Another Belief: Massage

A while ago, I wrote about my muscle tension.

I think I've resolved it. And come to believe in something else I've always dismissed out of hand: massage therapy.

I've had three massages in my life, all since November. The first was nice. Noisy environment, though. And the therapist just didn't seem that great. Ok, but not great. The second one was my best friend's therapist. Excellent environment, good massage for the most part. Only "for the most part" because she actually hurt me. She was just a little too rough. She kept apologizing and changing her strategy, but she said she usually has to work smaller, in-shape people a lot harder. And I didn't care much for the lotion she used. We came out of there feeling sticky all day.

But my chiropractor kept saying that massage is good for you. He thinks a regular, monthly massage goes a long way toward total body health. So I decided not to give up...to keep looking around. And I'm glad I did.

The therapist I went to a couple of weeks ago is the friend of a friend. I went asking for a 30-minute massage and ended up asking for an hour before we even got started. She has a nice, new, quiet office. She's a very "normal" person...not all woo woo or new age-y. She played nice music.

I explained about the muscle tension. She asked what I was tense about. I told her I didn't know. That I thought maybe I just had too much to do and think about. Or it could be the medications. As she started the massage we talked a little. Mostly by way of introducing ourselves to each other. A little joking. And then about halfway through, all conversation stopped and I just relaxed and let her go.

She did dig a little deep a couple of times at the beginning. But right away caught my signal and changed her approach. By about 20 minutes into it, she had a good idea for my tolerance.

And the muscle tension was gone. It has not come back. It's been 2 weeks.

The next day I did feel like I'd been hit by a truck. I went to jazzercise, but I was sore from head to toe. The second day I skipped jazzercise, but really could have gone. I was all back to normal, except for the tension being gone. I think the beat-up feeling I had was just from all the muscle and knot work she had done.

And I think I drank about 80 ounces of water after the massage. As they break up the lactic acid knots and work those muscles, it releases toxins in the body and the water will help you flush them out.

I sent my husband to her last Monday. He really enjoyed it too. It was worth the money and I plan to go back in about 2 weeks. I'll do that for a few months and see how it goes.

I'm coming to the conclusion that one just needs to do more body-care when going through this stage of life. It's expensive, but feeling good can be a fleeting thing these days. Whatever I can do to feel good makes it worthwhile.