I treated myself to a massage on Saturday morning, since I passed the DC-1 exam. Plus, I was hoping that it would address my "stress knot" that I've mentioned here before.
A little before 10 a.m., I showed up at my local YMCA and met the massage therapist. I filled out a health questionnaire and told her about my stress knot. She asked me a few questions about my job, my general health, and the kind of pressure I wanted for the massage. I told her to go medium/heavy. So this girl -- who could not have been more than 120 pounds -- worked me OVER! Holy smokes.
Not even a few moments into the massage, I was grunting like a stuck pig. Really! I made noises that I never knew I was capable of making: squeaking, moaning, groaning, sighing, and a few yelps when she hit a particularly tender spot. I mentioned that this made all the other massages I've had in the past seem like mere backrubs. She chuckled and said that I've probably only had spa or Swedish massages before, and that she practiced deep tissue massage.
I described my stress knot to her and she pinpointed the problem area immediately. When I expressed my surprise at how quickly she found it, she told me that she sees many people with the same type of problem. She called it a "mouse knot" because it's apparently caused by using a mouse all day. She worked that little sucker out from behind my right shoulder blade within five minutes. I could actually feel her slide it up the muscle in my back. It was definitely an odd sensation, but it brought instant relief as soon as it was gone.
She also massaged my feet, hands, legs, head, and face. While she was working on my face, I told her about all my sinus problems. She showed me an acupressure technique for relieving sinus pain. It felt wonderful! She also told me about a brief exercise that I could do while sitting in the driver's seat of my car to help my stress knot.
I had originally only scheduled a half-hour job, but she didn't have any clients immediately after me, so I extended it to a full hour. It was worth the $55, and while it certainly was not a relaxing, Calgon-take-me-away experience, it was absolutely effective. All the stiffness in my neck and upper back disappeared.
Overall, she was very knowledgeable and gave an excellent massage. I staggered out of the YMCA in a stupor and went on with my day. Later in the afternoon, I took a nice little nap and I swear I slept better because of the massage.
I may have to make this a regular thing.
In My Head
