I love playing tennis and working out – a lot. I supplement my on-court time with some serious time in the gym a few days a week so that I can continue to be at the top of my game. I am however, starting to cruise towards the forth decade of my life, and with that comes the normal aches and pains that accompany an active lifestyle. Despite my best efforts to maintain my body and ward off injury, I have developed some nagging injuries. I suffer few chronic back and neck issues that no amount of stretching or working at can seem to ease.
I’ve visited the chiropractor for years, but the issue isn’t spinal related, it’s muscular. I’ve visited my general practitioner on several occasions, the last time going so far as getting a cortisone shot to treat my neck pain. This helped for a few days, but after some on-court time and a few workouts in the gym, the pain was back. Neither of these injuries seem to affect my playing or lifting, but it’s gotten to the point that I’m in constant pain. I decided to give massage a try and sought out someone in the area that specializes in sports therapy and deep tissue massage.
I opted for the special they had running, which gave a discount to first time clients or an hour treatment. The young lady that worked on me was a big basketball player and was really into fitness – perfect match. Anyway, she worked me over for an hour, really kneading into my trouble spots. By the end of the hour, my rhomboid and trapezius muscled were like jello, and a majority of the pain had subsided. She told me I’d be sore tomorrow and to lay off my normal activities until the weekend.
Deep tissue massage has the same effect as stretching. It realigns knotted or twisted tissue in the muscle fibers, promotes blood flow into the area, and can flush toxins from the body. The therapist told me that I had some serious knots in my problem areas and recommended another treatment, which I’ll gladly sign up for. I really realized how much pain and discomfort I had been living with. I can’t wait to see how effective this new therapy is over the next few days – I’ll be sure to post an update.
