Plantar Fasciitis

My clients keep asking me about plantar fasciitis and is there anything to be done? Yes! There is a lot I can do to help you either with your diagnosed plantar fasciitis or any other unspecified  heel, foot or ankle pain or discomfort. This is one of my specialties and usually pretty easy to fix.

Question number 2 is usually (and it should be) that how many treatments is needed to 'heal' plantar fasciitis? That is a bit harder to answer without knowing what has happened to the ankle (yes, an ankle is always involved), is there more muscular or ligamental changes and what is the current state of inflammation. If there is an acute inflammatory processes going on (that means there is pretty severe pain), that needs to be dealt with first, before we can really treat the area of pain. But that doesn't mean we can't start the treatment, on the opposite.

What ever part of the body I am balancing or treating, I will first treat all the surrounding tissues to 'make room' for the troubled part of the body to accept healing properties and lymphatic fluids to do their cleaning. In case of a foot issue that means concentrating on the muscles and tendons on your shins and calves.You can read more about the ankle on my last post, all that is valid with plantar pain! But the deeper (or original) reason for the discomfort could be found actually anywhere in the body, so there is no treatment plan without going through the whole body at least once.

With plantar fasciitis there is a pretty effective stretching program for you to follow, so I will be teaching that too, so you can fast up your healing process. But remember, stretching is much more effective if the tissues are relaxed, bones in their right place and muscles brought back to their normal length.

An answer to the question number 2 will always be an estimate, but I have been able to help my clients with these issues in 4 to 10 treatments. Sometimes we have concentrated to relax the foot for a half an hour twice a week for a couple weeks, before being able to rally work through the muscles of the calves and shins. Some clients have been training for a marathon, so we needed to schedule the treatments a bit differently: you just can not run 16 miles the day (actually 2 days) after the treatment!

In Kata's Way the key is, that Balanced is Painless and on our way to the whole body balance there is some steps forward and backward. Pain is your body's cry for help and we have to respect that and proceed accordingly. But, if you can not see ANY improvement after 3 sessions, we need to re-consider our treatment plan and if Kata's Way is the best suitable way for you.

I wish to see you soon and find a right way to help you. This is Kata's Way and it means Balanced is Painless!

P.S. I also offer an excellent, PAINFREE and most beneficial foot reflexology done in my way; half an hour ($40) or 45 minutes ($60) session available. Check the pricing for 3 or 5 series. 

Have you twisted your ankle?

Silly question actually. We all have twisted an ankle or too, and I certainly hope that you haven't sprained either one of your ankles. It is called a strain when an injury affects mostly on muscles and tendons (tendon is a part of a muscle that attaches muscle to the bone) and usually muscle tissue can heal itself easier and faster than more firm ligamental tissue. Sprain is much more serious, because it usually affects the structure of the ankle more profoundly. Here are the ligaments of an ankle:


From my point of view this, as any other sprain or strain, is an issue of bringing back a balance, since my specialty is not in an acute situation (you need to see your doctor and wait for an inflammation to calm down before you can have any massage on the injured area). I am always checking the balance of the ankles and since you really can not massage the bony structure like an ankle, there is a gentle technique to release ligamental and muscular tightness of the ankle.

My work will include opening all the muscles of shins and calves and also checking if muscles around the knees are affecting to the imbalance of the ankle. Because: imbalance in the ankle makes an imbalance happening to the knee and vice versa. In my world there is no treatment of the ankle without treating the knee.

In some cases, when the ligaments are really sprained far over their limits, the ankle stays 'too loose' and there really is no way of changing that, but even in that case we will strengthen the muscles to do part of the ligaments' job. In this you need to be careful, so you won't keep strengthening already strong muscles and tendons (in that case you would KEEP the imbalance there), but those that have become weaker. Yes, I will help you with this combination of stretches and strengthening in each of the ankle (most probably, you would NOT do the same things in both ankles).


The ankles are 'the basement' of our body, and from my point of view we definitely need to make corrections on the basement before any work in the main floor will be sustainable. Even years of old injuries in ankles are affecting the fine balance of the way we use our body: in Kata's Way the treatment always starts from the 'basement', which means ankles and feet. I did not explain the importance of the muscles of the feet in this post, but believe me: opening every single of over a hundred muscles of your foot, will definitely be relaxing, comfortable and the first step to heal your body. My style of foot treatment is not at all painful, but extremely relaxing! And yes, I know some reflexology, but still my first step is: open the muscles and tendons and bring them to their original length. After that, some rexlexology or other advanced techniques can truly do their work.

This is Kata's Way which means Balanced, since Balanced is Painless!

Happy Valentine's Day / Hyvää ystävänpäivää!

Valentine's Day is coming!

In Finland we don't really celebrate Valentine's but Friendship's Day. Literally a Friend translates Ystävä and Day as Päivä, so Ystävänpäivä means Friend's Day. And in Finnish we state the date 14.2. meaning 14th of February. So February 14th I will be celebrating with my friends.

Kata's Way will offer something special for you too:

Refer a friend and get an extra 10 minutes foot reflexology added to your next appointment! For free. Your friend just needs to make an appointment for a first time session BEFORE February 15th. And your friend gets it for only $65 (normal 75). Great deal for You and Your friend!

Hyvää Ystävänpäivää!

Let's talk about head and neck ache

Do you have a tension neck or migraine? I certainly hope that you don't but if you do, let me explain my way of helping you.

In case of a migraine, I will not quarantine any results, since the migraine can be caused by so many different factors that are beyond my knowledge (like hormonal imbalance), but if there's any muscle tension involved, I might be able to ease your situation a bit. So, what I will explain next, is more how to deal with a tension neck or tension head ache.

First of all: there is no easy or fast fix! For some people, massaging can actually make the headache worse and some cliets always get a headache after a neck massage. Is that normal? Yes. Is that necessary? NO. From my point of view, there should NEVER be headache after my treatment, because it means that we have done something to aggravate your body.

If you tend to get headaches after the treatment, the first thing to do, is to drink more water before and after the treatment. The second thing is: tell me about it, and we'll make a treatment plan so careful that you won't get your ache again!

How is that done? In Kata's Way I will treat you each session only as long as needed, and I will first make sure that your lymphatic drainage is working the best possible way (this is pretty much opening the chest and arms). After that I will work on your mid and low back, that is to make room for upper back muscles to relax. Think about a room full of people (upper back muscles) and you need to get in (without a headache). It will definitely happen easier, if some of the people get out of the room (opening mid back muscles) before you squeeze in! In my way, this is preferably done in a seated position, because that is the best way to release tension on rotatores and deep erector muscles.

Only after that, if we decide that it's comfortable for both me and my client, we will work on upper back and shoulder muscles. Most probably, in the first session, I hardly touch your neck or head more than opening a lymphatic drainage in a very gentle way. And that's simply because your body isn't ready for it yet!  No matter how much you want, you can not force your body to open or relax faster than it's able to do in a given moment!

So, it might take one 90 minutes session (in an ideal world) to get rid of a headache, but most probably it's going to take 5-10 sessions of 30-45 minutes. In this time we will have enough time to discover if the underlying cause for your headache is truly in your neck, in upper back muscles or maybe one of the nerves down to your hands are impinging so that we need to release muscles, tendons and other blockages in arms and forearms before the neck gets any release. Sometimes the neck ache can be caused by tendinitis in forearms or wrist issues.

My pricing is by a minute and I could be selling you a package deal of 5X45 minutes to begin with, but if we are only using 30 minutes, the remaining 15 minutes will be put to your bank. I am willing to deal with a fact that your body is unpredictable in it's current state of accepting therapeutic treatment! If you want some relaxation for the remaining 15 minutes, that's another thing, in which case we can maybe add a truly relaxing foot massage at the end of a session.

Kata's Way is best in practice when we are resolving some therapeutic goals, not in relaxation. To get the best possible outcome for your money, come open minded and communicate with me towards our goal in each and every session. If the goal for the session is relaxation, I'm happy to put you to sleep, but in therapeutic work I might need to keep you awake to get truly important feedback during our session!

I hope to see you soon in my office. This is Kata's Way which is Balanced, because only Balanced is Painless!

Why I don't call myself a massage therapist?

Happy and peaceful 2017 to all my clients, friends and colleagues!

It is a snowy (about one fifth of an inch in my back yard) and cold (as least relatively) day in Charlotte and I am sitting on my couch by the fire to keep my toes warm. I have managed to do my bookkeeping for 2016 and some planning for 2017, and now I am trying to think something new to tell you. Like, it's new beginning, new year and everything is fresh and time to turn the next page.

But I don' think so. I am really excited to start a new year and all, but there will be no significant changes is my business this year. I have set my pricing, I have a very comfortable office (and by the way, we might stay at this office after all, so no panicing about that either) and my name is now out there. I have a wonderful, full calendar year working for Kata's Way, LLC behind me, so I have some material to make more detailed planning and keep going forward. So, it's time to look back before rushing forward.

Looking back brought me to one specific question, kind of in the beginning of my (second) career: what am I supposed to call myself when massage therapist really doesn't cover what I do?

I AM a massage therapist, but I am also specialized and majority of my skills (although it's hard to know anymore how much I have learned while living and learning here in US) are from a different learning paradigm and can not be compared in North Carolina's system. I can not just tell people that I am functional massage therapist because I have not done a specific studies about functional massage in NC. Or can I?

How important is it to have a specific title? The titles are for everybody to recognize my style, but that's the question: my style is not recognizable here in NC. So I will keep up doing my work to make it a bit more recognizable! I am specialized massage therapist and structural bodyworker. I also do some functional bodywork, but I don't know anything about functional medicine (well, I am a patient in functional medicine, so I do know something, but I have no professional knowledge in this matter). I have a holistic view to a human body specially in it's motion and mobility: how left side's restriction affects to right side's function and vice versa.

I think that this year is time to keep talking more about Kata's Way and less about specific terms which really do not give us enough information. But if you have a fresh new term in mind, that describes what I do (you really need to be my client to do that), please, share it! Until that, I am going to keep Balancing my Clients because Balanced is Painless and that, my friends, is Kata's Way!

Keep following me, this is going to be the best year so far. I will have visitors from home and I will travel home (after 2 years) in June. I will be telling a bit about my new exercise program and developing even more individual stretching/exercising program for my clients and much more. I have also returned to my roots and I am teaching some Finnish again, Isn't that great or what? I really wish to see you soon!

Holiday Season

Happy Holidays for everyone!

Although we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe, I do appreciate this wonderful time to spend time with families and friends. I think we all need a break once and awhile. I was happy to have my daughter home for a long weekend and start some baking of Finnish goodies.

Today is Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be followed by Small Business Tuesday, but I will not have any sale or campaign now nor closer to Christmas! I have set my pricing to a very reasonable level considering my specialties, and there will be no change in my pricing next year. I do appreciate my clients tremendously, so I will have a tiny Christmas present waiting for you when you if you are having your appointment before Christmas. I do not wish to get any gifts: Your appointment or referral is the best gift I can get!

I am working normally until December 22nd and I will have a week of rest right after Christmas. From January 2nd I have appointments available Monday - Thursday so, that on Mondays and Wednesdays I have an availability to work late at the evening (last appointment at 6 pm). This scheduling is valid as long as I am in the Ballantyne Village (our lease is ending in April).

I am looking forward to a new year and some changes although I have no idea where I will find myself. I can promise for sure, that I will have all my services available for you also 2017!

I wish you Happy Holidays and please make sure, that you will some relaxing time for yourself too!

P.S. I do have Gift Certificates available if you want to give to someone special a treat to the best treatment in town... It's Kata's Way where Balanced is Painless.

Happy October!

October is a month of enjoying life. Enjoy the weather here in NC, enjoy the routines that has set back after the hectic summer, and enjoy the quiet time before holiday season. That's what I have been doing! The morning walks at the greenway are the best thong to do especially in October.

I also took a trip to Washington DC since we had to renew our passports, and I fell in love with the capital city. I can't wait to go back and visit some more museums and learn more about this nation! The first trip was just wandering around and taking a tons of pictures to show my friends back home that this really exists; the capitol is not made just for movies and television series... maybe you don't know the feeling of  'living in the movie' that is pretty familiar to us who have moved here from another country. At least for us who have grown up following the American television shows and movies.  'Living as in a television' was a constant feeling the first year and half in US, but it's getting rarer all the time. At this point (4,5 years in US) I probably need to pinch myself when I'll be back home in Finland next summer!

My work is still my passion and you can check my availability on the right column of this blog, or just call/text me. I am working some Fridays, so please feel free to ask those too. Unfortunately I am not available on weekends, I truly need at least 2 days off in a row every week.

Some of you have heard that Ballantyne Chiropractic Wellness might be moving out of the Ballantyne Village, which is true. We don't know the schedule yet, nor do I know if I'm following Dr. Snipes, but I will have an office and availability to serve my clients all the time whatever happens! In case of transition period, I will be seeing my clients at my house in Blakeney area. So, exiting new things are right on the corner.

I think this is a perfect time of the year but 'cold' season is on it's way, so I want to wish you an amazing fall, and please, stay warm when you prepare yourselves for the holiday season. I'm planning some specials towards end of the year, but at this point there's no more workshops to be planned at Ballantyne location. Don't wait until last minute to feel your body aching, call/text me now to make your appointment to a very special care.

It's Kata's Way and it means: balanced is painless! Come and let's check your balance, you deserve the best care in town.