Saturday, November 08, 2008

A Little More to the Left

I bet you thought this post was going to be about the election. HA! No, it's about deep tissue massage.

After singing the praises of yoga, I have to admit that initially it did not do much for my shoulders. Neither did physical therapy. My range of motion was astonishingly poor, which not only impacted my yoga practice but also my ability to scratch my back without one of those $1 back scratchers from the old Pier 1 (to be differentiated from the current Pier 1 which has become incredibly expensive).

Enter deep tissue massage. Ooh, yeah, I like! After one treatment, my shoulders loosened up. But for a couple of weeks, they also felt like they were on fire. My theory is the massage relaxed all those little bundles of muscles and tendons around the rotator cuff, which then were stretched and worked by yoga (damn that downward dog!) Eventually, everything settled down and my shoulders continue to be much improved.

At my last appointment, I asked the therapist to work on my hands. Between the computer mouse/keyboard and my knitting and that downward dog thing, my hands and wrists needed some treatment. If I were a massage therapist, I would offer hand massages at local yarn stores - 5 minutes for $5. Oooh! Aaah!

Deep tissue massage has been particularly beneficial for my daughter and her scoliosis, offering her some painfree moments for the first time in years. She goes more regularly than I do; maybe my New Year's Resolution should include more massage?

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