Despite being vaguely sore (#$&*), I did a massage last night, and I think it went particularly well. This is a long-term friend and client, but I only get to work on her about every six weeks during these work trips. She is still recovering mobility after shoulder surgery, so it’s definitely not a fluffy “feel good” massage. There are some moves that her body just can’t tolerate, and some challenges from muscles that are hyper-tonic from trying to shield her injuries. I spent a solid hour and a half on her, every bit of that on her torso and neck exclusively. She seemed very pleased with the results, but she’s generally pretty complimentary, so I didn’t get too excited by that.
However, the next morning, she reported having her best night of sleep in several weeks, which I took as a good sign. Best of all, I accompanied her to her chiropractor appointment this morning. I introduced this client and chiro several years ago, so I get to tag along on occasion, just to watch the chiro work, see what goes well and what doesn’t, what areas the doc seems to be focusing on. I was very pleased that the chiro noticed substantial improvements in the client’s shoulder mobility, and uncharacteristic looseness in her pecs and scalenes.
Yay! I’ve still got it. This only furthers my resolve to find further massage classes this fall so I can get my OR license. Even if I don’t ever plan to do massage professionally, it would be nice to be fully legit.
On a side note, watching a chiro do neck adjustments still makes me flinch. Nothing about that looks pleasant. Ick.
I like the vertebrae icon.
And, I think that getting neck adjustments makes me sort of metaphorically flinch. I have a hard time relaxing enough to let it happen. The bit that really weirds me out, though, is the crazy angle that they manage to pull your neck out into before they even crack it.
I was always weirded out by the neck thing too, this being before I even went to the chiro. I know several chiros that don’t employ that method (not sure what they do). It’s actually my favorite part of my visits now. I’m a neck adjustment junkie.
Do it!
The world needs more professional massage therapists. Really.