Pressure & Pain
Nov. 9th, 2008 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waitingmanIt's a fine line.
My only day off from Debtor's Prison & being unexpectedly foot-free & fancy-loose, I've been catching up on stuff... like having my first ever Chinese Massage on my neck, shoulders & back.
Lately, every morning before doing time in DP, I've been getting breakfast, paper & coffee from the same three shops within shambling distance of each other in the MegaMall. Near two of them is a 'Natural Healing Centre' advertising all sorts of massage therapy (no happy endings... minds out of the gutter please!) & herbal medicine treatments, you know the sort of place I mean...
Anyway, the long-term pain I've had in my right shoulder & into my neck has spread in recent weeks across to the left side. Add to that, the backache I get when I spend longer than six hours lying down has been getting earlier & achier. The result being that it's been hard to keep my chin up, or take things lying down lately. Something's amiss. So ~ little steps. Before leaping... well, more like lurching... off to a chiropractor, I thought I'd give Chinese Massage a go. Which is aleap lurch of faith for me, given that since a well-intentioned "massage" back in my late 'teens left me with more pain than I'd supposedly started with, I've been vehement & occasionally outright hostile in my refusal to let anyone do it again (Q. "Can I give you a massage?" A. "Do you have a good dentist?"). But evidently time heals all wounds & I was open to the idea, especially after a local client told me, aprôpos of something else, that these guys were good.
Enter WaitingMan to a seemingly cramped little alcove smelling strongly of not-unpleasant herbs & oils & the 'soothing strains' of Chinese-New-Age-Neo-Classical-Ambient music. I must have arrived fortuitously, as I had barely sat down before I was gestured towards a recently vacated table. The lady who'd vacated it as I entered did look rather relaxed, I'll admit. Step one was like being put in a police cell ~ my belt, my three neckchains, mobile phone & keys were all placed in a plastic tub & stowed elsewhere for the duration of my stay. Shoes off... obviously & onto the table, face down into the hole. You know the drill.
And we're off! Nothing hard, fast or painful at first, just enough to lull me into a false sense of 'Chinese = Swedish Massage, just not by a Blonde'. Then he hit the first few places in my upper back that set the tone for the next thirty minutes ~ ow... ow... Ow... Oh good he's moved on... ow... ow... Ow... Oh thank f@%k he's moved... etc... All the while mymauler masseur & his cohort at the table across from me kept up a banter in Mandarin which was interspersed by chuckles, the other guy's coughs & my guy's occasional grunts of effort. Oh... & a call on his mobile. Meanwhile, I'm wincing, clenching teeth, tensing muscles & flexing fingers, depending on which part of my back he was attending to. Finishing with an upright revisiting of neck & shoulders, I'd already decided I should do this weekly for the next month or so. My guy agreed as he indicated my three areas of interest were "like rock". Tense? Moi??
So, ninety minutes later, I sit in WaitingManor, new CD at indiscreet volume, assessing the results. I'm back at the stage I was earlier this year when I could roll my neck clockwise & hear two or three clicks. This is actually reassuring, as I haven't been able to do that for a while without hurting myself... & there have been no clicks. Ergo ~ he's unlocked my neck a bit & restored both some mobility & extra degrees of turn. All for forty dollars & no Medicare forms & fol-de-rol.
Same time next week?
I wonder how I'll go sleeping tonight?
My only day off from Debtor's Prison & being unexpectedly foot-free & fancy-loose, I've been catching up on stuff... like having my first ever Chinese Massage on my neck, shoulders & back.
Lately, every morning before doing time in DP, I've been getting breakfast, paper & coffee from the same three shops within shambling distance of each other in the MegaMall. Near two of them is a 'Natural Healing Centre' advertising all sorts of massage therapy (no happy endings... minds out of the gutter please!) & herbal medicine treatments, you know the sort of place I mean...
Anyway, the long-term pain I've had in my right shoulder & into my neck has spread in recent weeks across to the left side. Add to that, the backache I get when I spend longer than six hours lying down has been getting earlier & achier. The result being that it's been hard to keep my chin up, or take things lying down lately. Something's amiss. So ~ little steps. Before leaping... well, more like lurching... off to a chiropractor, I thought I'd give Chinese Massage a go. Which is a
Enter WaitingMan to a seemingly cramped little alcove smelling strongly of not-unpleasant herbs & oils & the 'soothing strains' of Chinese-New-Age-Neo-Classical-Ambient music. I must have arrived fortuitously, as I had barely sat down before I was gestured towards a recently vacated table. The lady who'd vacated it as I entered did look rather relaxed, I'll admit. Step one was like being put in a police cell ~ my belt, my three neckchains, mobile phone & keys were all placed in a plastic tub & stowed elsewhere for the duration of my stay. Shoes off... obviously & onto the table, face down into the hole. You know the drill.
And we're off! Nothing hard, fast or painful at first, just enough to lull me into a false sense of 'Chinese = Swedish Massage, just not by a Blonde'. Then he hit the first few places in my upper back that set the tone for the next thirty minutes ~ ow... ow... Ow... Oh good he's moved on... ow... ow... Ow... Oh thank f@%k he's moved... etc... All the while my
So, ninety minutes later, I sit in WaitingManor, new CD at indiscreet volume, assessing the results. I'm back at the stage I was earlier this year when I could roll my neck clockwise & hear two or three clicks. This is actually reassuring, as I haven't been able to do that for a while without hurting myself... & there have been no clicks. Ergo ~ he's unlocked my neck a bit & restored both some mobility & extra degrees of turn. All for forty dollars & no Medicare forms & fol-de-rol.
Same time next week?
I wonder how I'll go sleeping tonight?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 07:43 am (UTC)with someone to scrub your back for youto let the muscles relax more. You might find yourself a bit sore over the next couple of days.My general view is that those places will be good if you're stiff and sore, but not so good if you have a serious alignment problem. Me, I miss the one at Eastgardens heaps.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 07:43 am (UTC)I confess I haven't followed up on my intention to visit a masseur/acupuncturist cos Friday night's sleep has restored my shoulders to their usual state of firmness rather than the previous yep, like rockness.
But my Aunt promptly emailed me a document of stretching exercises to ease these sorts of pain. She gave them to a friend of hers who was having terrible pain from sitting all day at a computer and apparently they worked wonders. I haven't tried them out cos um, no need to now. But want me to email them across?