By: Jean Johnson for Back1Part Two Part One
I didn’t carry a notebook to my second interview with Eric Beggs, LMT, a licensed massage therapist who practices in Portland, Oregon. Now that the topic of massage and upper back pain had been discussed (see Part One of this series), it would be all hands-on. I didn’t realize how much I was looking forward to my role as guinea pig until I walked into Beggs’ studio.
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Thoughts on Massage adapted from the Mayo Clinic
Massage reduced anxiety in depressed children and anorexic women. It also reduced anxiety and withdrawal symptoms in adults trying to quit smoking.
Because massage involves direct contact with another person through touch, it can make you feel cared for.
Some athletes receive massage after exercise, especially to the muscles they use most in their sport or activity. |
Mellow lighting, warmth, some sort of ethereal music playing – it was like slipping into an alternate world momentarily. It made me appreciate Navajo medicine and its approach to healing even more. The way the Navajos address the whole person instead of an isolated symptom, taking care to ensure that the path back to the Beauty Way is harmonious and inviting to the one who suffers.
Beggs is clearly in his element. He tread on the carpet with soft purposeful steps and arranged the blankets on the massage table just so. “I’d like you on your back, face up,” he said, before leaving the room to let me undress. “We’ll start there since the first thing we have to do in addressing the back is to work on the chest muscles that have tightened up.”
Within minutes, I’m under the covers, breathing easily, hoping that my back gets as much relief from the experience as my soul is already getting. There’s a light tap at the door, and Beggs enters. “First I’ll get you loosened up, then I’ll get you to trust me, and finally we’ll work on the active isolated stretching with rhythmic motions that will bring nutrient-rich blood to the area. That’s what massage does. It’s a natural way to get muscle fibers that have bound together to relax and become more permeable.”
He starts working my neck, shoulders and arms. I let my eyes close and my muscles seem to melt under the pressure. Almost immediately, he finds the places on either side of the neck that can carry more than their share of the day’s tension. He presses hard on a single point.
“Now flex your muscle.” I squeeze hard. “Good, now not as strong.” I back off some. “Great. Now just a little bit. I’ll press, then you tighten slightly, and we’ll work it that way to get the muscle spindles to lengthen.” I feel not only my muscles relaxing, but also what’s left of my guard slipping away. Beggs’ hands are sure. He moves with capable, professional strokes.
“Once the muscles relax,” he said as he continues the sustained pressure points, “we can work on isometric holds for 30 seconds each, taking five to 10 minutes for each muscle. This will help restore memory to muscle spindle cells and golgi organelles that have gotten used to contracting in a shortened state.”
From my shoulders, he works down onto my upper chest, tracing lines over the muscles running from the ribs to the shoulders and moving my arms around like they are rag dolls. “In someone like you who has upper back pain, I have to really focus on the front,” Beggs says in an undertone. “The chest becomes stronger than the back with prolonged times at the computer when people don’t get up and stretch enough. So if I work only the back without balancing that out by addressing the front, my clients can have some short term relief of a sort, but nothing really sustainable over the longer term.”
Time flies on the massage table and eventually Beggs has me flip over on my stomach. Using his forearms in tandem with his hands, he creates continuous rippling motions on the neck, shoulders and upper back. He mumbles something about increasing the blood flow to the sore muscles, but all I can really think about is how great my computer-strained back feels already – and how I’ll surely be rebooking for future massages.
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