Pain gets rubbed out
Stress has a way of gathering at the base of my neck, where it congeals into what feels like an angry golf ball. Then, when there’s no more room in the neck, the stress slithers down my spine like an anaconda with an attitude, constricting everything so ruthlessly that soon, even my hips hurt.
I’d concluded a couple of years ago that the hip pain was arthritis. Fifty-one years old, a tad too heavy, out of shape, lousy diet: It made sense. So I’ve been taking industrial-strength ibuprofen tablets, and they’ve helped. Better living through chemistry and all that.
But a few weeks ago, I took our Yorkie to the pet doctor for a routine visit, and I asked the vet, who had hurt his neck in a horseback-riding accident, if his neck was better. Yes, he said, finally! What had done it? Massage.
So I gave his massage therapist a call, and during our initial chat, I mentioned my sundry maladies. About twenty minutes later, she’d worked her way about halfway down my back and she asked, “Anyone ever told you that you have scoliosis?”
Say what?
Yeah, she said, I’m not an M.D. so I can’t give you a diagnosis, but it looks like you’ve got a little spine rotation right here - so let’s do this. And she kneaded something off to the right of my spine to stretch whatever it was she was working on, and I’m thinking, “Great. Arthritis and scoliosis. I’m gonna be taking that ibuprofen forever. This sure feels good, though.”
Later that afternoon, though, my hips stopped hurting. And the pain hasn’t come back.
So now I’m thinking I don’t have to keep taking those pills - but I’m afraid I’m going to become a massage addict.
I’d concluded a couple of years ago that the hip pain was arthritis. Fifty-one years old, a tad too heavy, out of shape, lousy diet: It made sense. So I’ve been taking industrial-strength ibuprofen tablets, and they’ve helped. Better living through chemistry and all that.
But a few weeks ago, I took our Yorkie to the pet doctor for a routine visit, and I asked the vet, who had hurt his neck in a horseback-riding accident, if his neck was better. Yes, he said, finally! What had done it? Massage.
So I gave his massage therapist a call, and during our initial chat, I mentioned my sundry maladies. About twenty minutes later, she’d worked her way about halfway down my back and she asked, “Anyone ever told you that you have scoliosis?”
Say what?
Yeah, she said, I’m not an M.D. so I can’t give you a diagnosis, but it looks like you’ve got a little spine rotation right here - so let’s do this. And she kneaded something off to the right of my spine to stretch whatever it was she was working on, and I’m thinking, “Great. Arthritis and scoliosis. I’m gonna be taking that ibuprofen forever. This sure feels good, though.”
Later that afternoon, though, my hips stopped hurting. And the pain hasn’t come back.
So now I’m thinking I don’t have to keep taking those pills - but I’m afraid I’m going to become a massage addict.