After being sidelined for two years from a debilitating both-feet nightmare of plantar fasciitis, I started taking better care of myself; notably, the part of myself from the knees down.
After physical therapy, injections, and various contraptions failed to produce much in the way of results, a regimen of rest, ice, stretching, massage, and activities other than running like cycling and yoga worked wonders. While I'm back in running shoes, I put a lot more effort into maintenance of health, lest I spend that energy on recovery.
All that to say, I have come to value the relatively inexpensive luxury of a good foot massage place. This was my first visit to this particular location, and while it didn't provide the inadvertent therapy as a bonus component of the massage, it was still a pleasant experience.
Pros:
-dark room, clean towels, hot water, soft music
- $20 price tag for a hour from head to toe is pretty reasonable. No pushy "suggestions" on the tip (I gave ten bucks, and the girl immediately handed it to the guy who worked on me)
- Massage was rubs, not cracking. I don't like getting amateur chiropractic adjustments from a foot massage place. Slippery stuff (lotion? Oil?) kept things moving without depilatorial results...
-Chairs are behind a curtain, which keeps you off display to every new customer
- very friendly staff.
- Pretty sure with my very limited Mandarin my guy said something to another gal about how big I was and how hard he had to push... But I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks, 24 hr. Fitness! Ha.
Cons:
- My guy got distracted by a side conversation around 20 minutes in, left abruptly, then forgot to do to my left shoulder blade what he had done to my right
- massage was not hard enough for the first half (head, arms, shoulders, feet). He made up for it on the back... Really got in there with all of his weight. Could have used more.
- 30 seconds max on the gostrocs and soleus... These muscles are what tightens up and pulls on the heels and soles of your feet, which caused tension, pain, and over time, tendinitis and fasciitis conditions. I'd pay $20 for a hour that focused only on the legs!
- Baldwin is a loud street at 4 PM. It's not their fault, but with the afternoon sun, fire engines, and rush hour traffic blasting into the shop every time the front door opens, it pulls you out of your happy place a bit.
- My bed was two feet from another bed with a very vocal older lady. Her variable wincing, heavy sighs, one-liners, and play by play commentary on her massage were distracting, but certainly not the fault of the workers.
Idea for this business: have patrons use the back door off the quiet private parking lot! It would eliminate the clanging door bells, traffic noise, and other distractions. Your customers are parking back there anyway, and the door was open the whole time... But labeled as "employee entrance only."
Overall, this place was fine, and I'll likely give them another shot at trying to bring the good hurt. I may explore their $40/hour massage and see what that does for me, too. read more