This is going to be a long, detailed review so give yourself some time and sit back for some useful reading here.
My situation: My back and neck had been locked up for months. A combination of stress, a sagging mattress and sitting at a desk or in a car were taking its toll and I was in constant discomfort to the point that now I wasn't even sleeping at night for the previous month because the chronic tightness in my back was making it impossible to sleep peacefully. It was only getting worse and after wasting time and effort to see chiropractors who had only made marginal improvements (just an FYI: joints go out of alignment, sublux, etc because of muscle strength/tension imbalances or trauma. In this case, it was the chronic muscle tension that I was having difficulty finding anyone competent enough to address adequately).
On a recent trip, I found K & H, purely by circumstance. My back had reached such epic proportions of discomfort that I couldn't take another minute of ignoring it and started looking for massage services nearby while I had some down time on my trip. K & H was down the street, they were available, the intro price was worth taking a risk on them AND I couldn't spend another minute dealing with this aching back so there I went, as soon as they said I could come in. Based on my past experiences with massage therapists near home, my expectations and hopes for this massage were not very high but "any port in a storm", right?
The first thing you should know (and will soon realize) is that this is not your standard Western "pamper me" massage or "deep tissue" style massage. This is so much better than that. This is a combination of Thai, Ashiatsu, Hot Stone, Swedish, Deep Tissue and more and it IS intense. There were a few moments when I thought I was going to cry but that is because I AM so tight that anyone actually finding those trigger point areas and applying any pressure at all was like trying to get a rusted hinge to move. She found and worked on places that I didn't realize were the source of OTHER problems until I realized how tight they were too (example: my tendon attachments for my calf were so tight I wanted to scream when she put the least bit of pressure on them and I suddenly remembered all those times my calves would get fatigued just walking my dog around the block and realized that THIS was why! Needless to say, they feel great now thanks to her).
The Massage: My massage consisted of a combination of walking on my back Ashiatsu style, stretching me with Thai yoga postures, hot stone massage and also applying deep tissue while finding all sorts of places that had been problematic for the longest time (that I had forgotten about because they were eclipsed by my current back and neck discomfort). And man, she is strong! I swear I will never understand how such a tiny woman can have finger and hand strength that would rival any industrial vice grip!
Results: The entire reason I am writing this review is this. My back issues were finally resolved and a few days later, I still feel better than I have in a long time in ALL the areas that were giving me problems (neck, hip, elbow, etc) for so long now. If you are looking for real therapy, this is the place to go. I can't recommend it enough and I am only sad that they aren't closer to me. I am literally arranging a trip to return to the area so I can put them in my schedule next time. THIS is real therapeutic work.
Who I am: I have been a professional massage therapist for 15+ years and am trained and/or specialize in medical massage and a number of other modalities including Thai, Keralite, Mayan Abdominal, Lymphatic, etc, - so yes, my standards might seem higher because of this, but ONLY because I can tell when someone is trying to sell me a load of exaggerated claims disguised as competence in a therapist. For me, entirely too many massages I have had either feel like I just paid $65 or more for a suntan oil application or I am dealing with someone who wouldn't know the location of their gemellus superior from their pectoralis minor. Yikes!
**** They are fluent in English but it is STILL their second language so the onus of burden is on you, the _native_ English speaker, to communicate and tell them if something is too intense, you need them to be more gentle in an area, etc. (Anyone who has ever tried to learn a 2nd language can tell you that figuring out which adjective is better to use to describe something IS a complicated process that isn't automatic. Work with her and you'll get the best massage you can ask for!)****
(1) This massage is not for the faint of heart or those looking for "pamper me" massages.
(2) Expect discomfort in direct proportion to the level of your body's current neglected state, followed by improvement!!!
(3) If you are tougher than nails, have an intense gym training workout, or you are looking for a serious massage- Go HERE.
(4) This massage therapist HIGHLY recommends them (I am impressed) read more
