Frankly I've been putting off writing this because I don't really like writing bad reviews for people - especially if it has more to do with business than personality, but this is BOTH. This one feels necessary.
I left this place feeling thoroughly offended, though it took a while for it to really sink in... I'm not much for confrontation with people I don't know or trust, so I didn't feel comfortable saying how I really felt during my massage, but what I felt was shocked and offended, for several reasons.
1. Before we even started, I requested twice that the temp be changed because I was too hot, and he told me "It's not hot in here. It must just be you." uh.... ok....
2. Then, after filling out a lengthy form (which I felt rushed to fill) the dude still asked me what i wanted to have worked on. (Why does that always seem to happen?? What is the POINT of filling that thing out if you're not gonna look at it!? To his credit, that is just about every "therapist" or doctor of any kind I've been to. I've never understood it.)
3. I informed him that I have severe scoliosis and where I have the most tension. He then launched in to a lecture about how my scoliosis was a "result of emotional pressure in my childhood," which I proceeded to immediately knock down (No. Actually my childhood was great. Who the f are you to assume that?) He pressed the point by asking me about my personality type, assuming that I have an imbalance around taking on too much. (Wrong again, I actually have a pretty healthy balance with that too.)
4. THEN he had the gall to tell me (as if I don't know anything about my own condition) that the phasic muscles on the outside of the curve are pulling my spine out of alignment (WRONG), and that if he had enough acupressure beads (which he conveniently didn't) he could CORRECT IT with them... LMAO! First off - that may be true of the lats and rhomboids to some extent, but those muscles do NOT control the position of the spine more than the POSTURAL muscles underneath them, which are in exactly the opposite condition. Clearly he is not aware that scoliosis has two types: Structural and Functional. I explained this in response to his initial statement and was essentially dismissed... This is not opinion, it's a fact...
SECOND of all - there is no way in hell that acupressure beads can correct scoliosis. If it were as simple as he seems to think, we'd all be cured by now and scoliosis wouldn't even be an issue.... Gimme a break. Have you ever even read a single peer reviewed published medical document on scoliosis?
This experience was a prime example of why I don't even bother getting massages from people usually. I HATE when people assume I'm ignorant about my own condition and then push their unfounded and UNSOLICITED opinions about it on me. I never asked for an opinion. I asked for a massage... which was mediocre by the way. If I had known in advance that it was going to be an acupressure/trigger point massage I probably would have skipped it all together. He didn't even directly work on MOST of the places I asked him to work on. My fault that I forgot to ask what style it would be in when I called. His wife told me he had plenty of experience with scoliosis, however, and if that's the case then i'm worried.
I shouldn't have to point out that what he chose to say to me during this session was UNBELIEVABLY unprofessional. If he really thinks this kind of talk is ok, then shame on the school that trained him. It's not only offensive, it's DANGEROUS. If I had been someone with this condition and a lot less knowledge about it than I have (which happens to be a decent amt since i've chose to study it for the last 3 years as much as i'm able) I might have come away from that session believing things that simply are not true... For example, If he had conveniently had enough "magic beads" to "cure" my scoliosis that day, I may have wasted even more money on the experience, or even come back for more in hopes that it would eventually work... And assuming you KNOW what kind of emotional experiences are associated with a persons condition is just flat out pompous. Come ON.
I get that the vast majority of people in this world are severely under-informed about the condition that causes peoples spines to grow with a curve/twist - there is still no completely conclusive evidence of what even causes it, hence the term idipathic. Most trained MDs aren't even aware of what it fully entails. Chiropractors tend to know the most, because they're taught more about the whole body system and how it's affected (nerves, organs, etc.) rather than what drugs to use to treat symptoms, but that's beside the point... The REAL problem is the VAST amount of misinformation that's floating around out there about it. It's absurd and it's unfair to those who are suffering from it. All medical (and non-medical in this case) "professionals" need to quit assuming they know more than their patients. read more