walks in Coolidge Park or hiking on one of the mountains are her favorite ways to enjoy nature. She also enjoys staying home and baking, reading, or making music on her piano or flute.
TN # 0000011439
MI # 7501004443
GA # 014085
Medical Massage Therapy
Upon completion of my schooling I became a certified Medical Massage Therapist by the Nation Board Certification Agency.
Muscle testing is a helpful way to determine which muscles need attention. In this procedure, the muscle causing pain is tested with resistance, then the neurolymphatic and neurovascular points are treated, and then the muscle is re-tested. This process helps indicate if the muscle needs more work or is back to normal.
Many of my clients come in with neck pain. Sometimes it is just muscles tension, but sometimes it is from the ligaments in the neck with poorly formed scar tissue after a neck injury. These injuries can come from whiplash, falls, immobility, sleep position, poor nutrition, bad neck alignment and stressful sports, In this training I learned how to assess and treat injuries of the neck.
Both Carpal Tunnel and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome can cause pain, tingling and numbness in the hand. One is a impingement or compression of a nerve at the wrist, the other at the neck. This training taught assessments to better understand where the pain is coming from and what areas to treat.