As I mentioned, for coming in 2nd at the 1/2 marathon, I won a 1/2 hour massage from a local salon. I went in for that on Friday.
I’ve never had a professional massage before. I should have known that they would start with me filling out a medical questionnaire. I had to list any places that were bothering me (I listed IT Bands) and also give my medical history.
I was glad, actually, to list this because I would have felt obligated to explain my scar to the woman at some point, but that was taken care of by me listing out that I had had the surgery. She questioned me about the surgery and I explained and she was quite shocked (as most people are) when I explained my weight loss and the need for surgery.
Some of the things about the massage I was expecting - the soft hippie music, the massage bed. She started me on my back. One thing I didn’t expect was that she would talk continuously the entire time. She talked about “relevant” things - like alignment and how to “self-release” when muscles tighten up. But she also talked about her cats and her friends and her husband. For someone like me who has a hard time relaxing, anyway, PLUS having a stranger’s hands all over me, the talking was a bit distracting.
The good news is that she really knew what she was doing. She really worked hard on my IT bands and hips. She worked my calves and feet as well. Much less time was spent on my back and shoulders.
I did not expect her to focus so much on my scar, either. But she talked at length about scar tissue and the importance of “breaking it up”. She told me that I need to press in and massage the scar regularly. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical. While on my stomach she pressed in and began massaging the scar right about my butt crack where it is the deepest scaring. It didn’t feel any different then her pressing into the “normal” skin. She made the comment that because I am so active, that maybe the scar doesn’t get the opportunity to “settle”. But as she moved around, suddenly it felt like tiny needles were jamming into me. Simultaneous she said “Oh that feels like a spot!” It was really strange.
I might try to massage the scar for a while and see if I notice any difference in the tightness that is still there.
So, I guess I would say that while I really enjoyed the massage while it was happening, I felt no difference that night or since then in how I feel. So I can’t see myself - especially being the cheapskate that I am - paying to have a massage in the future...
Then today I went for my first mammogram. I was originally told I should have a baseline done at 40 and I managed to delay until 1 day before my 42nd birthday!
Now they do this stuff every day. But it's a bit disconcerting to have a stranger just grabbing you tit and stretching it and getting it into place! But there was no pain at all - NONE. When she squished it down it wasn't even what I would describe as uncomfortable! Maybe they have to squish you much harder if you've got large tatas, but for me, it was easy peasy.
So hopefully the results come out well and there's nothing to concern myself with!
I’ve never had a professional massage before. I should have known that they would start with me filling out a medical questionnaire. I had to list any places that were bothering me (I listed IT Bands) and also give my medical history.
I was glad, actually, to list this because I would have felt obligated to explain my scar to the woman at some point, but that was taken care of by me listing out that I had had the surgery. She questioned me about the surgery and I explained and she was quite shocked (as most people are) when I explained my weight loss and the need for surgery.
Some of the things about the massage I was expecting - the soft hippie music, the massage bed. She started me on my back. One thing I didn’t expect was that she would talk continuously the entire time. She talked about “relevant” things - like alignment and how to “self-release” when muscles tighten up. But she also talked about her cats and her friends and her husband. For someone like me who has a hard time relaxing, anyway, PLUS having a stranger’s hands all over me, the talking was a bit distracting.
The good news is that she really knew what she was doing. She really worked hard on my IT bands and hips. She worked my calves and feet as well. Much less time was spent on my back and shoulders.
I did not expect her to focus so much on my scar, either. But she talked at length about scar tissue and the importance of “breaking it up”. She told me that I need to press in and massage the scar regularly. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical. While on my stomach she pressed in and began massaging the scar right about my butt crack where it is the deepest scaring. It didn’t feel any different then her pressing into the “normal” skin. She made the comment that because I am so active, that maybe the scar doesn’t get the opportunity to “settle”. But as she moved around, suddenly it felt like tiny needles were jamming into me. Simultaneous she said “Oh that feels like a spot!” It was really strange.
I might try to massage the scar for a while and see if I notice any difference in the tightness that is still there.
So, I guess I would say that while I really enjoyed the massage while it was happening, I felt no difference that night or since then in how I feel. So I can’t see myself - especially being the cheapskate that I am - paying to have a massage in the future...
Then today I went for my first mammogram. I was originally told I should have a baseline done at 40 and I managed to delay until 1 day before my 42nd birthday!
I
have heard horrible stories about mammos - someone even told me that it
is worse for flat chested chicks like me. So I was a bit nervous
headed in. The nurse was so awesome and professional without being
patronizing.
Now they do this stuff every day. But it's a bit disconcerting to have a stranger just grabbing you tit and stretching it and getting it into place! But there was no pain at all - NONE. When she squished it down it wasn't even what I would describe as uncomfortable! Maybe they have to squish you much harder if you've got large tatas, but for me, it was easy peasy.
So hopefully the results come out well and there's nothing to concern myself with!
No comments:
Post a Comment