ANDREW ZSIGMOND

REMEDIAL MASSAGE THERAPIST 

CALL: 0419 627 724

Andrew has been practising Massage since 1989 and as a fully qualified Clinical/Remedial Therapist since 1992. Andrew founded the Network of Elite Therapists in 2001 and hopes to mentor and add more independent therapists to his ever growing network.

Specialities include;

• Treatment of Injuries related to prolonged computer use - Headaches, RSI, Back Pain

• Pregnancy Massage and Post Natal Massage

• Sports Massage & Rehab exercise prescription

• Orthotic Prescription.

Andrew is available at Edithvale by appointment all day Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm, and Saturday mornings by appointment.

CLINICAL SERVICES

We pride ourselves on providing exceptional service and treatments that will enhance both your physical and mental well-being so you can continue to go about your day, free of muscular stiffness and pain.

Our therapists are constantly updating their skills and knowledge so you can be confident of getting the most up to date treatment that the latest science and research offers.

REMEDIAL MASSAGE

Also known as Clinical Massage, Remedial Massage involves the treatment ofsoft tissue dysfunction through hands-on manipulation. Our ultimate aim is to rehabilitate, maintain and enhance your body's natural mobility. To this aim we tailor each massage treatment to your needs, whether that's untangling your knots after a stressful week, or working to speed up post-injury recovery.

Aside from relieving muscular tension, Remedial Massage is known to improve circulation, enhance joint and muscle function, decrease pain and assist with anxiety, tension headaches and insomnia. It is also known to encourage relaxation and enhance feelings of well-being.

Remedial Massage encompasses a wide range of manual therapy modalities. Our Therapists have extensive training that enables them to; 

ASSESS your condition... and employ appropriate

TREATMENT techniques.... followed by prescribing

EXERCISES to assist ongoing self management.

The overall aim of Remedial / Myotherapy is to improve MOVEMENT in joints...

and to improve FUNCTION and efficiency of muscles...

...ultimately RELIEVING PAIN.

TECHNIQUES WE USE

One of the primary goals of Remedial Massage is to prepare the body so that it can heal itself from various musculoskeletal dysfunctions.

Thats why our therapists not only address the symptoms of the underlying condition, but also try to find and address the root cause of the problem. This involves conducting a thorough physical assessment to explore the potential contributors to your pain.

Depending on the outcomes of our physical assessment and consultation with you, we may compliment your treatment with other hands-on treatment such as;

Deep Tissue Massage Therapy (DTM)

Triggerpoint Therapy (TPT)

Myofascial Release (MFR)

Muscle Energy techniques (MET)

Passive Stretching

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching

Heat and Cold Therapy

S P O R T S   M A S S A G E

Sports massage is the manual manipulaton of the muscles geared specifically towards helping people who have physically demanding lifestyles or hobbies. This kind of therapeutic massage considers the impact of certain activities on specific joints, muscle groups, tendons, ligaments and soft tissue groups.

After an initial assessment, a customised treatment plan is created to the individual athlete's specific needs, taking into account the timing of when the event is in relation to the massage appointment.

For example, a Pre-Event Sports Massage (within 24hours leading up to an event) would be more vigorous in nature, but not deep or painful, designed to stimulate blood flow and ready the muscles for activity.

The Post-Event Sports Massage, (1-5 days after the event) is modified to be more soothing and flowing with the aim of pushing harmful metabolic waste products out of the muscles to help them recover. Sports Massage also addresses common soft tissue sporting injuries such as sprains and strains to tendons, muscles and ligaments.

Please note that any major sporting injury that causes deep bruising or suspected fracture is contraindicated to massage and patients should therefore seek clearance from a GP before attending a Sports Massage appointment. Remedial Massage Therapists are unable to order x-rays or imaging.

What Are The Benefits of Sports Massage?

Sports Massage can be used pre-performance, post-perfomance, during training, or for rehabilitation. From elite athletes to recreational exercisers, sports massage is reported to have many beneficial affects. Many different movements and techniques include Swedish style, effleurage (stroking), petrissage (kneading), tapotement (rhythmic striking), application of pressure to triggerpoints and more.

These movements and techniques are used to try to help the athlete's body achieve maximum performance and physical conditioning with a decreased chance of injury or pain and a quicker recovery.

Research into perceived fatigue and post activity recovery showed that subjects felt they were less fatigued and felt like they recovered faster after incorporating Sports Massage into their training regime compared to athletes that didnt. Decreased anxiety, improved mood, better sleep and enhanced feelings of well-being were also noted. 

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the term given to the syndrome where muscles start to ache from 12 to 72 hours after a strenuous period of activity, training or event. It is thought to be due to the various waste products produced from muscle metabolism (the conversion of food into energy). Waste product build up tends to stimulate nerve endings in a kind of chemical burn type fashion. The delay in pain is thought to be due to the production of endorphins (the body's natural pain-killing hormones) that are released during activity. It take a day or two or three for the endorphins to clear before the muscular aches are noticeable.

DOMS can be prevented if you book in for a Sports Massage, in that phase before pain sets in, to pump out the waste products. In fact, in some cases a massage can trigger a release of more endorphins.

During physical activity it's normal for muscle fibres to form tiny micro-tears. And in time, these tears are repaired by the body with the laying down of fibrin. Fibrin is the precursor to scar tissue and is non-elastic compared to muscle tissue. While this is a natural process that is necessary for healing and reinforcement of the torn muscle fibres, if left unchecked it can develop further into scar tissue which dramatically decreases a muscle over all elasticity. This results in the inabilty for the muscle to stretch to its full potential, ultimately causing muscular stiffness and a decrease in tensilestrength. A regular Sports massage is thought to be able to break down the fibrin tissue if applied in the early stages after activity.

For the reasons above, we highly recommend, if you are the type of person who leads an active sporting lifestyle, that engaging in regular massage visits will assist you with effectively preparing for activity and enhancing a faster more speedy recovery afterwards. Moreover, with regular visits, our therapists will get to know your body and can easy recognise when injuries occur.

PREGNANCY MASSAGE

(PRE AND POST NATAL MASSAGE)

Is your pregnancy making you feel overly tired? Are you having trouble adjusting to the changes your body is experiencing? A pregnancy massage may be the solution to your tired, aching neck back hips and legs during this special time of your life. 

Pregnancy Massage, also known as Pre-Natal or Antenatal Massage is the specifically tailored, gentle therapy perfomed by a qualified Remedial Massage Therapist for expectant mothers to relieve the aches of the back, neck and legs associated with being pregnant. Adjustments are made to the massage table and extra care is taken with positioning, including extra pillows and our specially designed, upholstered, pregnancy cushion.

In some instances the therapist may have attended a special post graduate short course or may have opted to include the appropriate elective within their original course. Either way, it is important to be referred to a Remedial Massage Therapist that has experience with treating pregnant clients. Such therapists are well trained in the understanding of the biomechanical, hormonal and physiological changes that a woman undergoes during pregnancy. 

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PREGNANCY MASSAGE

There has been much research into the health benefits of Pregancy Massage. It does seem to reduce stress, relax and loosen your muscles, increase blood flow and improve the lymphatic system. 

Pregnancy massage also improves mood, lowers anxiety and helps you sleep better ultimately helping you cope with the changes to your body while you are pregnant and prepare yourself for motherhood.

Some Common examples are :

to relieve muscle and joint pain of the neck, back, hips and legs

to help reduce swelling of the hands , arms, legs and feet

to reduce stress and anxiety

WHAT DOES A PREGNANCY MASSAGE INVOLVE?

Before the massage begins, your therapist will talk with you about your health, lifestyle and painful areas that you wish to focus on. We will ask you to wear a back opening gown, assist you to lie on a specially designed massage table with a removeable hole for the belly and will cover you with towels/blanket to keep you warm. We will use inert, natural, unscented and pregnancy-safe oils or creams to help massage your skin smoothly. (If you are unsure you can ask for a screenshot of the ingredients when you make your booking.)

The therapist will help you get comfortable with extra pillows and assure you that if at anytime, you become uncomfortable you are encouraged to alert the therapist to pause and readjust your positioning. While the overwhelming vast majority of Pregnant clients love the opportunity to safely lie face down on our pregnancy cushion, theres always a few examples where this does not suit. Alternatives such as sitting upright or side lying can be accomodated for if you let your therapist know.

MYTH BUSTERS / FAQ

DOES PREGNANCY MASSAGE INVOLVE MASSAGING THE BELLY?

It is generally NOT necessary to have massage performed directly to the abdominal region while pregnant.

IS IT UNSAFE TO LIE ON MY BACK WHILE PREGNANT?

During the first and second trimesters it is generally safe for a pregnant client to lie on her back, so long as she is comfortable and is not experiencing any pain, tingling sensations or numbness in the legs or lower back. It is generally not recommended to lie on one's back for an extended period of time in the last trimester of pregnancy. However, some pregnant patients may experience dizzyness when sitting straight up from a prone (face down) position. It's perfectly fine to roll over and lie on your back, or on a slight incline, for a few minutes while you get your bearings before sitting up at the end of the treatment session. Our treatment tables have a motorised sit-up-like-a-chair function that we use to help you incline and sit up at the end.

HOW CLOSE TO THE DUE DATE CAN I GET A PREGNANCY MASSAGE?

If you have been coming in periodically and are used to having pregnancy massage with us then we wouldn't mind you attending right up to the very last week. So long as we have the appropriate contact numbers to call, we are game if you are. However, we would not recommend that your first ever pregnancy massage be within the last few weeks of the pregnancy.

IS PREGNANCY MASSAGE SAFE?

Receiving a Pregnancy Massage from a qualified Remedial Massage Therapist is generally very low risk for the greater majority of pregnant women. 

That being said, we encourage you to inform your doctor before you have a Pregnancy Massage, especially if;

you are in your first trimester

you have nausea, vomiting or morning sickness

you are at high risk of miscarriage

you have a high risk pregnancy (such as pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure)

you have ablood clot, for example Deep Vein Thrombosis

you have abdominal pain or bleeding

AND WHAT ABOUT AFTER YOUR BABY IS BORN?

There's no doubt that having a child is life-changing. Lifting and carrying a baby, breast feeding and altered sleep patterns often cause physical aches and pains. It's important to have these adressed after you have your baby.

We also often find that pains and dysfunction areas that crop up during the first pregnancy, and are left untreated, will tend to return with more severity in subsequent pregnancies. Mothers often neglect their own health and put everyone else first.

We often say...

 "Looking after your baby starts with looking after yourself"

PROFESSIONAL FEES

ABOUT OUR FEES AND DISCOUNTS

Our consultation fees vary according to the market value of the local region and you will find our fees to be very competitive.

Due to ever increasing Merchant EFTPOS fees imposed by the banks, we encourage and offer a substantial CASH DISCOUNT* for payment on the day. (*Remedial Massage only)

As a small independant business with a comparitively low marketing budget, we pride ourselves on delivering a very high standard of personal service. The vast majority of our business comes from loyal regular clients and word of mouth. We believe our clients who attend regularly, and tell others, deserve to be rewarded. If you like our service and you feel that you would benefit from regular visits (ie not leaving it longer than 1 month between visits) we will reward you with the discounts as outlined below. 

REMEDIAL MASSAGE FEES 

(Inc. Pregnancy Massage & Sports Massage)

Initial / 1 Hour Appointment  $99  (Loyalty Disc. $90)

Extended Treatment 45mins  $85 (Loyalty Disc. $79)

Standard Treatment 30mins  $65 (Loyalty Disc. $62)

90 minutes  (Upon Request)  $145 (Loyalty Disc. $135)

Appointment durations are approximates only and may include interview/assessment, treatment and exercise.

Payment is expected on the day of treatment, unless prior arrangement is made.

PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE

As of July 1 st 2022, in a bid to keep our competitive fees sustainable, we made the painful decision to  discontinue our On-the-Spot Healthpoint claims facility. This was a measure to help us reduce some costs of bank fees and internet usage. 

If you have the appropriate cover for Remedial Massage, please inform us and we will issue you with a receipt with the corresponding provider numbers. All health funds now have an app and/or facility to make your claim via their website. We apologise for this inconvenience, however, had we continued with the facility, a fees price rise would have been iminent. Thankyou for your understanding.

CANCELLATION POLICY

A therapist's income is proportional to the treatments they perform. There are only so many hours in a day that can be accommodated, and reserving a timeslot for you prevents other eager patients, who really need us, from booking in that time. Appointments that are cancelled at short notice causes downtime that is not recoverable and effectively "Docks" a therapist's pay.

FOR CANCELLATIONS, WE REQUIRE 24 HOURS NOTICE PRIOR TO YOUR APPOINTMENT ...

...so we can organise other patients from our waiting list to fill your time slot. Unless you send a friend/family member in your place, if your time slot is not filled, a Cancellation Fee equivalent to your full consultation fee will apply and future bookings may require pre-payment.

We Make booking reservations in good faith and ask our clients to respect our terms and conditions.

A system generated reminder email will be sent 25 hours before your appointment. We appreciate a brief reply to confirm all appointments.

Please help us keep our competitive prices sustainable.

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PREPARING FOR AN APPOINTMENT

• Please arrive on time to take full advantage of your session.

• Please consider wearing appropriate attire as you may be required to demonstrate some actions or movements during your assessment.

• If there are any xray or imaging reports that are relevant to your condition, please feel free to bring them in. We can make copies of reports at the clinic.

• If you have been referred by another Doctor or Health Professional, please supply their details. With your permission, we will contact and provide progress reports as required.

• After your session, it is generally advisable to drink at least 1 glass or water.