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Welcome to AMMA’s home on the web.  Please browse our site to learn more about how we can help you achieve your health-related goals. Feel free to call us or email us if you have questions or would like to set up an appointment for a complete consultation.

We are a small, locally owned, practitioner run medical office.  We see clients from 8am until 8pm Monday through Friday.  If you call during business hours and we don’t answer, we are probably giving undivided attention to our clients.  You can expect the same when you come for an appointment.

Please leave a message! We will follow up with you to assess your needs within 48 hours.

Be well!   Amber & Paul Vachon

Did you know that we offer a money back guarantee to all of our new clients?  We are so confident that you will like our work that we’re willing to say, “If you don’t like it, you won’t be charged.”  You’ll pay nothing.  It’s as simple as that!

So, give us a call. . . .  What do you have to lose?

The following offers are available for gift certificates for sessions with François purchased before February 14^th. Call François directly at 423-863-0390.

Buy One Get One 1/2 Price

Purchase a second gift certificate for half price when you buy one of equal value.

Buy 5 Gift Certificates Get One Free

Receive an additional free gift certificate of equal value to the ones purchased when you buy five.

Special Bonus:

The $25 consultation fee is waived for all Gift Certificates purchased before February 14th.

(Gift certificates purchased for new clients usually include the $25 consultation fee.  We spend between 30 and 45 minutes in consultation and assessment in addition to the hands-on time.  We do this so that we may better focus in on the primary causes of pain or discomfort to make the session more effective and the results longer lasting.)

]]> http://ammatn.com/2012/02/01/valentines-specials-by-francois-1424/feed/ http://ammatn.com/2012/01/31/fibromyalgia-pain-decreases-after-massage-therapy-1402/ http://ammatn.com/2012/01/31/fibromyalgia-pain-decreases-after-massage-therapy-1402/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:40:34 +0000 AMMA http://ammatn.com/?p=1402 The April 2002 issue of the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology (Volume 8 - Issue 2 - pp 72-76) reports that massage therapy has been observed to be helpful in some patients with fibromyalgia.

This study was designed by Dr. Tiffany Field and others to examine the effects of massage therapy versus relaxation therapy on sleep, substance P, and pain in fibromyalgia patients. Twenty-four adult fibromyalgia patients were assigned randomly to a massage therapy or relaxation therapy group. They received 30-minute treatments twice weekly for 5 weeks. Both groups showed a decrease in anxiety and depressed mood immediately after the first and last therapy sessions. However, across the course of the study, only the massage therapy group reported an increase in the number of sleep hours and a decrease in their sleep movements. In addition, substance P levels decreased, and the patients’ physicians assigned lower disease and pain ratings and rated fewer tender points in the massage therapy group.

François Minani has a passion for working with people dealing with fibromyalgia pain.  He can be reached at 423-863-0390.

Amber just returned from Asheville, NC, where she participated with 19 other physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses & massage therapists in the first biannual Vodder Recertification course hosted by Care Partners. This 20 hour advanced training course is available for therapists to update and review their skills. Expert guest speakers present the latest research and methods and case studies are presented for peer review. Currently-certified therapists are required to maintain their certification in Manual Lymph Drainage and Combined Decongestive Therapy through the Dr. Vodder School by attending one of these classes at least every two years and demonstrating continued competence.

In previous years, Amber has traveled to Walchsee, Austria, Stowe, VT, and Victoria, BC to participate in this course.  While it is fun to travel to different places, it is extremely convenient that the course will be available in Asheville. . . Thank you, Care Partners & Vodder School!

Paul & Amber are in chilly Vermont for a couple of weeks. . . .  Paul is participating in a workshop on “Rolfing and Trauma: Psychobiological Skills for Rolfers” taught by Lael Keen.  It promises to be an exciting class, focusing on how to recognize trauma as it is held in the body and learn how to support its release through touch and movement/manual techniques.

A founding member of the Brazilian Rolfing Association, Lael comes from a family of Rolfers and is an Advanced Level teacher of Somatic Experiencing.

We’re enjoying our stay at the Inn at Baldwin Creek in Bristol, VT.  If you’re ever in the area, make it a point to stay there.  It’s like visiting Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower!

Survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, François Minani, his seven children and one grandchild spent a year and a half as refugees in the neighboring country of Burundi before being offered asylum by the United States Government. Their sponsor, First Broad United Methodist Church, helped them to feel at home in Kingsport and enabled them to settle into the community. The younger children headed off to school while François and the older ones went to work and to college.

At home in Rwanda, François had obtained a master’s degree in biology from the National University of Rwanda and had worked as a high school biology teacher and later as education officer for the Mountain Gorrilas Project. Not being used to the physically demanding jobs that he took on in Kingsport, François developed very serious upper back pain due to overuse and repetitive strain. It reached the point in which he stopped working and received intensive care at a rehabilitation center for four months before returning to work. He later developed severe lower back pain. For five years, he vainly tried everything from painkiller medicines and back support belts to a chiropractor. A friend and co-worker then referred him to a chiropractor working with a massage therapist. At every session François received therapeutic massage before being seen by the chiropractor. After only two months of intensive therapy his pain was gone forever! Having experienced dramatic results from this type of care, François decided he wanted to go to massage school so that he too would be able to help others feel better in this way.

With his strong background in science, thousands of hours of hands-on experience and several years of hard work at the Durham, NC Massage Envy location, François is ready to give back to Kingsport and the Tri-Cities area as a whole. We are pleased that François has chosen to join us. He specializes in working with expectant mothers and people dealing with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and depression, as well as upper body pain and stiffness and the modality of cranial sacral therapy. He also gives wonderful Swedish, Deep Tissue, Reflexology, Sports and Hot Stones massages.

In his spare time, François enjoys walking by the river in his neighborhood, landscaping and vegetable gardening, playing with his grandchildren and spending time with his new bride, Benie.

François offers sessions at AMMA on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Reserve a session with him now before his schedule fills up! He is also offering an introductory rate for a limited time. To speak with him or to arrange an appointment, contact the Appalachian Medical Massage Associates office at 423-288-2662 or call François directly at 423-863-0390.

Photos will be posted when we get copies of them.  We were so busy visiting with folks that we weren’t able to take any pictures!

Print a PDF version of our Open House invitation here.

Southwest Virginia’s Higher Education Center’s College for Older Adults (COA) will be holding a class on Alternative Healing from 10:45am-12:15pm on Thursdays this fall. On September 15th, we will be leading a session titled “Finding Dynamic Balance Within the Human Structure: Structural Integration Theory and Applications.” Join us for an experiential workshop in which we will explore how to find ease and balance within our own structures.

Learn more about structural integration on our website.

Find out more about the College for Older Adults at http://www.swcenter.edu ]]> http://ammatn.com/2011/08/14/finding-dynamic-balance-within-the-human-structure-1391/feed/