Two Clients, Two Kinds of Shoulder Pain
Edward came to Don with chronic shoulder pain and, by his own admission, no faith left in massage therapists. Past sessions had been either a “feel-good” rubdown or what he called a “thumb and elbow assault,” and some left him worse. A friend finally gave him a gift certificate and threatened to book the appointment herself.
He was surprised that half of his first visit was Don interviewing him about his symptoms. Don walked him through how muscles need to work in balance, then assessed his posture and alignment. On the table, instead of a rubdown, Don had him breathe in specific ways while he stretched the muscles that were in spasm or had gone dormant. Edward went home with illustrated exercise sheets. After two months of weekly sessions, he wrote that his shoulder pain had “subsided to zero,” and more than two years later he was still virtually pain-free, using the same stretches whenever he felt it start to come back. Read Edward’s full story.
Tawnya’s situation was different. She had shoulder tendinitis, tennis elbow and carpal tunnel, and her doctor had told her she might need to change careers if she wanted her shoulder to get better. Acupuncture, braces, a chiropractor and steroid shots had all given only temporary relief. Within a couple of visits with Don, she could raise her arm all the way up. Read Tawnya’s story.
Every body is different, and your timeline may not match theirs. What their stories show is the method: assess the whole pattern, correct it, and teach you to keep it.
