Tuesday 17 September 2013

To Thai or not to Thai?!?!

2 weeks ago my dear sister dragged me to Puri Thai for a "long overdue" thai massage!
The therapist in me had alarm bells ringing thinking of all the horrendous things these tiny asian woman were going to put my body through.
She couldn't understand my fear so I decided I would blog and explain to both her and all of you the deal behind my anxiety!



For those of you that don't know, a Thai massage is a massage where therapists use pressure from their fingers, palms, elbows, knees and feet to stretch your muscles in postures inspired from yoga.
You are fully clothed and no oils are used.
It started off well with her digging into my knots in my back and neck. However (fear #1 confirmed). Her pressure was way too hard and caused pain during the massage and bruising the next day. Massage is more about where you are applying the pressure then how hard the pressure is applied. So yes as a therapist we use pressure pointing but this is meant to help dissipate the spasm, and not cause bruising or secondary pain. Nonetheless it definitely helped loosen me up.
It continued with massage of the rest of my body and then LOTS of stretching!
(Fear #2 confirmed)! - So although alot of the stretches done are stretches I use on my patients on a daily basis, some were putting the body in hyperextension (which is not always recommended) and which makes me quite nervous. However, again, I felt loose and supple post massage and I loved being stretched instead of the one doing the stretching!









Leaving Puri Thai I was left with mixed feelings!


THE PROS:
 On the one hand I felt good, relaxed and rejuvinated , in a way I have never felt with a massage before. So as with normal aromatherapy massages, I would feel relaxed and ready for bed, here I felt rejuvenated, pain free and ready to take on anything! And this feeling lasted for at least a week as opposed to a few hours!

THE CONS :
I had bruising where she overdid the massage

My conclusion is that stretching is good for your body to help with aching muscles and that is what helped me that day, however I will be certain to tell my next therapist not to push so hard and that I don't want to hyperextend ANY part of my body! And yes as you may have gathered there shall be a next time! :)










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