Yesterday I went to see a massage therapist for the first time, and the experience was very interesting and rewarding. I was referred to her by one of my former physical therapists, because while my litany of physical issues (old lower back injury, arthritic knees, tight calves, few other things) has been greatly, greatly improved by the aqua physical therapy I did earlier this year, I still have some residual pain and discomfort that my PT thought massage might be able to help.
So I went, not really knowing what to expect, but assuming there'd be a lot of rubbing and, well, massage. Wrong! This particular massage therapist specializes in something called the Bowen technique. Here's a blurb that sort of describes it:
Bowen massage therapy is not exactly a massage, acupressure or chiropractic technique. This therapy comprises of a series of precise and elegant moves that stimulate the energy flow. This promotes relaxation and activates the bodys natural healing. The movements in Bowen massage are aimed at muscles, nerves and connective tissue. It treats problems related to important body systems like muscular, respiratory, digestive and glandular systems. Bowen massage addresses the root cause of problems, instead of trying to relieve the symptoms.
I have to say, it was bizarre, and completely different from anything I'd expected. What it felt like was me trying to take a nap on the massage table, and every 2 minutes someone coming in and poking me in various places - hard. I laid there thinking, "Well, this is a crock," fully expecting to get up when it was over, thank her, and never see her again.
Again, I was wrong. Soooooo wrong. At the end, I got up and walked around a bit, and noticed a big difference in several areas. The first thing I noticed was, haha, my chest. I glanced down at myself and blurted out, "Whoa, my boobs look awesome," because my posture had improved so much. She had taken a "before" picture of me from the side, and my "after" picture showed a dramatic difference in my posture - standing up totally straight, with shoulders back, whereas before I had a noticeable "stoop". Then I noticed how comfortable my knees felt. As I said, my work in physical therapy has helped them enormously by building up muscle around them, but the one thing it hasn't helped is preventing the parts in my knee joints getting misaligned and then putting weight on it - ouch! It happens pretty frequently, but immediately after the treatment they felt much more stable, and I haven't had an incident with misalignment since before the treatment, where it usually happens several times a day.
My lower back felt very good, too, and probably the most dramatic thing I noticed after the treatment was when she and I had been standing and talking about it for about ten minutes, and it hit me how incredibly comfortable I felt, standing there. Normally standing is quite uncomfortable for me, and within a couple of minutes I'm shifting in discomfort and my back and calves start to ache, and exhaustion sets in. Not last night, though - I felt completely comfortable, just standing there. That was pretty astounding. I had assumed that my size was what was made standing so uncomfortable, and while I know it certainly doesn't help matters, now I'm thinking it has as much to do with the state of my lower back health, my posture, and just how my body is working, in general. A pretty cool realization!
She also did some work on my kidneys, to see if she could help alleviate fluid retention, and I haven't noticed a difference in that yet, but we'll see how that does with a bit more time. My calves feel a bit better, but not dramatically, so hopefully that will improve with a few more sessions, too.
Anyway, I feel great today. Everything that felt different and great last night still feels great today, so it's pretty exhilarating! Time will tell if these results stick around, but right now, I'm pretty excited. Oh, and another way this method differs from regular massage is that you're supposed to get the bulk of your results in the short-term, like the first month or two, and then you typically only need to go a few times a year, for fine tuning, so it's quite affordable and easy to do. I'm going to go weekly for the time being, until we decide I've gotten as much benefit as I'm likely to get. I know it's early, but so far I'm pretty impressed!
So let's talk about massage! Has anyone else tried this Bowen technique, or use any other kind of massage for pain management?
So I went, not really knowing what to expect, but assuming there'd be a lot of rubbing and, well, massage. Wrong! This particular massage therapist specializes in something called the Bowen technique. Here's a blurb that sort of describes it:
Bowen massage therapy is not exactly a massage, acupressure or chiropractic technique. This therapy comprises of a series of precise and elegant moves that stimulate the energy flow. This promotes relaxation and activates the bodys natural healing. The movements in Bowen massage are aimed at muscles, nerves and connective tissue. It treats problems related to important body systems like muscular, respiratory, digestive and glandular systems. Bowen massage addresses the root cause of problems, instead of trying to relieve the symptoms.
I have to say, it was bizarre, and completely different from anything I'd expected. What it felt like was me trying to take a nap on the massage table, and every 2 minutes someone coming in and poking me in various places - hard. I laid there thinking, "Well, this is a crock," fully expecting to get up when it was over, thank her, and never see her again.
Again, I was wrong. Soooooo wrong. At the end, I got up and walked around a bit, and noticed a big difference in several areas. The first thing I noticed was, haha, my chest. I glanced down at myself and blurted out, "Whoa, my boobs look awesome," because my posture had improved so much. She had taken a "before" picture of me from the side, and my "after" picture showed a dramatic difference in my posture - standing up totally straight, with shoulders back, whereas before I had a noticeable "stoop". Then I noticed how comfortable my knees felt. As I said, my work in physical therapy has helped them enormously by building up muscle around them, but the one thing it hasn't helped is preventing the parts in my knee joints getting misaligned and then putting weight on it - ouch! It happens pretty frequently, but immediately after the treatment they felt much more stable, and I haven't had an incident with misalignment since before the treatment, where it usually happens several times a day.
My lower back felt very good, too, and probably the most dramatic thing I noticed after the treatment was when she and I had been standing and talking about it for about ten minutes, and it hit me how incredibly comfortable I felt, standing there. Normally standing is quite uncomfortable for me, and within a couple of minutes I'm shifting in discomfort and my back and calves start to ache, and exhaustion sets in. Not last night, though - I felt completely comfortable, just standing there. That was pretty astounding. I had assumed that my size was what was made standing so uncomfortable, and while I know it certainly doesn't help matters, now I'm thinking it has as much to do with the state of my lower back health, my posture, and just how my body is working, in general. A pretty cool realization!
She also did some work on my kidneys, to see if she could help alleviate fluid retention, and I haven't noticed a difference in that yet, but we'll see how that does with a bit more time. My calves feel a bit better, but not dramatically, so hopefully that will improve with a few more sessions, too.
Anyway, I feel great today. Everything that felt different and great last night still feels great today, so it's pretty exhilarating! Time will tell if these results stick around, but right now, I'm pretty excited. Oh, and another way this method differs from regular massage is that you're supposed to get the bulk of your results in the short-term, like the first month or two, and then you typically only need to go a few times a year, for fine tuning, so it's quite affordable and easy to do. I'm going to go weekly for the time being, until we decide I've gotten as much benefit as I'm likely to get. I know it's early, but so far I'm pretty impressed!
So let's talk about massage! Has anyone else tried this Bowen technique, or use any other kind of massage for pain management?
