Tag Archives: massage

Little Victories

j0382857By now you are probably tired of reading about issues surrounding my IT band and I don’t blame you! I’m tired of dealing with it but the whole journey of feeling the most frustrating pain ever, dealing with it, treating it, and now finally feeling as though I’m going to get through it is hard not to write about. It seems like a strange addiction to be constantly reading about other people’s experience with ITBS, but it’s comforting to know I’m not alone and I hope that what I write brings information, comfort, and hope to others as well.

Despite the excruciating experience of my recent deep tissue sports massage, I truly think it helped. It also showed me where I need to focus with the foam roller and I have to believe more concentrated rolling is also making difference. Why do I believe change is actually happening? Because this morning I did a slow and steady 20-minute jog around a quaint and peaceful neighborhood in North Carolina and felt no pain. Zero, zilch, nada. Continue reading

Finding The Knots

42-15622239There are several names that came to mind for this post: “That’s the Spot!” “Ouch!” “Digging Deep,” “Seven,” and plenty of others, some of which sounded totally inappropriate and others that could be misleading. So as not to leave you wondering what all these possible post names relate to, they are tied to the deep tissue sports massage I had over the weekend.

I have had one other true massage in my life and it was the most amazing, relaxing, comforting, soothing experience ever. My sports massage was the absolute opposite. After talking to some personal trainers and reading plenty of articles and forum posts about various ways to “treat” IT band pain, I was convinced that I needed to see a massage therapist. It made sense to me that if the masseuse could not find anything wrong with the muscles in my leg then I would have a much larger problem at hand. So I dug out a gift card waiting to be used and made an appointment for a 60-minute deep tissue sports massage at a local spa and salon.

I was shown into a cozy room with candles lit, calming melodic music playing, and I snuggled under wonderfully heated sheets thinking how nice it would be to doze off while the massage therapist fixed all my IT band problems. Continue reading