Feeling Is Believing – This Man Has Magic in His Hands
A friend recommended I see Don Beatty for chronic shoulder pain. I resisted because I had given up thinking a massage therapist could diagnose the cause of my pain, much less do anything for it beyond what other massage therapists had done previously — which was either to perform a cursory “feel-good” massage or an outright “thumb and elbow assault” that never improved matters and, in some cases, made me worse off than before.
I confess, my complaints and dismissive attitude finally led to my friend giving me a gift certificate for Don’s services in January 2013 — along with a threat to make an appointment for me if I didn’t arrange one myself.
So imagine my surprise that half my initial appointment time was spent with Don interviewing me to assess every aspect of my symptoms. As he did my assessment, he gave me a very simple lesson in human anatomy and how muscles work — and the need for them to be in balance with one another for optimum performance.
The surprises kept coming. Next, Don gave me a thorough visual assessment of my posture and alignment along with an explanation of how my ailments were manifesting themselves in my outward appearance.
But the biggest surprise of all came once I was on the table. Instead of the anticipated “rubdown,” Don gave me instructions on how to breathe properly while he stretched the many muscles throughout my body that were either in spasm or had simply gone dormant through lack of use.
In stark contrast to all those who consider themselves professional massage therapists but concentrate their efforts solely to help their clients relax, Don demands his patients’ active participation — both for immediate relief and as a means of demonstrating how to continue the same stretching exercises alone at home. To reinforce his teachings, he prints out illustrated instruction sheets describing how to perform many, if not all, of the same stretching exercises he uses when personally treating patients.
Following two months of weekly treatment, my shoulder pain issues had subsided to zero. Armed with an array of stretching exercises, it is now August 2015 and I have been virtually pain-free for over two years. And whenever I’ve felt like the pain might return, I’ve always been able to head that off by a diligent return to the stretching exercises Don so generously showed me how to do.
In this era where the line around what constitutes the “healing arts” seems to be getting ever more blurred, it is refreshing to cross paths with someone who not only understands the concept but who knows how to deliver on the promise. I invite those with discerning standards to give Don a try.
Edward
Vancouver, WA