Monday i had the pleasure of a 1/2 hour swedish massage with Sandra at Misbehaven. from start to finish it was a very pleasant and relaxing experience. low lights, soft music set the stage. the massage started with me laying on my back and the first thing Sandra did was put a Stone Crop facial product on her hands and began the soft massage on my face. it was just enough pressure to be very relaxing. the scent of the stone crop product was lovely. one thing that really stuck out to me was the pressure she put on my cheekbones. it seemed to open up my sinuses. the soft pressure allowed me to breath clearly, where as i usually feel slightly stuffed up. the focus of the massage was my head, neck arms and back. i was worried that when i left the massage i would be greasy feeling, but the oils that she massaged with did not leave me feeling oily. i would recommend a 1/2 hour swedish massage for anyone who just wants a quick relaxing massage, not too much pressure, just very relaxing.
Thursday i went for my deep tissue massage with Margo. this massage focuses on the upper body, and even more specifically, wherever you may have issues or tension. i tend to hold my tension in my upper body. my shoulders are tight, and i have a nagging (feels like a pinched nerve) around my right shoulder blade. the room was low light and again, relaxing music in the background and a chocolate on the pillow, which i enjoyed right away. this massage began with me laying on my stomach, and the Margo massaging my back. she used all kinds of pressure and movements on my back and neck. it was a much more intense massage. i won't say it was painful, but i also say it took some effort on my part to relax, since the type of massage was so deep that it kinda hurt. ok, so i said it. i did kinda hurt at times. Margo asked me several times if the pressure was too intense, but since i knew that she was aware of where my tension was, and those were the areas where the pressure was so intense, i told her to continue with the amount of pressure she was putting. she massaged my back, neck, arms and scalp. then i flipped to my back and she did an upper chest & neck massage, as well as a my face, scalp and even my ears. again her pressure was pretty intense, but a little more relaxing then the massage on my back and shoulders.
i opted for the additional $10 paraffin wax treatment on my feet, so before Margo started the front side massage, she put my feet in footie bags that had hot paraffin in them. then she put my feet into a sock of sorts and velcro'd them shut around my calves. my feet sat in the paraffin during the entire 2nd half of my massage. the foot soak was wonderful.
as soon as the massage was over, i noticed that i felt stuffed up. Margo greeted me after the massage with a glass of water. about an hour later i had quite an intense headache. i ended up not feeling so hot that evening, feeling even a tad nauseated and opted to go to bed early since i wasn't feeling all that good. this morning when i was on a walk with a friend, i told her about my deep tissue massage, and she said that those symptoms of nausea, headache, etc., are very common from deep tissue massages. the intense massage releases toxins from the body. she also said that one way to avoid those symptoms is to drink lots of water after the massage. other than the glass Margo gave me, i did not drink any more water that day. i didn't do any research to confirm what my friend said, but it would make sense as to why i didn't feel good shortly after my massage.
this morning when i woke up i noticed that my shoulder muscles are sore from the deep pressure. the nagging pain in my right shoulder blade is not bothering me though, so that is a relief. next time i will try hydrating myself after my massage.
